Keeping Ewe costings

Hello.

Would anyone be willing to share there true costings for keeping a ewe for a year? We are considering putting on a ewe flock and are just working through numbers at the moment to see if it’s a viable enterprise.

We are thinking -
500 Blackface ewes/blueface leister rams
Lambing outside April
Ewe lambs sold for breeding
Wether lambs finished on kale feb onwards
Ground is all owned no renting.

Any costing would be much appreciated. Many thanks.
 

Guleesh

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Isle of Skye
Hello.

Would anyone be willing to share there true costings for keeping a ewe for a year? We are considering putting on a ewe flock and are just working through numbers at the moment to see if it’s a viable enterprise.

We are thinking -
500 Blackface ewes/blueface leister rams
Lambing outside April
Ewe lambs sold for breeding
Wether lambs finished on kale feb onwards
Ground is all owned no renting.

Any costing would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

The true costs are your finances, health and sanity.
 

JSmith

Member
Livestock Farmer
If your milking cows as the name suggests, why make life even harder!! Every time you have the idea about your own flock go an kick a door post with no shoes on an that’s about the general feeling you’ll have when you own sheep!! Rent the keep out take the money, look at the sheep but don’t have the sh1t that goes with owning them!! 👌
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
Costings: £40/ewe/year excluding labour the sheep have to pay their own rent at £30/year,
Vet/med/mineral blocks/consumables £10/ewe/year..
Labour comes to circa £23/ewe which includes all labour costs for the year including fencing, arable work which isn’t much but still included as labour.

Almost a totally closed flock apart from a few rams, the rams are homebred too. Apart from a few hill farms or people with very big cheap acreages I’m not sure how other standard lowland farms would compare? I know my vet and med is considered very low almost too low by some people but I don’t do a lot of things that a lot of flocks do do.
 
Costings: £40/ewe/year excluding labour the sheep have to pay their own rent at £30/year,
Vet/med/mineral blocks/consumables £10/ewe/year..
Labour comes to circa £23/ewe which includes all labour costs for the year including fencing, arable work which isn’t much but still included as labour.

Almost a totally closed flock apart from a few rams, the rams are homebred too. Apart from a few hill farms or people with very big cheap acreages I’m not sure how other standard lowland farms would compare? I know my vet and med is considered very low almost too low by some people but I don’t do a lot of things that a lot of flocks do do.
Rent 30 for year
 

Chris123

Member
Location
Shropshire
£140 to buy as a yearling, £5 to enzo vac, dip etc couple £ share of the tup to get her in lamb, £0.60p a week over 30 weeks £18, have her scanned Feed her concentrate for her twins pre lambing another £5 then find the bugger dead the day before she’s going to lamb that will be another £15 to get rid
What we up to so far suppose can always mow the grass she would of eaten over the summer 🙈🙈🙈🙈
 
Hello.

Would anyone be willing to share there true costings for keeping a ewe for a year? We are considering putting on a ewe flock and are just working through numbers at the moment to see if it’s a viable enterprise.

We are thinking -
500 Blackface ewes/blueface leister rams
Lambing outside April
Ewe lambs sold for breeding
Wether lambs finished on kale feb onwards
Ground is all owned no renting.

Any costing would be much appreciated. Many thanks.
Why this year? .....
 

Frank-the-Wool

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
No one has mentioned depreciation!!
I would guess that even Blackface ewes this year will be serious money and young ones over £100, and normally down here in the culls they sell for around £35 - 45.

So if you only get 130% lambs sold out of them and replace a third every year. then annual depreciation could be in excess of £25.00. An often forgotten cost.
Those BFL rams are I am told are around a thousand each, often don't do more than a couple of seasons and doesn't include the cost of the spade!
 

Estate fencing.

Member
Livestock Farmer
No one has mentioned depreciation!!
I would guess that even Blackface ewes this year will be serious money and young ones over £100, and normally down here in the culls they sell for around £35 - 45.

So if you only get 130% lambs sold out of them and replace a third every year. then annual depreciation could be in excess of £25.00. An often forgotten cost.
Those BFL rams are I am told are around a thousand each, often don't do more than a couple of seasons and doesn't include the cost of the spade!
People always forget about the depiction. It’s massive on swales and blacky ewes.
 

sheepdogtrail

Member
Livestock Farmer
No one has mentioned depreciation!!
I would guess that even Blackface ewes this year will be serious money and young ones over £100, and normally down here in the culls they sell for around £35 - 45.

So if you only get 130% lambs sold out of them and replace a third every year. then annual depreciation could be in excess of £25.00. An often forgotten cost.
Those BFL rams are I am told are around a thousand each, often don't do more than a couple of seasons and doesn't include the cost of the spade!
I heard they would give you a spade if you purchased 2. Our first BFL ram worked for 11 years. He did not mess around. Our second BFL ram worked for 5, before I decided I did not like his lambs. Our third BFL ram is in his 5 year. He just chewed the bark off a apple tree today. He may not see his 6th year. Depends on how his lambs work out.
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
I heard they would give you a spade if you purchased 2. Our first BFL ram worked for 11 years. He did not mess around. Our second BFL ram worked for 5, before I decided I did not like his lambs. Our third BFL ram is in his 5 year. He just chewed the bark off a apple tree today. He may not see his 6th year. Depends on how his lambs work out.
surely after 6 years you’ve seen his progeny?
My homebred BFL’s are doing those sort of ages but I’ve been told a large % of the rams that go to the NSA sales don’t see christmas
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
Bugger would I be looking after a ewe for less than £23. I want more like £30 by the time you’ve lambed it.
I divided my whole labour cost/drawings by the number of ewes, I could drop the figure more if I worked solely but so many jobs are far easier with 2 people 👍🏻 Always better off to put slightly higher guestimations than lower 👍🏻
 

sheepdogtrail

Member
Livestock Farmer
surely after 6 years you’ve seen his progeny?
My homebred BFL’s are doing those sort of ages but I’ve been told a large % of the rams that go to the NSA sales don’t see christmas
Yes. I have. His harem was new this year. So how that works out I am not sure at this point. First glances are still 7 weeks away.
 

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quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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