How many sheep?!

[MDL POWERUP]

Currently running 125 hoggs and ewes over 45 acres (trying to improve pasture as I go) . Lambing 25 starting 5th January. The rest March through to April.
Managing them at weekends at the moment and morning/night when needed. At what point, number of ewes have people found that having a 9-5 job and managing there stock gets difficult?

 

[tr250]

Currently running 125 hoggs and ewes over 45 acres (trying to improve pasture as I go) . Lambing 25 starting 5th January. The rest March through to April.
Managing them at weekends at the moment and morning/night when needed. At what point, number of ewes have people found that having a 9-5 job and managing there stock gets difficult?

Depends what your job is do you get holiday when you want etc could you lamb at xmas or to coincide with quiet time etc. I know an arable farmer that’s a school teacher has summer holidays to do all work and a bit of spraying at weekends/evenings

 

[Muddyroads]

The first time they get out! So much depends on your setup, breed, attitude etc.

 

[johnspeehs]

Currently running 125 hoggs and ewes over 45 acres (trying to improve pasture as I go) . Lambing 25 starting 5th January. The rest March through to April.
Managing them at weekends at the moment and morning/night when needed. At what point, number of ewes have people found that having a 9-5 job and managing there stock gets difficult?

It all depends if you have anyone who can have a look at sheep lambing when you are at work or someone you can call if they break out etc. depends on your job, can you nip away if theres problems and there always are, can you be late in to work?. Maybe it would be better to say how many sheep can I keep before it starts to have a negative effect on my job

 

[M-J-G]

I had 120 ewes when I was a school and had a Saturday job and had a milking job some mornings and nearly every evening, but enough about my stupidity.

If it hadn't been for that neighbours dairy cows and those sheep I'd have been a nuclear physicist or a pilot.

 

[MDL POWERUP]

Depends what your job is do you get holiday when you want etc could you lamb at xmas or to coincide with quiet time etc. I know an arable farmer that’s a school teacher has summer holidays to do all work and a bit of spraying at weekends/evenings

I've got two weeks off at Christmas now so next year everything will be getting sponged to lamb around then and anything that doesn't take sponged again to lamb march.

 

[MDL POWERUP]

It all depends if you have anyone who can have a look at sheep lambing when you are at work or someone you can call if they break out etc. depends on your job, can you nip away if theres problems and there always are, can you be late in to work?. Maybe it would be better to say how many sheep can I keep before it starts to have a negative effect on my job

Good point, not really a major problem as long as I get the job done so to speak. The more time off the less I earn tho..

 

[MDL POWERUP]

The first time they get out! So much depends on your setup, breed, attitude etc.

Some terminal breed and some maternal, majority cheviots and texel/lleyn

 

[lloyd]

You'd be better off not lambing hoggs.
Sheep which have already lambed before
are much easier to manage.

 

[MDL POWERUP]

You'd be better off not lambing hoggs.
Sheep which have already lambed before
are much easier to manage.

Didn't have any trouble really last year and keeping own replacements when I can and if they make the grade. Only downfall is lamb numbers I suppose.

 

[lloyd]

Didn't have any trouble really last year and keeping own replacements when I can and if they make the grade. Only downfall is lamb numbers I suppose.

Your best bet is to blitz lamb the older group
early so you can lamb them in your holiday period.
Just increase numbers quietly until you find the
right balance .

 

[Jonny_2]

I work full time as a feed and seed rep whilst currently running 170 yows and 30 gimmers (in lamb). We have 70 acres of poor heavy land ring fenced and 8 acre next door on a casual agreement (keep it tidy but don’t make a mess).

I am fortunate my mum can check them for me daily and do paper work but I’m still down every night doing something. I run a nearly new quad and look after it so it’s reliable and have good handling facilities so if a job needs doing early on a morning before work or late on with day light running out I can crack on. Hardly have any machinery and neighbour does silage for us and leads straw in.

Lambing isn’t to hard with mum and Lleyns but not sure how I’ll cope on 10 years time. Leaning towards lambing outside. Biggest struggle I have is finding time to do maintenance

 

[ARW]

We lamb 60 ewes starting on the 7th of jan, nearly all sheep work is done on a Sunday mornings or after work, we lamb inside but turn out during the day and have a cheap camera set up so we can check stock while at work. I’m self employed, gf has a 40 hour a week job, and I hardly ever miss work for sheep, and the hardest time is December as the days are so short for stock checking especially these big Suffolk x that can get one there backs, luckily I have good farming neighbours that I know keep an eye on them.
If I’m desperate and stuck working miles away and there’s one lambing on camera I ask my mother to go and see to it as a last resort as they only farm 5 mins away.
We dosed ours with regulin this year to tighten up lambing and bring them on earlier, we hardly miss any time at work so we both earn our full time wages then do sheep morning and night, there isn’t much else you can do on a January evening to help earn a few quid!
We aim to have lambs away and fat late May onwards and hit good prices

 

[MDL POWERUP]

Your best bet is to blitz lamb the older group
early so you can lamb them in your holiday period.
Just increase numbers quietly until you find the
right balance .

