Any Sheep Farmers out there??????

oldhead

Hello all,

I have been finishing cattle now for the last few years after taking over family farm, however i am getting really fustrated having to spent so much every year to buy in stock etc, etc. I was thinking of giving sheep a go on some land away from the farm to see what they like, there seems to be a quicker return out of them anyway, i know there more work in them, but dont mind work. I know a few people in sheep, but am looking for an outside opinion..............

Am I mad in the head???????????

epfff

oldhead wrote: »

Hello all,

I have been finishing cattle now for the last few years after taking over family farm, however i am getting really fustrated having to spent so much every year to buy in stock etc, etc. I was thinking of giving sheep a go on some land away from the farm to see what they like, there seems to be a quicker return out of them anyway, i know there more work in them, but dont mind work. I know a few people in sheep, but am looking for an outside opinion..............

Am I mad in the head???????????

yes you are
1.you better have good fences and understanding neighbours
2.sheep are labour intensive even with a good set up
3.you will handle a lot of them to handle any real money

Farmer Pudsey

oldhead wrote: »

Hello all,

I have been finishing cattle now for the last few years after taking over family farm, however i am getting really fustrated having to spent so much every year to buy in stock etc, etc. I was thinking of giving sheep a go on some land away from the farm to see what they like, there seems to be a quicker return out of them anyway, i know there more work in them, but dont mind work. I know a few people in sheep, but am looking for an outside opinion..............

Am I mad in the head???????????

If you do you better do it in the home farm it a pure b###ax lying in a ditch waiting to shoot a dog or a fox or calling there 3-5 times a day during lambing. Having said that I know where you are coming from after dairying sheep if done right are the next most profitable farming system and dosen't require the capital investment that cattle or tillage require. Yes fencing is an issue but is a once off investment

rancher

oldhead wrote: »

Hello all,

I have been finishing cattle now for the last few years after taking over family farm, however i am getting really fustrated having to spent so much every year to buy in stock etc, etc. I was thinking of giving sheep a go on some land away from the farm to see what they like, there seems to be a quicker return out of them anyway, i know there more work in them, but dont mind work. I know a few people in sheep, but am looking for an outside opinion..............

Am I mad in the head???????????

Good time to get into sheep now too, hoggets can be got for 120 to 150 or maybe less, they will gross that back in the first year and you'll still have your ewe, her costs for the year should be less than 50 euros.....has to be worth a shot. Keeping a ewe to the acre with cattle on a lowland farm is very efficient with a huge opportunity to reduce costs for the sheep

foxylock

I agree it's well worth a shot but put a bit of time and money into fencing, handling facilities and a good dog. The dog is my next purchase...... I just can't run anymore!!

oldhead

many thanks to ye all for yer thoughts, im still thinking on what to do, hard times call for hard measures, feed is gone throu the roof, harder and harder to turn a few euro for us all in this weather. just started abit of draining and clearing at the minute so i will have to see what left in the cheque book. never seen the land this bad before, its unreal, we all in the same boat

simx

oldhead wrote: »

many thanks to ye all for yer thoughts, im still thinking on what to do, hard times call for hard measures, feed is gone throu the roof, harder and harder to turn a few euro for us all in this weather. just started abit of draining and clearing at the minute so i will have to see what left in the cheque book. never seen the land this bad before, its unreal, we all in the same boat

i was thinking the same this year but more because at the time when i bought 12 ewes you wouldnt buy more than 2 stores,put 2 strands of wire around 2 small paddocks and thats fenced for them now,they must of been used to elec fence before i got them so happy days,bit of a b***x having to buy a ram now but ya have to start somewhere next year i might buy another bunch or if it dont work out sell them

Username John

simx wrote: »

i was thinking the same this year but more because at the time when i bought 12 ewes you wouldnt buy more than 2 stores,put 2 strands of wire around 2 small paddocks and thats fenced for them now,they must of been used to elec fence before i got them so happy days,bit of a b***x having to buy a ram now but ya have to start somewhere next year i might buy another bunch or if it dont work out sell them

The very best of luck to you Simx. What kinda ram will you put on them?

bb12

i come from generations of sheep farmers. just be aware that there's a lot of hard work and learning involved. even these days i'm shocked by the lack of knowledge of some fellow sheep farmers, which seems to come naturally to my family. but then again we have it in our blood at this point.

your biggest problem will be learning how to deal with sick sheep. i think most novice sheep farmers will have big losses through illness and not recognising the symptoms of the many illnesses they get.

do your research and talk to a lot of well established sheep farmers first.

Username John

bb12 wrote: »

i come from generations of sheep farmers. just be aware that there's a lot of hard work and learning involved. even these days i'm shocked by the lack of knowledge of some fellow sheep farmers, which seems to come naturally to my family. but then again we have it in our blood at this point.

your biggest problem will be learning how to deal with sick sheep. i think most novice sheep farmers will have big losses through illness and not recognising the symptoms of the many illnesses they get.

do your research and talk to a lot of well established sheep farmers first.

