Starting up in farming, calves or sheep?

The grim

Hi all . how did this go for ye ?? We started farming 1 year ago with Calfs ... But were thinking of moving to sheep this year has anyone any advice for us ??

case5130

The grim wrote: »

Hi all . how did this go for ye ?? We started farming 1 year ago with Calfs ... But were thinking of moving to sheep this year has anyone any advice for us ??

Have good fences and paddock system for grazing ...if you go lambing ewes you be bust for a month and after that a odd day here and there ...best bit a money u can spend is on a good race system for dosing or checking ewes and regular foot bathing will help prevent too much hassle

The grim

case5130 wrote: »

Have good fences and paddock system for grazing ...if you go lambing ewes you be bust for a month and after that a odd day here and there ...best bit a money u can spend is on a good race system for dosing or checking ewes and regular foot bathing will help prevent too much hassle

Thanks for reply
1. So a good race for them any you can recommended ? Styles types ? Any images or drawings u could post ???
2. Are they in small 5acre padocks or d run of the field or ??
3. When u say a foot bath is that something made or purchased ?
Sorry for all d questions but I just don't know enough about them

Buford T. Justice XIX

The grim wrote: »

Thanks for reply
1. So a good race for them any you can recommended ? Styles types ? Any images or drawings u could post ???
2. Are they in small 5acre padocks or d run of the field or ??
3. When u say a foot bath is that something made or purchased ?
Sorry for all d questions but I just don't know enough about them

A race is a crush for sheep

Handy for dosing or sorting but they would be out of your reach starting off probably. Footbaths are shallow plastic tanks for putting in the floor of the race to treat sheep for foot problems and prevent them by letting them stand there for a while.

Your most important thing with sheep is fencing! lots of it and well secured to keep them in and after that is done, paddocks and water in
each one.

This thread is probably more suited for the sheep forum for advice on sheep. I can move it there for you if you like or leave it here for a day or two before moving?

case5130

The grim wrote: »

Thanks for reply
1. So a good race for them any you can recommended ? Styles types ? Any images or drawings u could post ???
2. Are they in small 5acre padocks or d run of the field or ??
3. When u say a foot bath is that something made or purchased ?
Sorry for all d questions but I just don't know enough about them

Use the race to footbath just use a KFC plastics bath .. depending on your stocking numbers the size sounds ok just don't want the grass to get to long ahead of them and want to make sure the clean the paddocks out ..will allow u to creep the lambs ahead the ewes

Race depends on your set up I've one set up in middle of my land but that's just what suits me some thing like this http://www.odonovaneng.ie/product/economy-sheep-race/ be handy

Username John

The grim wrote: »

Thanks for reply
1. So a good race for them any you can recommended ? Styles types ? Any images or drawings u could post ???
2. Are they in small 5acre padocks or d run of the field or ??
3. When u say a foot bath is that something made or purchased ?
Sorry for all d questions but I just don't know enough about them

Do you like sheep and working with em?

That's the biggest thing to find out.

There isn't much to do with en, if minded. But you will still be handling em a lot more often than cattle. So you need to work out if you like working with em or not...

davidk1394

Have both sheep and calves here. Theres a lot less work with the calves and less costs involved with setting up. Maybe buy a few store lambs first and see if you like working with them. Sheep aren't everyone's cup of tea and can test the most patient of people