how many sheep?

eorna

how many sheep will you house in a 4 bay 54x30 shed?

rancher

eorna wrote: »

how many sheep will you house in a 4 bay 54x30 shed?

Allow 12 sq ft per ewe, so for the area of your shed it would be approx. 135 ewes, however if you have a feeding passage you'll have to deduct that from the area, also if you want to feed meal in the shed you will need 1.5 ft/ewe trough space so it takes a bit of planning

eorna

roughly how much straw per week will they use?

rancher

eorna wrote: »

roughly how much straw per week will they use?

We don't use hay or silage here, I have one shed with approx 140 ewes and they are getting three quarters of a round bale barley straw plus 65kg of a 15%Protein hogget ration per day, They eat what straw they want and use the rest for bedding.

tabby aspreme

Three bales of wheaten straw per week should do them if they are on dryish silage and the shed is sheltered, you would use less if using barley straw,

tabby aspreme

rancher wrote: »

We don't use hay or silage here, I have one shed with approx 140 ewes and they are getting three quarters of a round bale barley straw plus 65kg of a 15%Protein hogget ration per day, They eat what straw they want and use the rest for bedding.

That seems a great system, and would not be costing any more than silage, to what level would you raise the meal in the run up to lambing

rancher

tabby aspreme wrote: »

That seems a great system, and would not be costing any more than silage, to what level would you raise the meal in the run up to lambing

1.25kg/day of an 18% ewe ration in three feeds to doubles and triplets, .9kg to singles, it's a handy system, bed stays dry so less foot problems, don't have to worry about listeria from clay in silage but it will be expensive this year but isn't everything

tabby aspreme

If the 140 ewes were on a bale of silage a day and .5 kg of meal as mine will be there wouldn't be much difference in cost when bedding is included, The difference with the meal is you see the total cost on a piece of paper in front of you unlike when you have your own silage.
With the meal system do you have less prolapse due to less bulk in the feed

rancher

tabby aspreme wrote: »

If the 140 ewes were on a bale of silage a day and .5 kg of meal as mine will be there wouldn't be much difference in cost when bedding is included, The difference with the meal is you see the total cost on a piece of paper in front of you unlike when you have your own silage.
With the meal system do you have less prolapse due to less bulk in the feed

I wouldn't get a lot of prolapse, maybe 10 out of 500, but it has improved since I stopped using silage. Texel cross are prone to prolapses.
I like the straw/meal system, sheep do well on it, loads of colostrum at birth, and no muck around the sheds, win, win.
Was at a sheep seminar last week where the sheep manager of the UCD farm in Lyons said to spread the silage in the fields rather than putting through the sheep first, such is the quality of the silage this year

eorna

interesting system rancher..i'd say saves a lot of hassle with silage, spreading fert, when to cut, wet bales, badly preserved bales and whatever you are having yourself....
Mine are in silage at the moment and will be getting meal 5-6 weeks before lambing ..
will house sheep earlier (normally i only bring them in for lambing) this year so want to make sure have enough straw..2 bales a week is more likely what they'll get around here ..

rancher

eorna wrote: »

interesting system rancher..i'd say saves a lot of hassle with silage, spreading fert, when to cut, wet bales, badly preserved bales and whatever you are having yourself....
Mine are in silage at the moment and will be getting meal 5-6 weeks before lambing ..
will house sheep earlier (normally i only bring them in for lambing) this year so want to make sure have enough straw..2 bales a week is more likely what they'll get around here ..

How many sheep....
If they aren't bedded properly, they will be prone to footrot which will spread very quickly through them