pro's and con's of housing sheep.

[IH 684]

mine are fed on hay and ewe nuts outside, then brought in two weeks prior to lambin, and are kept in until lambs are 10 days old, some ewes can be in for 6 weeks, for the past ten years this system has worked fine for me, no jabbing no feet issues, dont know if a commercial breed would cope with it without being plyed with potions and concoctions

 

[d.iainm]

mine are fed on hay and ewe nuts outside, then brought in two weeks prior to lambin, and are kept in until lambs are 10 days old, some ewes can be in for 6 weeks, for the past ten years this system has worked fine for me, no jabbing no feet issues, dont know if a commercial breed would cope with it without being plyed with potions and concoctions

what breed do you keep.

 

[IH 684]

two horned jacobs

 

[GTB]

two horned jacobs

Is that 2 x Horned Jacobs or Jacobs with two horns ??

 

[IH 684]

jacobs with two horns

 

[GTB]

jacobs with two horns

Are they a different breed to those with four horns ?

 

[IH 684]

they are a more stockier animal, a lot of selective breeding has taken place over the last decade, which has produced a heavier carcase but kept its hardiness and easy keeping characteristics, have a look on the jss website, you will be surprised on how the breed has changed

 

[Jon.S]

I'm going to try the exact same system this time. Short of labour this year so lambing later in the hope that the grass will have picked up a bit so wont have to go in the field with the bike and snacker resulting in huge amounts of mismothering. Thinking of using good quality blocks and hay at grass

 

[IH 684]

its only this year i have started using mineral blocks only because they are four quid each all mine have ever got are hay and ewe nuts, the lambs dont get creep feed as they get a bit older they nibble a few ewe nuts when there mothers are getting fed, reading some of the sheep topics on here and the problems folk have and the medication the sheep need would put me off sheep for life.

 

[d.iainm]

its only this year i have started using mineral blocks only because they are four quid each all mine have ever got are hay and ewe nuts, the lambs dont get creep feed as they get a bit older they nibble a few ewe nuts when there mothers are getting fed, reading some of the sheep topics on here and the problems folk have and the medication the sheep need would put me off sheep for life.

what kind of blocks you getting for 4 quid each. I similar to yourself no creep for the lambs they are away to the hill at a week or two once they are old enough to get tick spray and strong enough to follow their mother.

Have been giving some thought to one of these advantage feeders bit expensive but nuts cheaper than blocks and they could go backwards and forwards the same as they would with a block. Need to keep an eye on the advantage feeder thread see how everyone gets on with it this year

 

[IH 684]

they are yellow in colour and you get two in a box labelled as gene ral use sheep block i get them from nearby greens animal health at thirsk

 

[DB67]

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?

A very common figure in rough hill parts of Scotland. Very few twins remember.

 

[hindmaist]

If you have a suitable shed already it's surely worth giving it a try.Then you can accurately assess the costs and benefits.Unfortunately,it may well work out more attractive to reduce your sheep flock and your outlay on hay and concentrates per head.

 

[GSB]

We lamb inside and bring the ewes in 7-8wks before lambing this does give the grass a rest. They are fed good pit silage and bedded on straw. problems = use more straw feeding silage and they need to be foot bathed to keep on top of scald/foot problems. Also got a tin roof so it drips in frosty conditions. Anyone tried woodchips ? think plastic slats would be great if we were not lambing inside although very expensive

 

[d.iainm]

If you have a suitable shed already it's surely worth giving it a try.Then you can accurately assess the costs and benefits.Unfortunately,it may well work out more attractive to reduce your sheep flock and your outlay on hay and concentrates per head.

I know what you mean about reducing the flock to cut costs but I want to try and use this system to increase the flock size to make the best use of the hill ground that I have. The ideal solution would be to feed them on the hill but it is open ground with other peoples sleep and not all of my own would stick around. Making a few changes to improve the lambs and the lambing % so hopefully they will put the feed to good use.

 

[will6910]

We lamb inside and bring the ewes in 7-8wks before lambing this does give the grass a rest. They are fed good pit silage and bedded on straw. problems = use more straw feeding silage and they need to be foot bathed to keep on top of scald/foot problems. Also got a tin roof so it drips in frosty conditions. Anyone tried woodchips ? think plastic slats would be great if we were not lambing inside although very expensive

 

[sheepwise]

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?

My son and I were just discussing this yesterday,about whether it would be possible to put in-lamb ewes outside in a sheltered area on mesh.We were thinking of bringing the April lambers off grass now and putting back out onto refreshed grass (hopefully) to lamb as normal. Have fattened hoggs on mesh very successfully in the past with the only problem being with thriving hoggs breaking their wool and clogging the mesh.Hopefully this wouldn't be a problem with ewes.We are going to have to move the ewes this week anyway onto stubbles and feed silage in order to protect the grass swards from damage in this wet weather.

 

[will6910]

meant to add below that I know a man bat beds his sheep with woodchip in a tunnel, works well but after each year needs rotovated or similar as there gets a hard crust on top and gets very mucky very quicky

 

[romneymarsh]

If I had a shed the ewes would be in it now. Housing sheep became popular not for the sheep but to save the ground and give more spring grass and allow more ground to be ploughed out for WWheat whilst retaining sheep on the farm.

IMO the whole concept has morphed into a situation where the ewes maternal abilities and basic functionality, to get her lambs unaided with almost mandatory intervention in the indoor lambing scenario has done nothing for our future abilities to compete on the world market, building in cost at every turn.

This winter really is shi**y! I will have a shed for next year to reduce winter stocking in the leanest months but will carry on lambing out.

 

[Sussex Martin]

I still have grass for the ewes but being so wet it is impossible to graze it. My ewes were housed two days ago and will stay there until ground conditions improve. I have plenty of spring barley straw which they are picking at and more than enough hay to see them to lambing. If the weather does improve they will be allowed out whenever that may be. They are not due until the last couple of days of March and are in good overall condition and are not in need of concentrate at this time but if they stay in for long then I may have to give a little as I am unsure how good the hay is.