Costs to winter ewes

[Aspiring Peasants]

I'm talking about the time from tupping to lambing. Upland mostly PP no arable. The system is start lambing 1st April and house most of them from 1st Feb when they are scanned. Beltexes lambed inside, the rest turned out just before they're due to start. Feed is haylage, cake and blocks. I currently have a small number of mules scanned at 211%, mostly texel/mules at 184% and beltexes at 163%. I also bought some in lamb mule hoggs, scanned at 120%. I've read a lot on here about low costs systems based on forage crops over winter which is something I have no experience of. I've just run through what I think ours have cost over this winter and was wondering how it compares with other systems

Per ewe

Cake £10
Buckets £7
Haylage £15
Straw £5 (bit of a guess and the muck has some value)

Total £37

 

[Rich_ard]

I'm talking about the time from tupping to lambing. Upland mostly PP no arable. The system is start lambing 1st April and house most of them from 1st Feb when they are scanned. Beltexes lambed inside, the rest turned out just before they're due to start. Feed is haylage, cake and blocks. I currently have a small number of mules scanned at 211%, mostly texel/mules at 184% and beltexes at 163%. I also bought some in lamb mule hoggs, scanned at 120%. I've read a lot on here about low costs systems based on forage crops over winter which is something I have no experience of. I've just run through what I think ours have cost over this winter and was wondering how it compares with other systems

Per ewe

Cake £10
Buckets £7
Haylage £15
Straw £5 (bit of a guess and the muck has some value)

Total £37

What dates does that cover? Have you allowed anything for grass before housing?

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

What dates does that cover?

They're tupped in November when they have blocks. Usually start with haylage mid Dec and then up to lambing in April with some cake and blocks for 6/8 weeks before April

 

[Northeastfarmer]

What about
Water
Meds
Diesel
Electric

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

What about
Water
Meds
Diesel
Electric

I’m just trying to compare different ways of feeding them. I assume those costs would be similar however they are fed

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

Have you allowed anything for grass before housing?

No, I don't know how I would cost that.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

No, I don't know how I would cost that.

Probably on what you could let the land for
Ie tack sheep

 

[copse]

I'm talking about the time from tupping to lambing. Upland mostly PP no arable. The system is start lambing 1st April and house most of them from 1st Feb when they are scanned. Beltexes lambed inside, the rest turned out just before they're due to start. Feed is haylage, cake and blocks. I currently have a small number of mules scanned at 211%, mostly texel/mules at 184% and beltexes at 163%. I also bought some in lamb mule hoggs, scanned at 120%. I've read a lot on here about low costs systems based on forage crops over winter which is something I have no experience of. I've just run through what I think ours have cost over this winter and was wondering how it compares with other systems

Per ewe

Cake £10
Buckets £7
Haylage £15
Straw £5 (bit of a guess and the muck has some value)

Total £37

Your buckets seem fair expensive per ewe .

 

[Rich_ard]

Probably on what you could let the land for
Ie tack sheep

They have eaten some haylage though so might have been on tight grass. I cost mine at that but unless we have snow they don't get much silage or hay.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

They have eaten some haylage though so might have been on tight grass. I cost mine at that but unless we have snow they don't get much silage or hay.

There’s plenty of variables and no two years are the same

 

[DanM]

Well @Aspiring Peasants …Fair play for posting some figures!
We run our ewes on what I consider a low cost system; grazing dairy grass, silage leys, arable crops and turnips from tupping to lambing. Nov-April. Costs c. £17/ewe. Then turned out onto grass that’s been rested for 5 months and lambed outdoors. It can be cheaper/dearer depending on what cover crops and fencing cost

 

[Hill Ground]

I’m just trying to compare different ways of feeding them. I assume those costs would be similar however they are fed

The only one that would change much is diesel. All our sheep are off the farm overwinter, I would consider them reasonably close to hand, 1/2hr to the furthest bunch in any direction, but would take 3 hrs to check them properly, most of that driving from site to site.

The ewes do very well on clean grazing. The rent has suffered from some competition related inflation the last year or so, but It would be an unthinkable squelchy mess to have them here all winter!!

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

Probably on what you could let the land for
Ie tack sheep

Yes, I get what you mean, it's an opportunity cost but practically I'm not forking out any money for it

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Yes, I get what you mean, it's an opportunity cost but practically I'm not forking out any money for it

You still have to cost it at what you can earn from it or what it’s worth

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

Well @Aspiring Peasants …Fair play for posting some figures!
We run our ewes on what I consider a low cost system; grazing dairy grass, silage leys, arable crops and turnips from tupping to lambing. Nov-April. Costs c. £17/ewe. Then turned out onto grass that’s been rested for 5 months and lambed outdoors. It can be cheaper/dearer depending on what cover crops and fencing cost

Resting grass over winter saves me a lot of money, I don't feed anything but grass after lambing. I've had 2 people in the last few weeks phoning to see if I've any spare silage because they're still feeding it now (and cake). On your figures it's costing around £20 more to keep a ewe in the uplands

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

You still have to cost it at what you can earn from it or what it’s worth

But then I should be doing the same for summer grazing and buildings, just want to keep it simple on feeding systems rather than total costs

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

The only one that would change much is diesel. All our sheep are off the farm overwinter, I would consider them reasonably close to hand, 1/2hr to the furthest bunch in any direction, but would take 3 hrs to check them properly, most of that driving from site to site.

The ewes do very well on clean grazing. The rent has suffered from some competition related inflation the last year or so, but It would be an unthinkable squelchy mess to have them here all winter!!

I couldn't winter ours outside now. Winters have got wetter. I would have to send them a lot further than an hour away and with diesel at £100 to fill the tank?

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

Your buckets seem fair expensive per ewe .

We used a bit more than usual at tupping time, because the ewes were thin after the drought. We feed less cake and get very little TLD and it means I only have to feed them once a day. I do like to make things simple and our land is quite spread out, one block 5 miles away and one 3 miles away so it saves time

 

[Skintagain]

We used a bit more than usual at tupping time, because the ewes were thin after the drought. We feed less cake and get very little TLD and it means I only have to feed them once a day. I do like to make things simple and our land is quite spread out, one block 5 miles away and one 3 miles away so it saves time

I have fed £9 of cake per ewe since tupping -this is an average based on the bill - singles nothing other than hay triplets and lean ewes have had more

and they have had 0 buckets or blocks. I had one triplet with twin lamb she survived but had 3 dead lambs a week before due date

they have had hay since Xmas (impeccable quality hay) - they have eaten half round bale each.

 

[Forkdriver]

If you don't add in your fixed costs you are not getting a true picture.