Advice on flock expansion

cattle man

Far play Eddie. Expanded here as well have 70 ewe lambs kept and going to buy hoggets in next week or two had a similar figure as yourself in mind at the end of the day if you can have your money back in less than 12 months and still great sheep it's money well spend. You wouldn't get the same return out of cattle that's for sure.

What's going to be your vaccinations program bringing them into the flock toxo Enzo ???

hedgecutting eddie

cattle man wrote: »

Far play Eddie. Expanded here as well have 70 ewe lambs kept and going to buy hoggets in next week or two had a similar figure as yourself in mind at the end of the day if you can have your money back in less than 12 months and still great sheep it's money well spend. You wouldn't get the same return out of cattle that's for sure.

What's going to be your vaccinations program bringing them into the flock toxo Enzo ???

Was thinkin doin them for enzo may have a chat with de vet ,have 30 homebred hoggets this year 2

tomwaterford

hedgecutting eddie wrote: »

Tops made €248 ,the way I think is one cast ewe plus one lamb to buy a hogget so €100+€100

At e50-60 a head profit....those sheep will be 5 years old when they breakeven


Am I missing something here....not knocking you or anything.
But you need only look at any of the dairy threads to read tales of lads going head long into expansion with little regard for the calculator and the tale of woe that be sets them

weatherbyfoxer

Lano Lynn wrote: »

200 euro a head is 156 in old money......what would you get in store beef or weanlings and which has the better odds at making a PROFIT sheep or beef?

good on ya eddie for a few quid extra you are happy with what you got and I hope the seller is reasonably happy.

Sorry but if there is odds at making profit out of a 200 euro hogget I'm missing something..granted you'll have very stylish ewes and are garenteed quality...but it's the most expensive way of expanding a flock....maybe it's just me being a tight f##ker but when most lambs are making under €100 at the moment wouldn't drive me to spend huge money on hoggets

ganmo

Lano Lynn wrote: »

200 euro a head is 156 in old money......what would you get in store beef or weanlings and which has the better odds at making a PROFIT sheep or beef?

good on ya eddie for a few quid extra you are happy with what you got and I hope the seller is reasonably happy.

not too many ppl still working in punts, except the factories. I worked to out a while back that they are still paying the same rate as they were when they were paying for lbs

hedgecutting eddie

Ok sold half of my culls today in Kk mart 20 fat ewes didn't get meal mixture of broken mouths and bad udders got €110 that will take the pinch out of de hoggets

hedgecutting eddie

tomwaterford wrote: »

At e50-60 a head profit....those sheep will be 5 years old when they breakeven


Am I missing something here....not knocking you or anything.
But you need only look at any of the dairy threads to read tales of lads going head long into expansion with little regard for the calculator and the tale of woe that be sets them

Don't worry I'm well able to use a calculator every farm is different and all I look at is my farm and this is wat works de best for me

arctictree

Looking to buy in a load of ewe lambs myself and then will decide next year wether to put them in lamb or sell them. Hard to find good quality though as most farmers keep the good breeding stock to themselves.

Username John

hedgecutting eddie wrote: »

Ok sold half of my culls today in Kk mart 20 fat ewes didn't get meal mixture of broken mouths and bad udders got €110 that will take the pinch out of de hoggets

That's a great price for old ewes Eddie... They must have been in very good condition. I weaned mine a few weeks ago, and they are all still thin enough...

charolais0153

hedgecutting eddie wrote: »

Don't worry I'm well able to use a calculator every farm is different and all I look at is my farm and this is wat works de best for me

He he, will have 30 ewe lambs to sell out of 35 the best 5 will be kept circa 7-8 KGS heavier and out of better ewes and buy in a few hoggetts to keep the numbers increasing slightly

sea12

Username John wrote: »

You're right. It is, an fair play to Eddie, he put it up. Am sure they are top quality, not knocking em...
I pose am just saying I'd be a bit mane-er is all

Anyways, am selling up my few ewes and giving up lambing... And I sold some nice cheviot hoggets for a bit less than 200, so maybe I'm thinking of that too

John your post got lost in the excitement of the 200 euro hoggets. Did you sell your in mart or sell as a job lot. Planning on doing the same as yourself. Family commitments mean I will have to stop lambing for a year or two.
What's the mart price for 3-4 year old ewes

cattle man

What's people's opinions on vaccinations for toxo and Enzo in an expanding flock where you are buying in a large number of hoggets ?
Cost is 4 euro per vaccine 8 euro in total per ewe.
Plan on going from 140-250 ewes buy purchasing in mostly hoggets this year ?

