Flock Sizes

[Sheep92]

only way to run 2000 ewes on your 'own' would be splitting lambing over about 3 months and getting help in for marking, clipping etc. And have little social life :lol:

If you up numbers by say 200 it's not just 200 extra ewes to look after, it's 300 lambs which takes it up to 500 extra sheep to look after. Thats a lot of grass and time.

These days with labour costs etc I think most sheep farms go to the max of what the main farmer(s) can do and get contract help in when needed. If you do employ someone and your working youself too you'd be aswel having some grain or cattle to split the cost of an employee and have work all year round.

There will be a bit of help at lambing but not much, im leaving a part time shepherding job that took up 3 or 4 days a week to concentrating on our own farm, after leasing a farm a few miles away, been lucky that it has come up so near hand, also lucky to be in a good grassland area thats not suitable for large grain or dairy units, i think the extra few hundred ewes should be easy to manage.... hopefully

 

[Sheep92]

If the man finds enough land for 2000 ewes in Ireland it's a real achievement. Looking for more for grain or cattle would really take some doing. I know a father and two part time sons ( both have full time jobs) running over 2000 ewes over several places across several counties. Only contractor is me in scanning. One word organisation. Excellent home made handling facilities good fencing and good dogs. I could meet them boys at first light in January morning. They could be 100 miles from home. Sheep would be ready and no hold ups.
Could go to next door man with 50 at 10am and pee about for an hour in a broken down pen. Then complains about no money in sheep.
There are sheep farmers and then there are sheep farmers!

Exactly, i dont think its a huge increase with the numbers already farmed here, my father feeds heifers during the summer all gone by winter but a lit of money taken up in 100 cattle that dont leave very much at the end of the year

 

[GTB]

Three of us here with 2000 ewes, 600 ewes lambs and 100 suckers and 200 followers. We could easily cope with two or three times as many if all the land was in one block with no roads inbetween. In fact we have already cut ewe numbers back by 20% and done away with all away wintering in tack. Plan is to streamline a bit more if possible. The limiting factor here is getting any extra land locally. It just doesn't come up for sale or rent very often and if any does it's a case of think of a number and double it.

As it happens I'm off now to meet the fencing gang at our off lying place thirty miles away. By the time I've showed them the job, stripped off some old fencing, moved the cattle and checked the sheep that'll be the best part of the day gone.

 

[irish dom]

I am heading this morning to shear 200 ewe lambs for a local "disorganised" sheep farmer. It shouldn't be but it will be a long procedure. Wish some of these lads would get out and let the rest of is get on with it ( at a reasonable rent of course) They can't enjoy slobbering and footering around with bad sheep and worse facilities. Or can they?

 

[Al R]

I am heading this morning to shear 200 ewe lambs for a local "disorganised" sheep farmer. It shouldn't be but it will be a long procedure. Wish some of these lads would get out and let the rest of is get on with it ( at a reasonable rent of course) They can't enjoy slobbering and footering around with bad sheep and worse facilities. Or can they?

Someone next door to us has 60 cheviots on 80acre :/ doesn't do anything with them all year and has no plans on letting us move in.. he makes hay on 80% of the land twice a year and stacks the bales against the hedge and leaves them there.. annoying to say the least!

@GTB i couldn't imagine Livestock that far away! We get enough gates left open on our ring fence farm from walkers/tourists. I would take on a "sizeable" block which was A1 fenced up to 7-8mile away but no further.

 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

I think it's even less... IIRC the last time stats/figures were published the average flock size was 250-300.
But, a handful of flocks at 10-15 sheep will fairly pull the figures down.


I know of one 'farm' with 10,000 ewes. And knew someone, now deceased, who supposedly had 8-9,000 ewes. After that you are talking large estates who's total ewe numbers may well be 20,000+ but each farm will be run as separate flocks of only 1-2,000...

ATM we run a flock of 100 sheep, 70-80 ewes, 1 ram and the rest youngstock. Ik a few hill farmers running 1000 ewes.

 

[Joe]

I am heading this morning to shear 200 ewe lambs for a local "disorganised" sheep farmer. It shouldn't be but it will be a long procedure. Wish some of these lads would get out and let the rest of is get on with it ( at a reasonable rent of course) They can't enjoy slobbering and footering around with bad sheep and worse facilities. Or can they?

You would be surprised, know lads near me 80 suckler's fatten all offspring to factory & 350 ewes land all the over the place no dogs and no handling facilities. Told me once don't like dogs and couldn't handle stress of one, but running around fields like loons to load them with pallets is great craic and less stressful....

 

[unlacedgecko]

You would be surprised, know lads near me 80 suckler's fatten all offspring to factory & 350 ewes land all the over the place no dogs and no handling facilities. Told me once don't like dogs and couldn't handle stress of one, but running around fields like loons to load them with pallets is great craic and less stressful....

The thought if doing anything with sheep without a dog and proper hurdles brings me out in hives...

 

[John100]

Its a lot easier these days to manage large numbers, you have all these wormers,pour on's,moblie handling systems,EID.
You go back 30 years, all you had was a can of dip,and yet a man would manage 10K hill ewes. We are all poofs really

 

[unlacedgecko]

Its a lot easier these days to manage large numbers, you have all these wormers,pour on's,moblie handling systems,EID.
You go back 30 years, all you had was a can of dip,and yet a man would manage 10K hill ewes. We are all poofs really

Did that man have all the rules and regulations we have today? A large part of my time is take up with tagging rules.

What was the production of kg of lamb/labour unit back then?

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Can anyone join in here or do you have to be hung like Ron Jeremy?

 

[Nithsdale]

Can anyone join in here or do you have to be hung like Ron Jeremy?

Theres always room for a wee one

 

[GTB]

You go back 30 years, all you had was a can of dip,and yet a man would manage 10K hill ewes. We are all poofs really

One man, 10k sheep? Really? Where was that?

Did that man have all the rules and regulations we have today? A large part of my time is take up with tagging rules.

Correct. A third of my time approx is taken up dealing with paperwork, bullsh1t and bullshitters.

 

[irish dom]

Its a lot easier these days to manage large numbers, you have all these wormers,pour on's,moblie handling systems,EID.
You go back 30 years, all you had was a can of dip,and yet a man would manage 10K hill ewes. We are all poofs really

Must be some hills round you to carry that number. Used to be a neighbour that had 3000 horned ewes. 2 sons with him all the time. When I was wee they used to drive about 1000 ewes and lambs past our house for dipping in my uncle's dip. They were very very big where I come from. With the greatest of respect 10k ewes and one man my arse

 

[unlacedgecko]

Correct. A third of my time approx is taken up dealing with paperwork, bullsh1t and bullshitters.

That's no way to talk about TFF and it's esteemed contributors!

 

[GTB]

That's no way to talk about TFF and it's esteemed contributors!

No, TFF is another third of my time taken up...

 

[Nithsdale]

With the greatest of respect 10k ewes and one man my arse

+1

Nowhere in the UK has 1 man ever had sole management of 10,000 ewes. And definitely not 30 years ago...

 

[GTB]

+1

Nowhere in the UK has 1 man ever had sole management of 10,000 ewes. And definitely not 30 years ago...

It would have been ten men for 10k ewes back then.

 

[ARW]

I would love a 1000 ewes on a ring fence of my own, but I wouldn't want all the work to myself.
I've got 30 ATM, could do to go up to 50 if I had the spare cash

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Imagine the wool cheque off 10k ewes 30 years ago..,he'd of had more money than the queen