Winter Housing Sheep

toquark · Jun 14, 2023

I've recently been watching a few Youtube channels from Ireland, where it seems that housing sheep over winter isn't entirely uncommon. One guy had 1000 easycare ewes over 200 acres, housing them for 4 months over the winter. He had a great modern slatted shed, he was putting fertiliser on silage fields and had a fleet of good kit. No other enterprises on farm (that was apparent anyway), it seemed the sheep were the main enterprise.

Does anyone on here do it? How does it stack up economically?

Wood field · Jun 14, 2023

We run 500 breeding ewes and 100 replacements, house 180/20
From Jan to April lambing indoors , the rest outside lambers
Currently with this weather I need to lose 20 ewes , the ground can’t take them . We should really be looking at 1 ewe to the acre !
But as we know it’s a numbers game
I should have said location and land type will be a big decider

will6910 · Jun 14, 2023

I bring ewes inside at Christmas after 6 weeks or so off winter grazing then they come home and straight inside into mesh pens. Around my part off world if u have any number sheep at all u either need to find a awful lot off winter grazing that isn’t easy in the slightest to find or house them for a length off time. Or keep alot less sheep and have neither option. Winter grazing here is £1 per sheep per week and the owner off sheep fences and checks them

Hilly · Jun 14, 2023

How big a shed for 500 ewes on slatts ??

will6910 · Jun 14, 2023

Rough guide for me on mesh is 24 big twin bearing ewes fits ln a pen that’s 16ft deep and 12ft wide. They eat around 3 sides off the pen all at once

ringi · Jun 14, 2023

I think Ireland still have lots of grants for farm buildings and equipment.

toquark · Jun 14, 2023

will6910 said:
I bring ewes inside at Christmas after 6 weeks or so off winter grazing then they come home and straight inside into mesh pens. Around my part off world if u have any number sheep at all u either need to find a awful lot off winter grazing that isn’t easy in the slightest to find or house them for a length off time. Or keep alot less sheep and have neither option. Winter grazing here is £1 per sheep per week and the owner off sheep fences and checks them

Does it stack up? It was quite impressive, but it seemed like a hell of an on-cost for Easycares which are essentially a low input breed.

will6910 · Jun 14, 2023

toquark said:
Does it stack up? It was quite impressive, but it seemed like a hell of an on-cost for Easycares which are essentially a low input breed.

Yeah it does. It’s very common over here. I don’t know actual figures off hand tho. To me it’s a high input and in theory high output to help cover the costs

unlacedgecko · Jun 14, 2023

Long read: no silage left for sheep? Then let them eat concentrates 16 February 2018 Premium

Bobthebuilder · Jun 14, 2023

@680 ewes housed December to April, scanning January, lambing last week in March

Paul86 · Jun 14, 2023

House 300 inside here on slats. Put them in around the 20th of December and lamb from the 10th of march on. Run another 200 outside. A hell of a lot less work with the ewes outside. But would have to have a lot lower stocking rate if I didn't have the sheds. Gives ground a chance to rest and there's a nice pick of grass come turn out after lambing.

Jonp · Jun 14, 2023

Smaller operation here. 120 ewes in 20 acre field with come and go as they please dirt floor shed where they can get adlib haylage from scanning at Christmas till lambing start of Feb. 50 Hoggets left out on another 50 acres. Got grass for them all to eat from mid march till it burns off in July. Down south.
Costs £20-£25 all in (haylage,straw,conc) per ewe depending on weather.
Slats would be great but can't justify cost.

ringi · Jun 14, 2023

Have anyone done a FEC at lambing time comparing their winter housed ewes with their winter outdoor ewes?

