General sheep thread

Green farmer

orm0nd wrote: »

buying a mix of soya hulls/barley/maize here as a fodder stretcher for cattle , costing 198/ton blown in, in 10 ton loads

I think Isaac Crilly has the right approach to meal feeding, as for cost effectiveness, (scroll down to the bottom of the link)

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That's a very Keene price ormond, do you need to add minerals etc to that for the sheep ? I can never understand why mills put plenty of options in front of the cattle men with loads of meal at the €220-€250 price bracket, but look for up to €300 off the sheep men for similar products with a slightly different mineral make up.

If anyone ever hears of a farm walk on Isaac crillys farm, they might post it here. Would like to see his setup. A excellent operator by all accounts.

charolais0153

Green farmer wrote: »

That's a very Keene price ormond, do you need to add minerals etc to that for the sheep ? I can never understand why mills put plenty of options in front of the cattle men with loads of meal at the €220-€250 price bracket, but look for up to €300 off the sheep men for similar products with a slightly different mineral make up.

If anyone ever hears of a farm walk on Isaac crillys farm, they might post it here. Would like to see his setup. A excellent operator by all accounts.

Its a fair old spin up to tyrone. Looks a great spot.

orm0nd

Green farmer wrote: »

That's a very Keene price ormond, do you need to add minerals etc to that for the sheep ? I can never understand why mills put plenty of options in front of the cattle men with loads of meal at the €220-€250 price bracket, but look for up to €300 off the sheep men for similar products with a slightly different mineral make up.

If anyone ever hears of a farm walk on Isaac crillys farm, they might post it here. Would like to see his setup. A excellent operator by all accounts.

Will be adding minerals from this week. As soon as merchant is open.

Will most likely revert to a pelleted mix in a couple of weeks for convenience. We specify the ingredients and get five ton loads.

Lambman

What's the best way of treating scab? Bought in lambs for fattening and there itching a lot and odd one is losing wool? Dectomax them twice or just plunge dip them and be done with it?

MIKEKC

Lambman wrote: »

What's the best way of treating scab? Bought in lambs for fattening and there itching a lot and odd one is losing wool? Dectomax them twice or just plunge dip them and be done with it?

If numbers are large dip

stantheman1979

Lads I was just doing the figures for the year ahead and I reckon I’ll need a night lamber for 3-4 weeks. How much can I expect to pay.
Working hrs from around 9pm-7am. Duties to lamb 800 ewes indoors, pen them up, feed/suck any hungry lambs, foster on any that have singles and castrate/ tail/ spray them so I can let them out into group pens in the morning. Don’t have to feed/water/ clean out/bed pens all is done during the day. Sandwiches and tea/coffee provided. Would I get someone for €100 a night?? Or is this being optimistic or tight. I’d like to find someone that could return every year and know the set up as I’ll be increasing numbers next few yrs and know I’ll look after them. I know Frs is €13.50 p/h but they don’t have anyone with sheep experience

Buford T. Justice XIX

stantheman1979 wrote: »

Lads I was just doing the figures for the year ahead and I reckon I’ll need a night lamber for 3-4 weeks. How much can I expect to pay.
Working hrs from around 9pm-7am. Duties to lamb 800 ewes indoors, pen them up, feed/suck any hungry lambs, foster on any that have singles and castrate/ tail/ spray them so I can let them out into group pens in the morning. Don’t have to feed/water/ clean out/bed pens all is done during the day. Sandwiches and tea/coffee provided. Would I get someone for €100 a night?? Or is this being optimistic or tight. I’d like to find someone that could return every year and know the set up as I’ll be increasing numbers next few yrs and know I’ll look after them. I know Frs is €13.50 p/h but they don’t have anyone with sheep experience

Ag student or vet student from UCD? I know they used do it years ago but not so sure now.

ganmo

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Ag student or vet student from UCD? I know they used do it years ago but not so sure now.

you'd want to be prepared to hold their hand for a day or 2

Buford T. Justice XIX

ganmo wrote: »

you'd want to be prepared to hold their hand for a day or 2

Yeah, I was that lad for a while.

But in fairness, it's not rocket science. Once they have the routine shown to them, it's just going through the motions and there is normally only 1 lambing a night needing intervention and maybe 3 or 4 lambs needing much help getting going. That was in a flock of 850 ewes and they had a simple system going.

stantheman1979

We’ve a very straight forward system but I ain’t leaving a student in charge all night!!! I’m looking for someone who knows what they’re doing. Don’t want to get phone calls to come rescue them with a head back etc I was wondering what’s the going rate would €100 a night be fair, too much, too little

White Clover

stantheman1979 wrote: »

We’ve a very straight forward system but I ain’t leaving a student in charge all night!!! I’m looking for someone who knows what they’re doing. Don’t want to get phone calls to come rescue them with a head back etc I was wondering what’s the going rate would €100 a night be fair, too much, too little

Not a hope 100/night would pay the kind of lad you are looking for. He'd want 15/hr for daytime hours rising to 20/hr for night shift.

DJ98

Do any of ye take students on college placements and is so do you find it useful?

Green farmer

White Clover wrote: »

Not a hope 100/night would pay the kind of lad you are looking for. He'd want 15/hr for daytime hours rising to 20/hr for night shift.

