Silly Questions

[LuckyEleven]

Hi All,

Im a complete newbie, aside from “growing up” on an arable farm.



Im currently living in Brittany, France. On a former cattle farm, (neighbour took up the business and has about 80 Charolais cattle)

I am looking at moving towards more of a ‘crofting’ style of living, and have decided I like the idea of running a small flock of sheep as a side venture.

Land is fairly cheap here and with the neighbour looking to retire soon I may be able to pick up or rent several hectares adjoining my property. He has expressed an interest in this, as well as possibly running the sheep after his cattle on a rotation.

Down to the meat and bones of the question;
1. Am I crazy for expecting to keep my family in lamb for the year, and have enough to sell on a few to local neighbours and not lose money?

2. What common breeds would best for my needs? Ease of care, Taste and adaptability to the local climate being priorities.

Thanks in advance for any tips and wisdom.

 

[Danllan]

...Down to the meat and bones of the question;
1. Am I crazy for expecting to keep my family in lamb for the year, and have enough to sell on a few to local neighbours and not lose money?

2. What common breeds would best for my needs? Ease of care, Taste and adaptability to the local climate being priorities.

Thanks in advance for any tips and wisdom.

If you have the land, you can certainly cover costs and maybe make a small profit running a small flock, if you have to rent the land... as for breeds, Easycare! (Yes, I sell them, but I doubt you're a buyer) They don't need shearing, don't suffer from most of the problems that the usual breeds do, and they have a fair conformation and do pretty well. Spend as little as you can on kit, unless you really are planning on doing it long-term.

 

[Dry Rot]

Regarding breeds, a wise man once told me, "Don't breed sheep you can't sell locally". In other words, buy what others are doing well with.

I didn't follow his advice, btw, and got a breed that suddenly became popular and I did rather well out them. My mistake was not to get out of them quick enough when the crash came, as it always does with fashionable sheep!

Apart from a good dog, the aspiring sheep farmer should also find himself a good psychiatrist. He'll need one!

 

[LuckyEleven]

Very few sheep about here, several Charolais and Holstein cattle herds though. There is one Scottish black face flock.
Climate is much like cornwall but wetter.

 

[Sprig]

No reason why they couldn't at least wash their face, if not make you money. We have a small flock of Wiltshire Horn sheep and they earn us money, mainly through selling lamb boxes, but we also sell some lambs as breeding stock. Wool shedders are the way to go, especially for a small flock where trying to find someone to shear them is a pain in the neck, not to mention the issues with fly strike that seem to be getting worse every year.

 

[LuckyEleven]

Surprisingly I can only find french breeds, Wiltshires sound perfect but i suspect difficult to come by. Suffolk's a plenty around here but have heard are difficult to lamb?

 

[Sprig]

Maybe look at importing some. I was asked this year if I would send some lambs to Belgium. I had plenty of people on my doorstep who wanted to buy them so I didn't. If wool shedders are hard to come by on the continent then that may be a v good reason to find yourself some. You may well find you then have a v good market selling your lambs for breeding. Brittany isn't far at all from the UK is it so it may not be too expensive to get a foundation flock over to you.

 

[LuckyEleven]

Import looks a no go with Brexit looming, Dorpers seen to be gaining interest here and becoming more available. The feet issues worry me though, The annual rainfall is 1000 mm ish.

 

[Still Farming]

No doubt the other TFF french ex pat, so called experts, on here will enlighten you or too worried about Brexit their side!

 

[brigadoon]

Regarding breeds, a wise man once told me, "Don't breed sheep you can't sell locally". In other words, buy what others are doing well with.

I didn't follow his advice, btw, and got a breed that suddenly became popular and I did rather well out them. My mistake was not to get out of them quick enough when the crash came, as it always does with fashionable sheep!

Apart from a good dog, the aspiring sheep farmer should also find himself a good psychiatrist. He'll need one!

You will want a good strong spade as well

 

[LuckyEleven]

Would suffolk over shetland, lose some of flighty/ dopey traits of the breeds?

 

[czechmate]

No doubt the other TFF french ex pat, so called experts, on here will enlighten you or too worried about Brexit their side!

I know jack about sheep, which is probably more than I want to know

 

[primmiemoo]

Ouessant? Pocket sized, and possibly producing sweet mutton as well as various colours of wool.

 

[andybk]

French put a premium on pure french breeds for meat in their supermarkets they arnt so keen on crossbreds especially from uk unless your into commodity meats , There are a number of charollais sheep flocks in brittany , contact their society , ailine is very helpful , pm me if you need numbers , Cotentin if your ground is a bit harsher

 

[czechmate]

French put a premium on pure french breeds for meat in their supermarkets they arnt so keen on crossbreds especially from uk unless your into commodity meats , There are a number of charollais sheep flocks in brittany , contact their society , ailine is very helpful , pm me if you need numbers , Cotentin if your ground is a bit harsher

Lambs look half the size I used to see in the welland valley

 

[Bury the Trash]

Would suffolk over shetland, lose some of flighty/ dopey traits of the breeds?

No need to go to those extremes .
When buying Just be a bit careful where your Sufolk comes from.
and bear in mind it's best to use, as was always intended, as a terminal breed .
Google P Baber.

 

[Agrivator]

Would suffolk over shetland, lose some of flighty/ dopey traits of the breeds?

It's far better to cross with a Cheviot, to produce the famous Shetland cross.

That cross was then traditionally put to the Suffolk, but I suppose the Texel or Beltex would be an ideal alternative.

 

[LuckyEleven]

Ouessant? Pocket sized, and possibly producing sweet mutton as well as various colours of wool.

Ouessants a plenty around here, although none on actually on the island last summer! (that I saw) Very popular with expats who want mobile lawn mowers.

 

[czechmate]

Ouessants a plenty around here, although none on actually on the island last summer! (that I saw) Very popular with expats who want mobile lawn mowers.

What island?

 

[LuckyEleven]

It's far better to cross with a Cheviot, to produce the famous Shetland cross.

That cross was then traditionally put to the Suffolk, but I suppose the Texel or Beltex would be an ideal alternative.

That would be Ideal, cheviots, again seem difficult to get hold of here.

This is would be a very small scale operation to begin with, but would like to get the nucleus of a decent flock should I decide to expand later on.