Username John wrote: » Ewe hoggets gone off this morning... The lorry brought ewe lambs to replace them... So, here we go again... Oh, this time next year Rodney - we'll be millionaires
Bullocks wrote: » Are you much worse off fattening rather than lambing ewes , or maybe better off even ?
Bleating Lamb wrote: » Was chatting several farmers over last few months who are switching from lambing ewes to buying in ewe lambs and selling them next year as hoggetts,mostly because they are getting on in years and have no help for lambing. Age profile of farmers in this part of Country is getting older every year (North West)....and is probably the same around the Country. Up to now you always had farmers who specialised in hoggetts but if a lot of people get out of the drudgery of lambing it will leave the hoggett market flooded and you could see a price collapse for them.
roosky wrote: » Same in a lot of parts of the country, The reality is that the price of good hoggets (160-180) is completely over the top as you would keep your own replacement for a lot less closer to 130, but lads are still willing to give a premium to avoid the hassle of keeping their own.
charolais0153 wrote: » Do u out a value on your own ewe lambs , we sell our for 130 so it'd be roughly 5Oe to keep them for the year and then you'd have to keep less ewes
Username John wrote: » Yep - this is what I'm at now, which means prices will probably collapse... I'm lucky like that Between days lost at work and a small family that the days off work should be spent on - I couldn't justify taking holidays for lambing any more... So we'll give this a go and see how we get on... Not sure I'll make my fortune at it But it suits me much better than lambing... but that's probably the exact reason plenty lads are going at it, and the reason it might all go to ****...
roosky wrote: » Realistically a ewe lamb isnt worth 130, i know someone will say i seen mule ewe lambs go for 180 but that's madness too! In my opinion they are only worth about 110 because your lambs will only average €100 unless you lamb very early at a low stocking rate. "if someone pays 150 for ewe lambs then they are worth 150", yes technically but from a completely financial point of view with the hope of making money from ewes a price of above 110 for ewe lambs or 160 for hoggets is not justifiable
Bleating Lamb wrote: » Age profile of farmers in this part of Country is getting older every year (North West)....and is probably the same around the Country. .
rangler1 wrote: » Yea two friends are buying ewe lambs at the moment, changing from lambing, If you've sold and bought in ewelambs for this year, did you make money at it.
Username John wrote: » Honest answer... Did I make money at it - YES Did I make much money at it - NOT REALLY Did I have the money I made already spent - YES Its a hobby, I don't see how anyone would make much money at it. But - if fits my lifestyle now... The big win for me, is no lambing, so no holidays lost. That saving alone, makes the hoggets far more profitable (in avoiding an opportunity loss)
charolais0153 wrote: » So you say your going to pay less for your breeding stock than the price of a fat lamb?lamb price this year has dropped almost 6 weeks later We lamb mid to late Feb ,mixed farm so half stock is ewes other half cattle, cattle let out in April.
arctictree wrote: » Where do you buy your ewe lambs? Was thinking of buying a few pure breeds at a show near me and holding them for a year. Could be an expensive buy though.
Username John wrote: » I got mine through an agent I suppose you'd say... All done over a few phone calls... They organise the purchase and delivery of ewe lambs, and the sale and collection of the ewe hoggets... It works for me, as I dont have time for marts or the likes... The one down side is, I have no idea on prices, as am not in marts. So hard for me to gauge good or bad prices...
Bleating Lamb wrote: » Appreciate it's hard for you to get time to go to a mart but you would need to trust your agent very well to be sure they would not be 'welding on' too much to the price of the ewe lambs you are buying in. Whatever they will be like price wise this time next year as hoggetts,a good ewe Lamb will be dear enough this year.Was in Manorhamilton mart today,saw Milford type ewe lambs make 104 euro,would only have been about 35 kg and imo would make hard fed sheep.
Username John wrote: » Yeah, you're right... And I suppose I do trust them to be fair. Sure I have to When buying, I am told a price per kg, plus the agents fee. So you know what you'll be paying... Then it's a matter of finding ewe lambs in the weight I want... they were a bit heavier than I'd like this year, so a small bit more money... but that's ok... And I didn't pay 104euro for lambs, I don't think I'd make much money buying lambs at that price... Tell me, what's a Milford ewe? The lambs I got are Suffolk cross, nice enough lambs to be fair...
IH784man wrote: » https://www.donedeal.ie/sheep-for-sale/suffolk-x-cheviot-hoggets/16233177 Some quality hoggets from James Alexander
Jonny303 wrote: » Anyone using the cheviot mule or the suffolk x cheviot mule?
sako 85 wrote: » We run Suffolk rams with Cheviot ewes, I find the ewe lambs from this cross make good Mother, more prolific than the pure cheviot and have good factory lambs when ran with Texel, Char or even Suffolk again. very popular in this part of the country (Wicklow)
