How many sheep ?

[Benn]

Just wondering how many on here work sheep around there day job?

how big a flock Do you have and how big do think you could manage?


im toying with the idea
taking on Some free land which is within 6 mile radius Of home.
,size Of each plot 10-30 acres.
Available at different times of the year 6-12months .

need be able work around the day job,which is i do 45 hour minimum a week.
Im Self employed ,i work (not ag related and live on home farm )
fences at home all good ,away land not so good needs bodging up,most likely electric fencing.

Outdoor lambing ,would be exlanas put to exlana rams.
Got help at home whenever is needed and got someone who can call round and check sheep away from home 2-3 times a week,
but wouldnt be able to do any jobs,bar check fences and roll a cast ewe back over.

already have small flock at home ,looking to expand number at home farm over next couple years.
Would lamb All at home.

Just wondering on how people find juggling full time job and sheep on away land.

 

[spin cycle]

stockfence + water critical.......once you get into leccy+carting water are negative factors

 

[Tim W]

I ran 600 ewes and relief milked 4/5 days a week ...much of it electric fenced & all performance recorded . It's not the number of sheep it's the different blocks/ traveling that are the limiting factors

 

[Bury the Trash]

'bout 35 would be ideal...

or maybe even none at all

 

[clod hopper]

Just wondering how many on here work sheep around there day job?

how big a flock Do you have and how big do think you could manage?


im toying with the idea
taking on Some free land which is within 6 mile radius Of home.
,size Of each plot 10-30 acres.
Available at different times of the year 6-12months .

need be able work around the day job,which is i do 45 hour minimum a week.
Im Self employed ,i work (not ag related and live on home farm )
fences at home all good ,away land not so good needs bodging up,most likely electric fencing.

Outdoor lambing ,would be exlanas put to exlana rams.
Got help at home whenever is needed and got someone who can call round and check sheep away from home 2-3 times a week,
but wouldnt be able to do any jobs,bar check fences and roll a cast ewe back over.

already have small flock at home ,looking to expand number at home farm over next couple years.
Would lamb All at home.

Just wondering on how people find juggling full time job and sheep on away land.

How much work you want to put into it makes a big difference. Do you want to shut a gate or move electric fences. Being self employed helps. If electric fences pick a breed/tipe of sheep that that works well for your system. Fert? Numbers is a trial and error thing

 

[clod hopper]

How much work you want to put into it makes a big difference. Do you want to shut a gate or move electric fences. Being self employed helps. If electric fences pick a breed/tipe of sheep that that works well for your system. Fert? Numbers is a trial and error thing

Sorry 'type'

 

[YorkshireAndrew]

A farmer asked his sheepdog to count the sheep in the field , “40” said the dog . “But there are only meant to be 39” said the farmer . “ I know said the dog - I rounded them up” . [emoji6]

 

[Hilly]

Why if you have a day job ?

 

[neilo]

Why if you have a day job ?

@YorkshireAndrew needs to keep his day job...

 

[Benn]

Water is all on site,
the fences and walls are Dodgy in some fields and would need patching in but probably Would have to Electric fence In parts.

travelling time to furthest away land is 15 minutes,closest 5 minutes away.

i wouldnt have any say on how fields are managed, they just want Land grazed down to save on topping costs.

i can do flexible hours but i need to work at least 45 hours a week to keep on top of work.

 

[Benn]

Why if you have a day job ?

hate the day job and want cut down the hours i currently do and get away from the workshop.
i enjoy working with sheep,and hopefully earn a little bit at same time.

 

[edn]

I run sheep part time as well as being a full time farm manager. Your limiting factor is time rather than land/money I find. Also once the clocks change and you lose the daylight all jobs have to wait until the weekend and if you have a family/life that can cause stress. All depends how much work you want to do, I cut back a bit on numbers so I’d be less busy and have more time to enjoy farming sheep rather than rushing around all the time.

 

[kfpben]

If you can train the home owner to spot problems that will save you a lot of miles. Ex farmers/smallholders are even better.

I rent a few different places and it helps massively if the people in ‘the big house’ can look out the window and at least make sure they are all there and the right way up.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Depends how "management heavy" your operation is with your flock.
1000 ewes takes precious little extra time to shift than 100, and 10 are just a pain in the buttocks.

On the other hand if you're poking them through the race all the time then the smaller mob is less work, so long as you aren't pouring money into them on the way by

Putting sheep on regular shifts helps cut down all the yarding duties so can be quite an effective marginal reaction, keep them moving on and they stay cleaner and happier.
If you're gonna be looking at them then you may as well be feeding them also.
Will be lambing about 300 this year, will scan them soon to know for sure, as above 3x as many would only add fractionally to my time input.

 

[unlacedgecko]

Depends how "management heavy" your operation is with your flock.
1000 ewes takes precious little extra time to shift than 100, and 10 are just a pain in the buttocks.

On the other hand if you're poking them through the race all the time then the smaller mob is less work, so long as you aren't pouring money into them on the way by

Putting sheep on regular shifts helps cut down all the yarding duties so can be quite an effective marginal reaction, keep them moving on and they stay cleaner and happier.
If you're gonna be looking at them then you may as well be feeding them also.
Will be lambing about 300 this year, will scan them soon to know for sure, as above 3x as many would only add fractionally to my time input.

With the right breeding and infrastructure you could run 2000 ewes part time.

Number of mobs is limiting factor, not size of mobs. Mob size only relevant to size of land blocks and when putting sheep through yards.

1000 ewes (plus followers) can be put through the yards in a day by a team of 3 and a couple of good dogs. Assuming land blocks are suitable, 2x mobs should be doable.

 

[Ribble]

 

[irish dom]

With the right breeding and infrastructure you could run 2000 ewes part time.

Number of mobs is limiting factor, not size of mobs. Mob size only relevant to size of land blocks and when putting sheep through yards.

1000 ewes (plus followers) can be put through the yards in a day by a team of 3 and a couple of good dogs. Assuming land blocks are suitable, 2x mobs

With the right breeding and infrastructure you could run 2000 ewes part time.

Number of mobs is limiting factor, not size of mobs. Mob size only relevant to size of land blocks and when putting sheep through yards.

1000 ewes (plus followers) can be put through the yards in a day by a team of 3 and a couple of good dogs. Assuming land blocks are suitable, 2x mobs should be doable.

2000 part time? Would want to be a ring fenced block. No such thing over here unless it's mountain. If I get to 2000 I think I would be putting my all into them. Would likely never leave the road between bits of land. If you have to work elsewhere to make a living whilst running 2000 ewes then what are you after? Big tax bill or ego boost?

 

[Skintagain]

200 ewes if your all split up. Try to keep them in bigger bunches even if it means moving more often. It’s the watering and checking etc that kills the job. When things are going nicely you could have 2000 when things are going tits up you would wish you had none.

All my group of friends I have with sheep work elsewherre ranging from 50 ewes to one pal with 600 ewes. Having a family changes things too as something has to give.

 

[Benn]

Cheers Interesting answers,

How many hours per year do people class as part time?
How often Do you check stock?

 

[firther]

200 ewes if your all split up. Try to keep them in bigger bunches even if it means moving more often. It’s the watering and checking etc that kills the job. When things are going nicely you could have 2000 when things are going tits up you would wish you had none.

All my group of friends I have with sheep work elsewherre ranging from 50 ewes to one pal with 600 ewes. Having a family changed things too as something has to give.

yea i agree with that, plus checking them after work in summer is easy an enjoyable, its winter nights when you need a torch an its chucking that makes or breaks you. They are more settled in dark evenings though(if there chewing there cud i'm happy )