pro's and con's of housing sheep.

[d.iainm]

Toying with the idea of housing my ewes for 4 weeks pre lambing. Plan would be to house them once they are gathered of the hill then let them out once they start lambing. At the moment where i feed them gets poached and muddy and the little grass there is gets hammered.
It will prob cost me more to feed them but hoping there would be less waste and the grass will be in better shape for them to go onto once they start lambing.
The building where i would plan to house them would be open on one side so would have plenty air flow but would I be better having sheeted gates there to shelter them a bit more.
so my own thougths are that is might cost a bit more in feed but they will make better use of it and the the ground will be better for them once they start lambing. Is there anything I am missing or problems I might encounter

 

[Woolless]

I would imagine straw would be pretty expensive where you are?

Foot problems possibly, but if they're only in for four weeks it shouldn't be bad. You would probably save on feed when they go back out as there would be more grass.

 

[d.iainm]

never thought about foot problems don't get any trouble at the moment and don't want to start. It is the saving the grass and poaching the ground that would be my reason.
house hoggs for a couple of months in the winter very loosely and they just use a bit of hay under them and they stay pretty clean and dry but they are very loosely housed. i guess the straw would be quite an expense part of the plan. might trial it with the gimmers this year see how much they cost me and if i think it does them any good or the ground.

 

[GTB]

What are you planning on feeding them ? The shed only needs to be side sheeted from the prevailing winds. The other side would be better open, especially if you aren't lambing inside. Put plenty of hydrated lime down where it gets dirty around the feeders or behind the barrier and you shouldnt get too many bad feet.

The sheep will be far better off inside providing they all eat well before coming in. The system you're suggesting has become quite popular and some believe it's a good alternative to indoor lambing where there are insufficient staff to man the shed 24/7.

I'd perhaps suggest you could bring them in 6 to 8 wks before lambing so that the grass has more time to grow. If you're feeding them in any case the only extra cost would be bedding but if you feed hay you won't need much bedding. It's almost as cheap here to buy hay as you save so much on bedding.

 

[JohnGalway]

1st thing you need to figure out is, will it pay you. Don't dress any figures up, be brutally realistic. Dad used to do this and he said it never paid him on hill sheep, and he had lambs going to butcher so not scoury rabbits.

I don't believe we had foot problems inside, but I used to keep them well bedded. We fed ration, and hay. So no silage which will make the bedding wetter.

I can see your costs going up quite a bit, do the budget.

I am planning on putting in sheep if I can get this polytunnel up but these storms......... However I am differing from you in that I plan to put them in just a couple of days before lambing week by week, to minimise their time indoors.

 

[d.iainm]

It would be hay and ewe nuts I would be feeding them. the problem I have is the side that would be open would be north facing so think it might be best to have something to act as a wind break.
6--8 weeks would be too expensive. the inbye land would be empty from december then the ewes could go straight inside when they come of the hill. I think they would stay pretty dry on hay so don't think I would need to much bedding or I hope I wont.

doing the sums the feed budget will go up alot but i am hoping that there would be more grass around for them at lambing. I would rather have then in before and lamb outside. I don't really get any lambing problems so think I would only add problems lambing them inside.

I have tried lambing later so that there would be better grazing around but it cost about the same and the lambs just never seemed to be as good. Maybe it was just a couple of bad years.

How long did your old man have them inside for john?.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Breed and lambing %

 

[d.iainm]

breeds are blackie and a couple of cheviot X's. lambing % was around the 110% last year weaned 90ish %. Hoping to increase the both % as time goes by and the quality of the lambs

 

[Johnny400]

What about putting them on slats or mesh? Save on the straw bill. @will6910 is your man to tell you about that.

Can sheep be kept on slats outside?

 

[d.iainm]

Saw Will had pictures on before looked a good set up. Don't think it would work for me but will look for the pictures he had on before and have another think about it. I house hoggs at the moment in the winter and they stay dry and clean on hay and nuts.

 

[neilo]

breeds are blackie and a couple of cheviot X's. lambing % was around the 110% last year weaned 90ish %. Hoping to increase the both % as time goes by and the quality of the lambs

Do you scan? If so, there would only be a few twins that needed nuts, the rest would be fine on hay. If you can separate the twins out (or the leaner ones if you don't scan), then your feeding cost needn't be that much more than outside in the mud. Any extra cost would be recouped by the extra grass, so ewes with lambs need less feed or for less time.

If you footbath them into the shed and keep them fairly clean, then I feet shouldn't be much of an issue, especially if you aren't feeding them concs.

 

[d.iainm]

Don't scan as it would mean another day trying to gather them of the hill and at this time of year it ain't easy it would be useful maybe one day it would be more worth my while. Have thought about this before hay and less nuts for the ewes that are in decent condition was thinking maybe try gimmers and thin ewes inside this year and compare how they do. got a few smaller field I could leave empty and see if there alot of difference.

 

[will6910]

I was going to suggest mesh pens myself, they are my expensive at start but u only have to buy them once, have seen pics somewhere of someone putting mesh over cattle slats outside and putting sheep on them, haven't tried it myself. if feeding hay tho would be a problem on mesh

 

[GTB]

I don't think you'd regret putting them all in.

 

[d.iainm]

yeah mesh a bit expensive and I would be feeding them hay aswell. I will see how I get on this year housing a few of them and keeping the rest out.

 

[Sheep]

breeds are blackie and a couple of cheviot X's. lambing % was around the 110% last year weaned 90ish %. Hoping to increase the both % as time goes by and the quality of the lambs

What tup are you putting the ewes to? 110% lambing indoors with a 90$ weaning rate is quite low imo. I'd imagine the blackies are the lower percentage of the two?

 

[andybk]

hmm be very careful what hay you feed , toxo can be an issue , and you need excellent silage (no mould at all ) or any that had any chance of dirt in the bale either , personally we leave them out till the last possible minute then back out asap , but we have ample grass keep through the winter .If only on your own ground giving a rest will do the ground the world of good just be careful what you feed

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Resting the fields will certainly benefit you as lambs go out to fresh grass , your disadvantage by disease build up risk , joint ill can be a major problem with housed sheep , if it was me I would be looking to grow root crops to take the pressure off the grassland and continue to lamb outdoors

 

[d.iainm]

What tup are you putting the ewes to? 110% lambing indoors with a 90$ weaning rate is quite low imo. I'd imagine the blackies are the lower percentage of the two?

tups are blackie and a cheviot. lambing % is low but trying to improve on that. I am not planning to lamb them inside just the 4 weeks before they start to lamb. only got a couple of X cheviots so can't really compare % between the two but would hope to improve the lambing % overall.

 

[d.iainm]

it would be hay don't have any ground for silage and small hay bales are easy to work with don't have any machinery unless you count a wheelbarrow.
would there be a disease build up risk if the ewe were only inside until they started lambing then out on grass while they were lambing. no lambing taking place inside.