Some basic advice needed - sheep and water

TippBarBar

I have recently come into a small holding of land - 26 acres. 12 acres would be good if hilly land and 14 acres would be average but hilly land. The land is on the side of a high hill in Tipperary and stretches from the bottom almost to the top. It has been abandoned (some small grazing happening by horses) for the last 3-4 years but before that it was good sheep land but with a bit of furze/gorse established in places. Today the gorse is well established in 20% of the holding with small pockets of it elsewhere. There are meadow grasses mixed in with some thistles and docks and young briars and young gorse on 60% of the land and 20% covered in young native irish trees.

The land is quite wet during the winter but drains off at a reasonable speed. Today the land is quite dry. This year so far nothing has been done with the land so it has quite long grass.

I wanted to buy some hoggets for grazing the land but dont see how i can supply them with water. How do you get water to sheep up the side of a steep hill?

In addition i am working in Dublin and can only visit the sheep every weekend or other weekend. Do they need a lot of TLC? Will they be stolen if i am not around to keep an eye on them?

Any feedback is appreciated to someone quite new to this? I dont want to have to sell the land or plant forestery.

arctictree

Get the land cleaned up, fence it well and you should be good to go. The cheapest water solution is an IBC tank connected to a trough. Dry Hoggets drink very little. I have about 30 Hoggets in a 3 acre field at the moment with a bucket of water in the corner and they hardly touch it.

TippBarBar

Thanks for the information - it is really helpful.

One or two other questions
1) Will sheep eat gorse or young briars? I read an article that in times gone by gorse was fed to sheep and cows during the winter and was much more valued than hay.
2) Is Theft of sheep common - should i organise with a neighbour to keep an eye on them for me. A lot of the local farmers also keep sheep.

arctictree

TippBarBar wrote: »

Thanks for the information - it is really helpful.

One or two other questions
1) Will sheep eat gorse or young briars? I read an article that in times gone by gorse was fed to sheep and cows during the winter and was much more valued than hay.
2) Is Theft of sheep common - should i organise with a neighbour to keep an eye on them for me. A lot of the local farmers also keep sheep.

Sheep will eat briars (blackberry bushes) but they won't eat gorse.

I wouldn't worry about sheep theft as there is nothing you can do about it. I'd be more concerned about dog attacks or dangers in the field (e.g. getting stuck in a fence or briars). I check my fields every day but I know a lot of farmers wouldn't.

wrangler

arctictree wrote: »

Sheep will eat briars (blackberry bushes) but they won't eat gorse.

I wouldn't worry about sheep theft as there is nothing you can do about it. I'd be more concerned about dog attacks or dangers in the field (e.g. getting stuck in a fence or briars). I check my fields every day but I know a lot of farmers wouldn't.

FBD do insurance against livestock theft, premium was only .1% of their value, i thought it was good value

Nekarsulm

As far as I know , Gorse (or Whins, as they are known around here) were fed to animals in the distant past.
But they were cut and ground up by hand first.
There is a stone lying at our place that I was told by the father was a "whin stone", basically a circular stone about 18 inches across and the same in height.
There is a bowl shaped depression in the top, and it was used like a morter and pestel to grind up the greenery.
The wooden club used was known as a "beetle" around here anyway.

Nothing will eat them growing in the field.
Grub them up with a digger and hit the re-growth with Brushwood Killer.

TippBarBar

i really appreciate all of the feedback. It is incredibly helpful. One or two other questions.

1) On hilly ground which has been cleared and where growth is good - it is south west facing - how many sheep per acre should i be looking at putting in.
2) I am looking at putting young dry hoggets on the land and selling them in October. What kind of money can you make per hogget or is this like asking how long is a piece of string.
3) With the gorse i was looking at recovering the solid wood and pulping the remainder for feed with a shredding machine. Depending on how it went i might try overwinter some of the hoggets. Anyone ever fed sheep like this. Should i house them or leave them out for the winter. I have some out buildings where i can overwinter them but wont be around except at weekends.

ganmo

Housing them would need daily or twice daily checking so probably a non runner for you.
If kept outside there might be enough forage up on the hill for them over the winter but if not a bale of hay or silage once a week would keep them goin