Sheep92 · Jun 15, 2023

Thats me in that video, easycares can be low output or high output depending on what way you farm them, I'm very happy with them a medium sized ewe selling 1.6 lambs with less work than other breeds. Can keep a flock closed and find the lambs easily enough finished.
Mine aren't full easycares mostly 3 quarter bred at this stage with a lot of texel cross mule and belclare back breeding
No grant got for that shed, if I went for the grant it would cost twice as much, did a lot of work myself on it.
It stacks up for me as over here nowadays there's little choice, winter grazing is ridiculously expensive for relatively poor feed.
I use very little fertiliser as I make good use if slurry
Keep ewes on straw bedded sheds in the winter too but would love to eventually go all slats.
Can check feed and bed all ewes in less than an hour ever morning and push up for golf hour in the evening so have plenty of time to other things.
I can keep costs relatively low due to having the slurry from pig units and maki g good silage
Thecost of the main shed spread over all the ewes over 10 years was easily justified

spin cycle · Jun 15, 2023

Jonp said:
Smaller operation here. 120 ewes in 20 acre field with come and go as they please dirt floor shed where they can get adlib haylage from scanning at Christmas till lambing start of Feb. 50 Hoggets left out on another 50 acres. Got grass for them all to eat from mid march till it burns off in July. Down south.
Costs £20-£25 all in (haylage,straw,conc) per ewe depending on weather.
Slats would be great but can't justify cost.

what do you do in mid July and where do you wean lambs to?

Wood field · Jun 15, 2023

Sheep92 said:
Thats me in that video, easycares can be low output or high output depending on what way you farm them, I'm very happy with them a medium sized ewe selling 1.6 lambs with less work than other breeds. Can keep a flock closed and find the lambs easily enough finished.
Mine aren't full easycares mostly 3 quarter bred at this stage with a lot of texel cross mule and belclare back breeding
No grant got for that shed, if I went for the grant it would cost twice as much, did a lot of work myself on it.
It stacks up for me as over here nowadays there's little choice, winter grazing is ridiculously expensive for relatively poor feed.
I use very little fertiliser as I make good use if slurry
Keep ewes on straw bedded sheds in the winter too but would love to eventually go all slats.
Can check feed and bed all ewes in less than an hour ever morning and push up for golf hour in the evening so have plenty of time to other things.
I can keep costs relatively low due to having the slurry from pig units and maki g good silage
Thecost of the main shed spread over all the ewes over 10 years was easily justified

Can you link to the video please , not wanting to criticise but genuinely interested in different systems
Thanks

Tamar · Jun 15, 2023

Doesn't sound very 'easy care' !!

Do the figures stack up ? All that labour, buildings and machinery...... not to mention concentrates at £400 tonne.

Horses for courses I suppose. I sooner keep mine outside 24/7 just eating grass.

Sheep92 · Jun 15, 2023

Tamar said:
Doesn't sound very 'easy care' !!

Do the figures stack up ? All that labour, buildings and machinery...... not to mention concentrates at £400 tonne.

Horses for courses I suppose. I sooner keep mine outside 24/7 just eating grass.

The wintering is the only difference to other sheep farms, as said its quite common over here where there's not much other options, it's not even a case of winter grazing being expensive, it can't even be got in my area nowadays, before yhat shed was built sheep went away for grazing, what I was paying for grazing over 7 years built the shed 55000 euro is what all cost.
A second hand feeder feeds the sheep which cost 3 grand, walk through feeders would cost a heck of a lot more and there still wouldn't be enough feed space.
It stacks up for me as I own the farm and yheres no dead money going out the gate on winter grazing. The fertility of the farm has improved drastically as has the sheep and no running g around in the winter, no risk of dog attacks either

Sheep92 · Jun 15, 2023

Wood field said:
Can you link to the video please , not wanting to criticise but genuinely interested in different systems
Thanks

I'm not sure how to do that I'll try figure it out

Wood field · Jun 15, 2023

Tamar said:
Doesn't sound very 'easy care' !!

Do the figures stack up ? All that labour, buildings and machinery...... not to mention concentrates at £400 tonne.

Horses for courses I suppose. I sooner keep mine outside 24/7 just eating grass.

I guess that depends on the ground and the grass
Housing our inbye ewes rests the ground, location is key

Winter Housing Sheep

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Up to 25%

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100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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