Hello bb12,

I am a novice sheep farmer, so am interested in learning as much as I can. What in your experience are the major illnesses, and the associated symptoms and treatments?
Thanks

simx

Username John wrote: »

The very best of luck to you Simx. What kinda ram will you put on them?

was thinking texel

bb12

Username John wrote: »

Hello bb12,

I am a novice sheep farmer, so am interested in learning as much as I can. What in your experience are the major illnesses, and the associated symptoms and treatments?
Thanks

To be honest i'd be here all day trying to list them off! Google will be your friend here as well as any old sheep farmers in your area.

Besides the standard injections, pen, strep etc, you should always have a handy supply of glucose, porridge oats and bicarbonate of soda on hand for when they go off their feed. Keeping the rumen ticking over will save many a sheep cos once the gut stops they're pretty much gonners. The bicarb helps even out the acid in the stomach...it needs to be alkaline. What you gonna do to entice them back to their appetities in the middle of winter when there's no greenery around? One of my local sheep farmers had never heard of feeding ivy to sick sheep...again things like that have saved many of mine.

The thing with sheep is that it's not worth getting the vet for sick ones cos one vet visit would prob cost more than the animal itself...well it is with the price the vets charge around here (north co dublin). so you really need to concentrate your efforts on how to medicate and mend your own animals. the only time we use vets is if we need a quick post mortem if we've lost a few in a row and don't know the cause.

Username John

bb12 wrote: »

To be honest i'd be here all day trying to list them off! Google will be your friend here as well as any old sheep farmers in your area.

Besides the standard injections, pen, strep etc, you should always have a handy supply of glucose, porridge oats and bicarbonate of soda on hand for when they go off their feed. Keeping the rumen ticking over will save many a sheep cos once the gut stops they're pretty much gonners. The bicarb helps even out the acid in the stomach...it needs to be alkaline. What you gonna do to entice them back to their appetities in the middle of winter when there's no greenery around? One of my local sheep farmers had never heard of feeding ivy to sick sheep...again things like that have saved many of mine.

The thing with sheep is that it's not worth getting the vet for sick ones cos one vet visit would prob cost more than the animal itself...well it is with the price the vets charge around here (north co dublin). so you really need to concentrate your efforts on how to medicate and mend your own animals. the only time we use vets is if we need a quick post mortem if we've lost a few in a row and don't know the cause.

The bicarbonate of soda is new to me - tell me more...

Username John

simx wrote: »

was thinking texel

As I said - I am only a novice, so prob not the best person to be taking any heed of
I see from another thread tis hoggets you have, I dunno is Texel easily lambed? We never had em, so I cant comment, but they look like they could have blocky enough heads and shoulders for lambing...

But its all in the feeding pre-lambing though I suppose...

bb12

Username John wrote: »

The bicarbonate of soda is new to me - tell me more...

it de-acidfies the rumen...for when they've overloaded on feed or if the stomach has generally stopped working...the worst thing they can have is too much acid floating around down there. mix a tablespoon with water in a 50ml syringe and dose as necessary.

rancher

Username John wrote: »

Hello bb12,

I am a novice sheep farmer, so am interested in learning as much as I can. What in your experience are the major illnesses, and the associated symptoms and treatments?
Thanks

A lot of scaremongering going on here, sheep are a lot hardier than is reflected here.These are the the things I feel are important,
Profit is driven by litter size and abortion storm can take out up to 40- 50% of your lambs so vaccination with toxovax and enzovax is a great insurance also vaccinate with an a chlostridial vaccine.
Feed well at mating, maintenance only diet in months2+ 3 of pregnancy, and then feed well in months 4+5, scan at 100 days and divide singles and multiples at least and feed multiples very well.
This is all simple stuff, but if you follow these points, major illnesses should be few and far between,

Username John

rancher wrote: »

A lot of scaremongering going on here, sheep are a lot hardier than is reflected here.These are the the things I feel are important,
Profit is driven by litter size and abortion storm can take out up to 40- 50% of your lambs so vaccination with toxovax and enzovax is a great insurance also vaccinate with an a chlostridial vaccine.
Feed well at mating, maintenance only diet in months2+ 3 of pregnancy, and then feed well in months 4+5, scan at 100 days and divide singles and multiples at least and feed multiples very well.
This is all simple stuff, but if you follow these points, major illnesses should be few and far between,

Hi rancher,
How are you?
I must vaccinate for toxo & enzootic this year, had bad luck last year... When should these be administered? There was an article in the journal about it a few weeks ago, but I can't find it.
I have rang the vet, as it can only be got on prescription, but just wondering if you know the time period premating to administer. I haven't given it before.
Thanks.

rancher

Username John wrote: »

Hi rancher,
How are you?
I must vaccinate for toxo & enzootic this year, had bad luck last year... When should these be administered? There was an article in the journal about it a few weeks ago, but I can't find it.
I have rang the vet, as it can only be got on prescription, but just wondering if you know the time period premating to administer. I haven't given it before.
Thanks.

At least 30 days before mating, takes about 10 days to get it, so you need to order 6 weeks before mating, toxovac has to be used within a 2-3 days of getting it, enzootic abortion can occur for a couple years after starting a vaccine program, but will eventually disappear, enzovac doesn't work on a ewe that's already infected