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sheep farming

  • 02-11-2012 08:52PM
    #1
    Cloonara Flyer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26 ✭


    hello,

    we are thinking about expanding our farm , we currently have 130 ewes but we want to expand it to about 500 ewes
    what is the best way to do this ?
    will they leave money ?
    we will have to take 100acres of land
    what is the best breed of sheep and will they leave money ?

    thank you


Comments

  • #2
    paddysdream
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,796 ✭✭✭paddysdream


    Cloonara Flyer wrote: »
    hello,

    we are thinking about expanding our farm , we currently have 130 ewes but we want to expand it to about 500 ewes

    what is the best way to do this ?Win the lotto!Seriously though do you want to do this over a short space of time or gradually?Cheapest and easiest way is to keep as many suitable ewe lambs of your own as you can for a few years plus buy in some more lambs in the autumn(keeping only your own will not be enough to increase numbers by any meaningful amount).Do not be tempted to keep old ewes for"just one more year" as with 130 ewes you can manage them but at 500+ they will be a disaster(been there done that!never again)
    This year hoggets werent that cheap but in times past I used to buy a good few in Sept. and Oct. and always found them to be the best sheep to purchase in the long term.Decent ewe lambs (45kg plus) (anything bar half Char.) put them with ram for 3 to 4 weeks late october early november .
    Always found that having a lamb (dead or alive)wheater she reared it or not made them a much easier ewe to farm the following year.Old ewes often look cheap to buy and keep for a year but they can fall asunder very quickly under pressure in the spring


    will they leave money ?Yes more than any dry cattle system or sucklers.
    Expense aint huge and cashflow is improved ie selling lambs from may till christmas
    we will have to take 100acres of land .Why ?
    what is the best breed of sheep and will they leave money ? How long is a piece of string? Every type has its merits depending on land type system etc etc.For example I keep a mixture of Borris type (cheviot x suffolk) and half texel ewes and it suits me(good dry lowland land) with charollais texel and suffolk rams Some people love belclares more think they are very hard to finish esp. late wethers.More love whites ie cheviots and others hate them

    thank you
    m


  • #3
    DMAXMAN
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 328 ✭✭DMAXMAN


    Cloonara Flyer wrote: »
    hello,

    we are thinking about expanding our farm , we currently have 130 ewes but we want to expand it to about 500 ewes
    what is the best way to do this ?
    will they leave money ?
    we will have to take 100acres of land
    what is the best breed of sheep and will they leave money ?

    thank you
    sheep probably give as good a return on your investment if not better than any other enterprise. low cost to enter and a ewe will pay for herself in the first year almost (1.5 lambs sold/ewe).as regards going to 500 ewes i would question whether you will make any more money for more work. i have seen lots of people around here doing similar and getting very sick of sheep very qiuck. also land very heavily stocked with sheep gets sick of sheep.finally i will give you a quote from an accountant"someone with 150 ewes makes money, someone with 500 makes no more".


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