General sheep thread

Another sponging question for those in the know please..if I sponge a grand total of 10 ewes consisting of 5 hoggets and 5 2/3 year olds..do I still need to introduce the ram to the hoggets 12 hours ahead of the rest or would it be ok to let him at them all when number is small? Thanks

I hope they do, I’m putting the ram out next week to both hoggets and ewes, I have kept them on tight grass for a while and moved them onto good grass last week so fingers crossed. It’s my first year back at sheep in years so it’s a learning curve.

Agreed, you'll be lambing for two months +

Suits with work and before the cows start calving . These were a few sheep that were bought for the kids but have kinda got out of hand a bit.

No experience at all of sponging here,out of interest do many people do it with commercial flocks?'.........or is it mainly Pedigree Breeders that do it?

If you were sponging 50 mature ewes how many rams would you need to put in with them when they are cycling?

Thanks for any feedback.

1 ram per 8 ewes,1-1.5ml of pmsg per ewe. Cost €5-€7 per ewe.Dont over dose with pmsg or you will get too many ewes with 3s and 4s

2 different societies, a byproduct of brexit I'd say.

The new Irish society http://irishsuffolksheepcompany.com/events/

the original UK society Southern Ireland branch

https://www.irishsuffolksheep.org/

Yes, you can dose with both the same day

Anyone else yet to Shear? Might be doing mine tomorrow if this evening and tonight stays dry. Fleeces are dirty due to the bad weather. Not much can be done I suppose?

Why wouldn't you shear them now?

Just another job setting up the shears to do them in September.

This way they have a nice bit on for the winter without going in the briars as they would if not done at all.

I was freeing about 6 a day from briars in 2016. None since then because I shore them.

One year i was too busy in September and they escaped me until Christmas when I did them with a handshears. 43 of the baztards. Absolute murder that I won't ever repeat.

Now they get done in July when the ewes are getting done and that's an end to it. If you change your mind, they'll sell better shorn anyway.

any Recommendation for tags for lambs? I’m currently using Cormac wrap around ones but I find the point doesn’t always pierce the ear, causing it to bend and then it’s no use

I'm surprised they are still selling them tags, there has been numerous complaints about them online and elsewhere , we modified the tagger a bit and found putting the tag up from the bottom of the ear helped

didn't re order once the batch we was used up

Ya can’t fault their big permanent tags to be fair but it’s fairly frustrating using their temporary wrap around tags

The mulinahone bubblegum tags are far better quality wrap around tags than the Cormac ones

Thanks. I’ll give them a go