Advice appreciated.

Green farmer

sea12 wrote: »

John your post got lost in the excitement of the 200 euro hoggets. Did you sell your in mart or sell as a job lot. Planning on doing the same as yourself. Family commitments mean I will have to stop lambing for a year or two.
What's the mart price for 3-4 year old ewes

You giving up sheep or just lambing John ? And going down stores route ? Heard of 3-4 yr olds making €120 in a clearance sale last week. I prefer ewe lambs myself unless their genuine. Throw the ram at them and you can kill any that don't go in lamb in spring if market is right.

Username John

Green farmer wrote: »

You giving up sheep or just lambing John ? And going down stores route ? Heard of 3-4 yr olds making €120 in a clearance sale last week. I prefer ewe lambs myself unless their genuine. Throw the ram at them and you can kill any that don't go in lamb in spring if market is right.

Hello,

Giving up lambing for a while anyways. Family is growing, new addition due in Jan :)

So time is coming under pressure, so will stop lambing for a while...

Bought some ewe lambs last week - well, no, I had some ewe lambs bought for me, is more accurate.
~30kgs, paid ~70euro
Mostly suffolk cross lambs, black-ish faces, but with a bit of speckle through em, nice ewe lambs I think... A few charolais in there which I could have done without, will prob sell those fat in Spring...

Sold some old ewes, but still good enough for breeding. They were a bit of a mixed bag, 3 - 5 years old... Sold em for 95euro. Maybe would have done better in the mart with em, but some were thin to be fair. Also, the lad came and collected em and that was that, which works better for me.

The rest of the ewes I'll factory later in the year when they are heavier...

So yeah, we'll see how we do with the ewe lambs now...

Green farmer

Username John wrote: »

Hello,

Giving up lambing for a while anyways. Family is growing, new addition due in Jan :)

So time is coming under pressure, so will stop lambing for a while

So yeah, we'll see how we do with the ewe lambs now...

Congrats John, you'll still be kept busy next spring, and at the same time keep the interest going with the ewes lambs. Nothing wrong if you can double the money by letting them roam around the field for a year.

Westernrock

cattle man
Registered User
What's people's opinions on vaccinations for toxo and Enzo in an expanding flock where you are buying in a large number of hoggets ?
Cost is 4 euro per vaccine 8 euro in total per ewe.
Plan on going from 140-250 ewes buy purchasing in mostly hoggets this year ?

Advice appreciated

The vaccine is cheap compared to abortions.
With hoggets making the prices mentioned it would be mad not to do them, big expense the first year if your expanding but their done for life with one shot so in the long run well worth it.
If you can keep bought in ewes separate from your main flock until after lambing that would be the ideal but might not work in everyones case.

early_riser

Expanded here in the spring time, was lucky the way things worked out as had nice bit of grass in reseeded field when no one had much grass and i was able to buy ewes with lambs at foot for reasonable money. Bought mostly young ewes and when the lamb is sold off them it will leave the ewe cheap. Bought 10 speckle and 10 leyn hoggets the same day both pens had 12 lambs at foot and paid 200 for the speckle face and 190 for the leyn. Most of the lambs sold and averged 85-90. Hoggets weaned over a month and are as good as my own dry hoggets

Siamsa Sessions

early_riser wrote: »

Expanded here in the spring time, was lucky the way things worked out as had nice bit of grass in reseeded field when no one had much grass and i was able to buy ewes with lambs at foot for reasonable money. Bought mostly young ewes and when the lamb is sold off them it will leave the ewe cheap. Bought 10 speckle and 10 leyn hoggets the same day both pens had 12 lambs at foot and paid 200 for the speckle face and 190 for the leyn. Most of the lambs sold and averged 85-90. Hoggets weaned over a month and are as good as my own dry hoggets

We did something similar - bought young sheep with lambs at foot. Got them in May so late enough lambs but going down this route suits where we're at building up numbers.

greysides

cattle man wrote: »

What's people's opinions on vaccinations for toxo and Enzo in an expanding flock where you are buying in a large number of hoggets ?
Cost is 4 euro per vaccine 8 euro in total per ewe.
Plan on going from 140-250 ewes buy purchasing in mostly hoggets this year ?

Advice appreciated.

My view would be you'd be crazy not to vaccinate for Enzo. Toxoplasmosis would be picked up while pregnant so vaccination would depend on where they were then and the likelihood of infection being present.