As a sheep farmer you'd find it hard to pay out money like that, but as a fellow sheep farmer with experience, if I was looking for work like that, working those tough hours, you'd kinda want the type of money white clover is talking about. For €10 a hour, there are a lot of easier and cosier jobs out there that would be less demanding on the body.

stantheman1979

Jesus lads you’ve given me an awful shock there!!! €1400 a week to lamb a few ewes pen them up and foster on the triplets!! No heavy work at all you don’t have to pick up a fork or a bucket!! It’s 12 foot from the door of the shed they’re lambing in to the mothering shed plus grub laid on for them!!

sheepfarmer92

Exactly its not exactly tough work , find this interesting as am in a similar position myself, very hard to get some one trust worthy to take charge of sheds at night, i would have thought 10 to 12 euro per hour should be plenty along with meals

Green farmer

stantheman1979 wrote: »

Jesus lads you’ve given me an awful shock there!!! €1400 a week to lamb a few ewes pen them up and foster on the triplets!! No heavy work at all you don’t have to pick up a fork or a bucket!! It’s 12 foot from the door of the shed they’re lambing in to the mothering shed plus grub laid on for them!!

I was looking at it the other way around. If someone approached me and asked me to work 70 hours a week (all night hours) for three weeks, what would I need to do it ? Don't we pay shearers a few hundred a day. But look, you might get someone cheaper, I don't honestly know. Your looking for someone with a good head that has experience.

White Clover

These are changed times lads. A labourer on a construction site with one year's experience is getting a minimum of e17.04 per hour gross. This is signed into law. Add in prsi usc Etc and it adds up. Farming is really struggling to match pay rates in other sectors of employment.

Bleating Lamb

I think you will have to be prepared to offer at least 15 euro an hour into the hand to get someone with experience....it’s tough going lambing at night,( have done it....as will plenty of other posters here).....also the person will become more and more fatigued as the time goes on....positive from your side is that if he ‘saves’ one or two lambs each night that he is there....that nearly covers his wages already.

charolais0153

stantheman1979 wrote: »

Jesus lads you’ve given me an awful shock there!!! €1400 a week to lamb a few ewes pen them up and foster on the triplets!! No heavy work at all you don’t have to pick up a fork or a bucket!! It’s 12 foot from the door of the shed they’re lambing in to the mothering shed plus grub laid on for them!!

Most expensive part of any business sure. Would you be better off the way you are right now with the cows rather than to be putting more work on yourself thats not going to leave u anymore money

stantheman1979

Well the old man ain’t getting any younger and it was no party calving 130 cows and 800 ewes at the same time last year. Sheep are making money but just a little bit more work for 3-4 weeks in the spring.
Was thinking if I’d two students to help with feeding, clean out pens etc it would be cheaper than a night lamber and I’ll lamb nights myself do feeding and put out sheep in the morning then off to bed for a few hrs!

Green farmer

From memory, your running good maternal ewes ? I'd imagine that helps lambing a big flock like that.

stantheman1979

It’s a big help but still a lot of work for the first few weeks. I’m trying to increase numbers and increase scanning/weaning figures to increase efficiency but it ain’t easy. From my experience a sucker + calf will eat as much grass as 9 ewes+15 lambs hence the reason I’m getting rid of 80 cows and gonna try replace them with 800 ewes!! I could be mad ha ha

tomwaterford

stantheman1979 wrote: »

Jesus lads you’ve given me an awful shock there!!! €1400 a week to lamb a few ewes pen them up and foster on the triplets!! No heavy work at all you don’t have to pick up a fork or a bucket!! It’s 12 foot from the door of the shed they’re lambing in to the mothering shed plus grub laid on for them!!

1400 across 800 ewes. ...averaging 1.5 lambs each is >e1.20 a lamb



Few ould lads I know... done night time lambing nearly 25 - 30 years ago and was getting 100+ punts a night.....pay peanuts and you'll get monkeys

stantheman1979

For 3 weeks it’s €4,200 across 800 ewes scanning 1.8 is €2.92 per lamb! For 4weeks it’s €3.90 per lamb!!! Still think it’s cheap!!!

tomwaterford

stantheman1979 wrote: »

For 3 weeks it’s €4,200 across 800 ewes scanning 1.8 is €2.92 per lamb! For 4weeks it’s €3.90 per lamb!!! Still think it’s cheap!!!

It's not cheap.....but necessary.....surly 80+% will lamb over the busiest 17 days?


What % deaths would it take to be same cost?



Lads just aren't going to work nights in cold draughty sheds for peanuts anymore....and anyone who is willing to is either doing their own sheep....or idiots.

Hard Knocks

tomwaterford wrote: »

It's not cheap.....but necessary.....surly 80+% will lamb over the busiest 17 days?


What % deaths would it take to be same cost?



Lads just aren't going to work nights in cold draughty sheds for peanuts anymore....and anyone who is willing to is either doing their own sheep....or idiots.

What about the opposite, what if you did the nights & got daytime help?

tomwaterford

Hard Knocks wrote: »

What about the opposite, what if you did the nights & got daytime help?

That is an option I'd see lads could go for

stantheman1979

Yeah that’s what I said I might do get 2students for days and do nights and morning jobs myself. Let them do feeding, some lambing clean out pens, suck weak lambs etc. It would work out cheaper and easier for myself!!

serfspup

would have thought you are better to do day shift making the important turnout calls,herding etc.

shepherding is a skill an experienced shepherd is entitled to get fair pay.

on that number of ewes reduced mortality and adoptions would cover cost and give you a good nights sleep

when r u lambing?

stantheman1979

Yeah I said I am now thinking of doing night shift feeding in morning and putting out sheep before grabbing a few hours sleep. We’ve 240 lambing from 15 feb (old girls, ewes that have prolapsed been lame, had a single last yr) that I’ll fatten and sell when they’re weaned. And 780 from 10 March