Indoor lambing set up costs

Andy84

Member
I know it’s a pretty expansive question but how many lambs do you think you save lambing a cheviot flock inside v outside. Trying to work out how long it would take to pay off the extra costs for lambing inside (eg gates, hurdles, feeders etc)
 

HarryB97

Member
Mixed Farmer
As above change the breed not the setup. Indoors is generally a waste of time even if you are lambing early as most years the price is no where as good as this year. All the bedding, cake, silage, pens, labour, disease, penning sheep up & trailering them all back outside again.
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
I know it’s a pretty expansive question but how many lambs do you think you save lambing a cheviot flock inside v outside. Trying to work out how long it would take to pay off the extra costs for lambing inside (eg gates, hurdles, feeders etc)


How many more do you think you could possibly save?

You'll save the odd hung lamb or one still in the bag - if you're there as it happens... but there will still be the odd lamb born dead.


You'll not (shouldn't) lose any to bad weather.. but chevs should can handle bad weather - depending on what the lambs are, ofcourse


It could be argued that what you'd save to the weather inside, you could more than lose to bacterial diseases like Watery Mouth if you get into a problem
 

Northern territory

Member
Livestock Farmer
As above change the breed not the setup. Indoors is generally a waste of time even if you are lambing early as most years the price is no where as good as this year. All the bedding, cake, silage, pens, labour, disease, penning sheep up & trailering them all back outside again.
Nobody ever factors in the effect if everyone went to this outdoor easycare system and all the lambs came into the market at the same time. Some of us are on wet, late grass farms where outdoor lambing doesn’t work that well. I think you can manipulate stocking rates in your favour slightly with indoor lambing on smaller farms. but it obviously comes with costs.
 

Mc115reed

Member
Livestock Farmer
Iv nothing too hide so I’ll post all my costs exactly...

270 ewes too lamb.. inside from the 14th of jan and lambing started 24th jan all lambed and turned out by 20th of March
Scanned 162%
18 Triplets ate £103 of corn
126 singles ate £325 of corn
126 twins ate £1086 of corn
I used 24 120x90x7ft bales of hay I’d imagine they’ll be £60 a piece but not had the bill yet so £1560
15 120x90x8ft bales of hay again not had the bill yet but probably £60 a bale so £900
A girl helped me for 3 weeks 8hours a day 4 days a week and cost £1400
The value of my hurdles is £1400
The value of my walk through feeders is £560
£70 on hydrated lime
Shed rent was £1000 for 2 months start to finish
Cost me £300 get somebody come with a bob cat muck it out at the end
I spent £600 on drugs treating bad feed and bad lambings ect...
spent £150 on water pipe fittings, and pipes and a few second hand troughs
Can’t find anything else Iv wrote down as costs so that must be it So in total it cost me too lamb inside this year (I already had hurdles and walkthrough troughs but includes there value for if I had too go out and buy them fresh)

£9450 all in [emoji15] but... it was nearly a foot of snow for the whole first week of lambing, and I doubt nc mules and suffolk crosses would lamb outside that early without plenty of pain... also my land is scattered all over the place...
 

S J H

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Bedfordshire
Nobody ever factors in the effect if everyone went to this outdoor easycare system and all the lambs came into the market at the same time. Some of us are on wet, late grass farms where outdoor lambing doesn’t work that well. I think you can manipulate stocking rates in your favour slightly with indoor lambing on smaller farms. but it obviously comes with costs.
We’d just have more hoggs to sell for a longer season.
 

Optimus

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North of Perth
Glad mine are inside.-5 here this morning and it was snowing last night.hope anything lambing outside during the night.was on its feet quick an suckling.
 

aled1590

Member
Location
N.wales
Supppse it also depends what else you have going on. We lamb inside here and also calve our sucklers mid March onwards. Being able to pop in on a cow mid calving whilst doing jobs in lambing shed is handy. If I was lambing outside I could be 15-20 minutes away sorting problems out in the field. Also our fields would be a complete mud bath if it had to carry ewes on before lambing unless I would bring them in before lambing and back out again just before starting.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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