Irish sheep farms

roosky

Hi all,

Im doing a bit of research for college and its on Irish sheep farms.

so I have to distribute a survey to sheep farmers and have a look at stuff like do ye house your sheep, what sort of housing, when do ye house, when do ye lamb, do ye feed ewes meal before/after lambing and all that sort of thing.

My plan is do let the farmers do this anonomosly so they don't feel they will be telling all thier little secrets to the world!

What do ye think should be included to get a better picture of how sheep farms are run by the ordinary farmer as I dont want to work off data from the "better farms" as these farms are run to look good and aren't really representitve of the rest of us "ordinary" sheep farmers.

Thanks for any input

Molly Bawn

I would suggest you might get information from Sheep Ireland - ask the sheep farmers ( I am one!) about sheep breeds, which kind of rams produce the best factory lamb, or which ram is the best sire for getting good mothers for their own flock - YOu could also ask how much their flock numbers changed over the last ten years... the lambing percentage per ewe and do they breed or buy their replacements for their flock. Do they rear pet lambs and if so how many per year. How do they sell their lambs as stores or finished ... what do they think of marts, and if they prefer to take lambs to be killed in the factory.

roosky

thanks "molly" there really is a hundred and 1 questions you could ask iisnt there !

I think a good one will be how have your numbers changed in last ten and how will they change in the next five

Wooly Admirer

Much of the info you are looking for is already provided by the national farm survey - http://www.teagasc.ie/nfs/FilterResults.aspx

You'll find info on the movement in sheep numbers if you go to the Departments website - http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/animalhealthwelfare/animalidentificationmovement/sheepgoatcensus/