Starting a flock of Cheviots

[H Evs]

Don't know where you are but straight farmed land should stand 70 ewes on 30 acre plus followers. I must admit my stocking is a bit skewed as 95% of our sheep winter away from home too give ours a rest.
As yet the jury is still out on the Rouge. The lambs look really good. The tups look like 2 ewes in with our beltex & texel type tups. I'm going to have too wait and see how they finish and weigh before I make a proper choice!

We're North Yorkshire in a band of poorer land below the moor, so improved hill really!

In the process of making an IBC water tanker so we can split the three 10ac fields in half with leccy fencing to try and make the most of the grass (if there's any left by then because the neighbours Swaledales have recently discovered our fresh grass and busting through the stone walls to get at it)!!

we have hay-making equipment also so are not too worried about the surplus of grass - more worried about over-grazing, poaching in winter and allowing the grass a break!

 

[Anymulewilldo]

We're North Yorkshire in a band of poorer land below the moor, so improved hill really!

In the process of making an IBC water tanker so we can split the three 10ac fields in half with leccy fencing to try and make the most of the grass (if there's any left by then because the neighbours Swaledales have recently discovered our fresh grass and busting through the stone walls to get at it)!!

we have hay-making equipment also so are not too worried about the surplus of grass - more worried about over-grazing, poaching in winter and allowing the grass a break!

.22 hornet cures renegade Swaledales ??

 

[gatepost]

Daughter bought hers in as ewe lambs at Longtown, Lairg type, lambed pure this time as gimmers, grand sheep set to the electric well and got quiet enough in shed for lambing. she is selling all her ewe lambs this yr to get cash flow going. they are just running around on rough ground she managed to get, 1st lambs going this week.

 

[H Evs]

.22 hornet cures renegade Swaledales ??

I wish, unfortunately they belong to my in-laws (more like outlaws! ?) and I imagine that wouldn’t go down so well!!

Have applied for a walking grant on the boundary in question, so hopefully it gets sorted soon.

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Daughter bought hers in as ewe lambs at Longtown, Lairg type, lambed pure this time as gimmers, grand sheep set to the electric well and got quiet enough in shed for lambing. she is selling all her ewe lambs this yr to get cash flow going. they are just running around on rough ground she managed to get, 1st lambs going this week.

Good on her. Did they crop well?

 

[H Evs]

she is selling all her ewe lambs this yr to get cash flow going. they are just running around on rough ground she managed to get, 1st lambs going this week.

I hope they do well!

 

[gatepost]

Good on her. Did they crop well?

Not quite as well as they could have done, and she did every thing by the book, but great mothers and lambs doing well.

 

[shearerlad]

or go to Dingwall and stock up for pennies

Shhhh!! Don’t tell everybody!!

 

[H Evs]

grand sheep set to the electric well and got quiet enough in shed for lambing

We're looking to halve the three 10ac fields with electric fence and move weekly to try and reduce the worm burden - do you have any experience with this and how long to leave the eaten-off pasture to recover before bringing them back round to it?
We'd be looking at 6 weeks for a full rotation when we have stocking numbers up to a optimum level, but whilst we're building numbers and depending if we put one field to a side to keep for hay - would less than 6 weekly rotation be effective?

 

[Agrivator]

We're looking to halve the three 10ac fields with electric fence and move weekly to try and reduce the worm burden - do you have any experience with this and how long to leave the eaten-off pasture to recover before bringing them back round to it?
We'd be looking at 6 weeks for a full rotation when we have stocking numbers up to a optimum level, but whilst we're building numbers and depending if we put one field to a side to keep for hay - would less than 6 weekly rotation be effective?

Rotational grazing, within a season, does nothing to reduce the worm burden. In fact it can achieve just the opposite - lambs can arrive in a new paddock just as there is a massive hatch of worm larvae, from eggs deposited during the previous grazing.

 

[gatepost]

We're looking to halve the three 10ac fields with electric fence and move weekly to try and reduce the worm burden - do you have any experience with this and how long to leave the eaten-off pasture to recover before bringing them back round to it?
We'd be looking at 6 weeks for a full rotation when we have stocking numbers up to a optimum level, but whilst we're building numbers and depending if we put one field to a side to keep for hay - would less than 6 weekly rotation be effective?

The old adage, was don't let the sheep hear the church bells twice in the same field, we actually set stock most of our sheep due to big rented patches that don't lend themselves to fencing up, water supplies/banks etc and my distaste for spending hrs fencing, but build some flexibility into your idea, ie move to keep on top of or in need of grass , prescriptive plans can be dangerous, many a good sheep has met it's end because ''that wasn't the system'' maybe forward creep your lambs into the next patch, old fashioned but can work really well.