Beginner sheep questions

Bee+

New Member
Hi,

I am interested in buying a 3.6 acre field near my house.

I'm undecided whether to rent the land as sheep grazing or get more involved. I read that it is possible to buy recently weaned lambs, feed them up on the grass and sell them in the autumn.

The field in well fenced but not subdivided. I'm happy to divide the field with fencing and will provide water and shelter.

I work from home so can check the sheep daily. I'm prepared to spend some money on a sheep trailer and any other set up costs.

Is it realistic for a novice like me to take on 5 or 10 sheep for the summer and then sell? If it goes well I'd like to eventually keep sheep all year and breed.

Any comments or advice gratefully received.
 

CornishLleyn

Member
Location
Wiltshire
Yes, eminently possible to do.

There's the legalities - you'll need to obtain a UK flock number for yourself, an SBI number from the Rural Payments Agency (even if you don't claim anything) and a holding (CPH) number for the land. None of that is arduous.

Your field size would easily support the number you're talking about, all year round if your grass is good.

I wouldn't bother buying a trailer, just get them delivered by a local farmer or haulier, you won't use it enough to justify the cost to start off with.

A lot of local colleges do short courses in husbandry, it's well worth doing one, or make friends with a local sheep farmer and offer some help, you'll learn loads.

You won't get rich, in fact you probably won't cover your costs for a long while, but you should have a lot of fun.

Select your breed carefully.
 

Bee+

New Member
Thanks for your reply. That's very encouraging.

A friend of my Mother's keeps Jacob sheep. She's happy to offer help and advice. There's also a breeder of Easy care sheep nearby. It will probably be a choice between these two (I keep hens and Bees. In my experience hybrids work best and there's generally a reason why rare breeds become rare)

I need to visit both farms and make my decision.

I've looked into courses nearby and will be following that suggestion. Likewise with legalities.

Thasks for the advice.
 

Bee+

New Member
Thanks for the welcome. I learned everything about Bees from a forum and just getting on with it. I'm happy to learn that way.

I'm not too interested in pretty sheep :)Temperament and self sufficiency are probably the characteristics at the top of my list.

I'm hoping the decision will be easier when I've met the sheep and the farmers.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Thanks for your reply. That's very encouraging.

A friend of my Mother's keeps Jacob sheep. She's happy to offer help and advice. There's also a breeder of Easy care sheep nearby. It will probably be a choice between these two (I keep hens and Bees. In my experience hybrids work best and there's generally a reason why rare breeds become rare)

I need to visit both farms and make my decision.

I've looked into courses nearby and will be following that suggestion. Likewise with legalities.

Thasks for the advice.

You'll make a good sheep farmer.(y) (I'd best don my tin hat now:whistle:).

Welcome to the forum btw.:)
 

Bee+

New Member
Oh no, I don't want to upset anyone already :):(

What I know about hens was through experience. Fancy looking hens that don't lay eggs are no good for me!

Thanks Liammogs- what you're suggesting is what I had in mind.
 

liammogs

Member
Oh no, I don't want to upset anyone already :):(

What I know about hens was through experience. Fancy looking hens that don't lay eggs are no good for me!

Thanks Liammogs- what you're suggesting is what I had in mind.

Somthing like a pen of mules etc you start going into rare or specialist breeds you close more doors than open them
 

Man_in_black

Member
Livestock Farmer
Welcome @Bee+
Where are you located/nearest market? I'd pop down there couple times and see what sells well in your area & what live buyers discriminate against.

I'm assuming (always dangerous!) that you mean to sell ( recommend putting one in your own freezer) at end of summer? If so, then choose a pen of uniformed terminal sired lambs. Depending when you buy & your handling facilities, I'd pour on straight off trailer, worm & then leave penned over night. Hopefully that way you won't need to round up again until it's time to weigh/grade or just sell.
 

Mc115reed

Member
Livestock Farmer
Personally I'd advise you to go for the Jacobs, get pedigrees and breed them yourself and go showing with them! It's great fun and the Jacob sheep society are a real friendly bunch!
 

Bee+

New Member
I'm just north of Stafford.

Terminal sired lambs sounds like a good plan for this year - but it depends how long it takes to complete the land purchase. I'm hoping the purchase will be completed by mid June. Will that be the right time to buy terminal sired lambs? If so, then yes, one option would be to by some lambs, graze them and then sell in the autumn (keeping one for the freezer)

I'll need to sort out the water supply - There's a silted well in the field (next to a fast running stream) The well is made from circular concrete pipes about 4 feet across - there's a ladder built into the side of the well. The silt is about 4 feet down from ground level. The stream is about 10 feet below the land level so I shouldn't need to dig down too far. If the well doesn't work out I'll buy an IBC and pump water into it from the stream to feed a couple of water troughs. I'll also need a hundred meters of sheep fencing to divide the field and some sheep pen arrangement for handling and a shelter. I'm guessing most of the work could be done with the sheep in the field even if it means me initially topping up the water every day by hand.

If I miss the market for lambs this year then I'll offer the grazing to a nearby farmer free of charge in return for me helping him out and doing some on the job sheep handling training with him. So plan B might be to buy some pregnant ewes in the new year and start with my own ewes / lambs next year.

At the moment I'm trying to work out whether my plan is achievable - that is to keep a half dozen ewes all year and sell their their offspring each autumn. 3.5 acres sounds like it is enough. So it comes down to what I need to learn about sheep welfare, how I comply with the regulations and have a set up which will enable me to perform all the necessary tasks.
 

Bee+

New Member
Personally I'd advise you to go for the Jacobs, get pedigrees and breed them yourself and go showing with them! It's great fun and the Jacob sheep society are a real friendly bunch!

Yes, that might be the answer. It was my original plan. I'm still undecided on the breed but having a good friend who breeds Jacobs and lives 7 miles away is probably exactly what I need.
 

CornishLleyn

Member
Location
Wiltshire
Yes, that might be the answer. It was my original plan. I'm still undecided on the breed but having a good friend who breeds Jacobs and lives 7 miles away is probably exactly what I need.

It also means you'll be able to split the cost of treatments, vaccines etc without having to buy quantities you'll never use on your own.
 

Bee+

New Member
I'm going to post back here in a weeks time when I should know whether I have bought the field and how long it will take to complete the purchase. It sounds like there are plenty of options to consider and my plan to have a few sheep seems doable. maybe more than a few :nailbiting:

I'm really grateful for the advice - As a result I've been able to do a lot more research online. Thanks everyone.:facepalm:
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
A 12v pump & IBC for water sounds ideal, assuming there's no access down to the stream for the sheep to get their own water. Unless the sheep are on dry food, or lactating, they won't drink hardly anything anyway.
No need for a shelter either, sheep are meant to live outside all year. Unless you're lambing, there's no need of a shelter.

And yes, June/July would be an ideal time to look for store lambs. There won't be many about before then anyway. The grass may be far too long for sheep grazing by then though, unless the previous owner is keeping it down.
 

Mc115reed

Member
Livestock Farmer
There's quite a few Jacob breeders in the stafford area if you decided to go down that route, my partner being one where abouts stafford are you? 3.5 acre would hold 10-15 ewes all year comfortably...
 

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