charolais0153 wrote: » Our sheep live on the limited ground we have. If we had 5000 acres of land we certainly wouldn't have Suffolk's!!!! Mixed farm with sucklers and sheep, how do u propose I separate the machinery costs,silage,capital,electricity,insurance,fertiliser,fencing, water supplies Lambs got roughly 25kgs each hardly pumped if u ask me spread over a few months.
123shooter wrote: » I have no idea but I should imagine that if you pumped meal in to any lambs you would get the same results but obviously you have picked the one breed which puts weight on where you want for the market you are aiming for. But the parents of these lambs require additional services as already described and all of those costs in materials and labour have to come out of your 21000 profit. These are capital costs = sheds. Material costs = feeders, equipment, foot baths and chemicals + labour, sheep dipping facilities and chemicals + labour, shearing equipment and labour. Obviously your sheep cannot live on poor ground so = ground labour and machinery and bag manure etc. Have you never taken these costs in to account to see what your actual profit margins are? Your profit margins certainly aren't 94% as you have given the impression as that would be the most profitable farm in the world I think.
charolais0153 wrote: » The easycares don't get meal to my knowledge, the rest of the costs between them should be equal enough, it would be the biggest difference would it not?
123shooter wrote: » Understand but from the details you supply you are saying 186 x 120 = 22320 with overheads of just 300 x 4.4 = 1320. So a profit of 21000...........jeez they are some sheep.:rolleyes:
charolais0153 wrote: » we scanned roughly 1.93[220] but with a bit of abortion[~20 ] we will only wean 1.63. [186]. 99 have been killed with 7 more for slaughter on monday. 50 ewe lambs for selling ranging from 40-55 kgs ,30 other lambs for slaughter yet. 4.4 tonnes of meal have been fed at 300/t. we've averaged 116.75 for lambs so far. am expecting an average of around 120 for ewe lambs. suffolk and texel ewes arent that bad :P why would i buy an easycare ram:rolleyes:
stantheman1979 wrote: » Given the price of wool we're in trouble so!!!! What a ridiculous statement. Why do we breed sheep for? I know I don't for a fleece
123shooter wrote: » 80% of sheep keeping is wool production.
Username John wrote: » But it's one days extra work (shearing) vs having lambs around for an extra few weeks maybe... Maybe an extra dose for the easy care lambs cow they are that bit longer, plus minding em for another few weeks... plus potentially less money for the east are lambs as the season goes on the price drops... As I said - am sure there is a place for them, depending on your system. But I don't think they suit everyone...
123shooter wrote: » I see......But with the extra costs and extra work are you better off or not? There must be a reason why somebody went to so much trouble?
stantheman1979 wrote: » Fail to see what you're promoting. I can't see the benefit of a ewe that scans 1.4 and produces a lamb with a 17kg carcass or a store. Is it easy care or a Wiltshire horn/Welsh u have I'm confused
Ard_MC wrote: » U run them on commonage shooter? Like heather and bog hills? Can they beat the hornys in that environment? Cant see them workin on commonage as wool shedding means mark shedding i guess?!!
123shooter wrote: » Please don't shoot. I am not promoting honestly. Me not being bought up as a sheep farmer fail to see the benefits of other sheep breeds unless you have a market for them and the facilities to keep and benefit from them. As I said I kept horny's and find these a lot better. But I admit I have never kept other breeds except the odd xcross with my hornys.
Username John wrote: » The biggest benefit is other sheep grow faster...
123shooter wrote: » I agree all sheep need attention. Are you keeping any Easycare as PB ?
stantheman1979 wrote: » Run a flock of belclare/lleyn/romney ewes. Scan 1.9. Sell 60% of my lambs at 14 weeks off grass. Land is all fenced with sheep wire/barb as we've cattle also. Sheep are shorn in Feb and need to be done to go onto the slats they would be indoors anyway so no real hassle. No real foot problems as I've culled hard and sheep get foot bathed when ever they're in the yard. Ive a few hornys/halfbreds and very very rarely had to take one outta a fence!! I've worked hard last 10 yrs to get to this stage why in the name of god would I change to these sheep you're promoting
sheepfarmer92 wrote: » Have some easycares here and are crossing them onto our 12 to 1300 ewes to breed replacements from, only been experimenting with them the last few years as a sire for ewe lambs, will start to cross them in a big way this year as looking to buy 10 easycare rams to add to the 8 we already have, ALL sheep need some attention, some more than others, i would say the fact that the easycare lambs have a higher weight gain than our texel mules, have better feet and flesh just as easily are more of an advantage, also we can fully close the flock, before we were buying in some ewes every few years to breed more replacements, the no wool thing is just a bonus, there is f**k all money in producing wool, you take the labour and time involved along with the odd ewe getting cast it all adds up, i do believe they could still get flystrike just not as easily as wooly sheep Just too add, we plan to keep using some texels as terminal on the bottom end off the ewes and breed the best to the easycare
Username John wrote: » I'll contribute, just as you said not many were (Altho I don't lamb sheep no more) From what I read on this thread - easycare are very good, in that they dont need shearing. I see this as a big plus, as having to shear is a faff... Maybe some years you make a little, other years lose a little... But if given a choice, would prefer to skip it... However... To me, this is the only real pro. The other items you mention around feet, I think as Lambman said, thats down to breeding, culling, management within your own flock. We used to have mainly Suffolks, and whilst they were known for bad feet - all ours were very good, cos we culled heard to rid ourselves of the lame ones... Maybe a con for easycare, is growth rates vs lambs a terminal ram? So maybe lads would prefer to spend 1 day a year shearing, to be rid of lambs maybe a few weeks earlier? I dunno... I think they definitely have their place. But I dont think they are for everyone either, but who knows... Another point is the scan rate - now, I know this could be increased by crossing with a maternal breed, but it seems is something the easycare brings... Speaking of crossing, tell me - how hereditary is the wool shedding? If a lad got an easycare ram, and put with a Suffolk cross ewe (I say Suffolk, as a lot of the national flock have Suffolk in them) Would the resulting lambs shed their wool? Or would you need breed again off an easycare ram, for it to come through?
ganmo wrote: » To be brutally honest the pro side had so much marketing speak and con arguments wasn't any better...so I just lets yas at it. By the way wool did make money for the previous 2 years
123shooter wrote: » It may be a slow hard slog as with 99 views of the thread only 2 sheep farmers offer their views so far.