Plan on just running ewes next year to find my best stocking rate? Slowly getting more land each year so its hard to judge at the moment. Most ewes will be shearlings this year or 2 crop. Working up from 15 ewes to 125 in three years has been an experience!

 

[HarryB97]

The biggest factors which will limit the amount of sheep you can have is travelling time to check them and daylight hours in the winter. I would say the limit for someone part time is around 100-150 ewes max especially in the winter when they need moving more, feeding and its dark more than it's light.

 

[MDL POWERUP]

I work full time as a feed and seed rep whilst currently running 170 yows and 30 gimmers (in lamb). We have 70 acres of poor heavy land ring fenced and 8 acre next door on a casual agreement (keep it tidy but don’t make a mess).

I am fortunate my mum can check them for me daily and do paper work but I’m still down every night doing something. I run a nearly new quad and look after it so it’s reliable and have good handling facilities so if a job needs doing early on a morning before work or late on with day light running out I can crack on. Hardly have any machinery and neighbour does silage for us and leads straw in.

Lambing isn’t to hard with mum and Lleyns but not sure how I’ll cope on 10 years time. Leaning towards lambing outside. Biggest struggle I have is finding time to do maintenance

We lamb 60 ewes starting on the 7th of jan, nearly all sheep work is done on a Sunday mornings or after work, we lamb inside but turn out during the day and have a cheap camera set up so we can check stock while at work. I’m self employed, gf has a 40 hour a week job, and I hardly ever miss work for sheep, and the hardest time is December as the days are so short for stock checking especially these big Suffolk x that can get one there backs, luckily I have good farming neighbours that I know keep an eye on them.
If I’m desperate and stuck working miles away and there’s one lambing on camera I ask my mother to go and see to it as a last resort as they only farm 5 mins away.
We dosed ours with regulin this year to tighten up lambing and bring them on earlier, we hardly miss any time at work so we both earn our full time wages then do sheep morning and night, there isn’t much else you can do on a January evening to help earn a few quid!
We aim to have lambs away and fat late May onwards and hit good prices

Both seem like you've hit the nail on the head, a move towards lambing all possible at christmas would probably be better. This year lambs sold end of April made £40 more than lambs ready August /September and it should fit in with my system. Next on the list is a quad guess! There goes 2020's lamb crop money

 

[Tim W]

I did 8hrs a day 4/5 days a week on a paid job until i got up to about 600 ewes ---then the sheep took over
Don't be afraid to employ someone to do things for you ---for instance if lambs need worming and the jobs getting in the way? Get a contract shepherd in for a day ----well worth the outlay

 

[MDL POWERUP]

I did 8hrs a day 4/5 days a week on a paid job until i got up to about 600 ewes ---then the sheep took over
Don't be afraid to employ someone to do things for you ---for instance if lambs need worming and the jobs getting in the way? Get a contract shepherd in for a day ----well worth the outlay

That's a good point I've never thought of before, I suppose with higher numbers of stock you can't not afford to do that if still working most days

 

[Estate fencing.]

I run 400 ewes of my own as well as shepherding 400 ewes on one farm and 600 ewe lambs on another and working for a big lamb finisher 3 days a week at the moment, plus probably average 5 hours a week contract shepherding for other people and run 1000 tack lambs.
It works well, all work on my own is done on Sunday afternoons, you just have to be organised and not running about to pick supplies up and know what has do be done 2 weeks before it needs doing.
But I do have the advantage of being able to lamb my sheep after the others are finished so can check them between jobs so not as bad as doing a 9 - 5 job.
Also have a big Rappa pen so most jobs and be done in under 2 hours.
Summer is easy because you can start at 4 and work until 9 if you want, this time of year is a bit more difficult because its always dark, but it all gets done in the end.

 

[GreenerGrass]

I've done similar expansion to you, very much part time. But I'm actually going to cut back. Always thought more sheep was the goal and answer but for me it doesn't make sense to run sheep towards maximum numbers for land area.

For me that stocking density isn't as high as many posters on here make out.

Beyond a certain stocking density it is more work, and sheep do less well. Unless you have extra grazing you may be about the right level, and just take a crop of hay if surplus grass. Less stress, what's not to like.