livestock 1
Member
Would they be just under 35kilos when bought and near 40 when they went?
Store lamb calculation help
- Thread starter JoeHodgey
- Start date
Chae1
Member
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
Doesn't have avg weight on tickets when we bought them. Averaged 41.5kg yesterday.
livestock 1
Member
Neither do mine I just meant by the look of them
- Location
- Fife
They should be doing 1kg a week.
livestock 1
Member
Is that what yours are doing?
- Location
- Fife
I don't have a weight scale.
But clean cover crops and daily moves, I'd be disappointed with less than 150g per day.
Current liveweight price is £2.50/kg. Be conservative and say £2/kg.
If a lamb is only gaining 0.5kg per week then it's only gaining £1/week. Opportunity cost is 80p week (what a tack animal could bring in the same place). Add in wormer, 2 lots of haulage, commission, finance and mortality, the cost of carry will be at least £1/week.
- Location
- Essex
Plus the milky grass time is when they like to do all their dying. Get them past the middle of October on some decent forage and they are generally fairly hands off.
Chae1
Member
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
I don't have much of a clue when it comes to livestock to be honest. Particularly sheep.
livestock 1
Member
Are you feeding lambs for the prime market?
This is a helpful read if you're just starting:
https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/planning-grazing-strategies-for-better-returns
Will tell you about grazing efficiencies and allocation of grazing DM - couple of variables that are key.
https://ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/planning-grazing-strategies-for-better-returns
Will tell you about grazing efficiencies and allocation of grazing DM - couple of variables that are key.
- Location
- Fife
Nope. I'm just a sh!t kicking redneck. I take on tack lambs 1 Oct to 28 Feb.
livestock 1
Member
What are you charging? Do they do dlwg you quoted ?
- Location
- Fife
80p per head per week. Dunno as I don’t have a weigh scale. But I’m turning away potential customers so
- Location
- Essex
On topic, what are others charging? We get 35p a week plus 25% of the agreed uplift in value while they are here. This usually works out at around £7 to £12 per head obviously depending on the year.
I do nearly all the fencing for that and daily lookering, plus moves.
How does that sound to you proper shepherds?
I do nearly all the fencing for that and daily lookering, plus moves.
How does that sound to you proper shepherds?
- Location
- Cheshire
- Location
- Essex
Slightly what I thought...How many do you want???
- Location
- Cheshire
It does of course depend on location, competition, forage types, forage QUALITY (there’s grass and Grass)
If I don’t have to do any fencing and it’s ok forage 50p for lambs. But I still have too do checks and moves. Better grass is more. But like how long is a piece of string really. The % of leaving value is something I haven’t heard of before. Sounds sensible, acts as an incentive for you too want the lambs too do well
- Location
- Cheshire
AND does your sheep man pay on time and in full??? There’s lots of wide boys out there bidding lots more than me. But they never go too the same farm twice... that’s speaks volumes as far as I’m concerned
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Do this, get very very disheartened. Lose money because the old farmers who can’t lamb sheep anymore will give fat value/life at 1 month post lambing then keep them all summer!
I’ve found it by far the most profitable way too sell my old ewes!
Like everyone else says, find someone local and reliable. Let it too them, and WATCH CAREFULLY. After 2/3 years you might feel it’s worth buying 500 lambs of your own and having a go. Or you might feel it best to concentrate on your arable and let us sheep shaggers deal with the little woolly buggers.
One major piece of advice I’d say too anyone considering store lambs.
Don’t be afraid too walk away at the mart. It’s alright being billy big rubbish showing us yokels how too buy, but you’ve got too sell the buggers at the end.
And personally I’ve never made money worth thinking about from short term lambs. Buy in the glut (timings change every year with grass season and fat price) go for a healthy medium lamb (20kg is a v.small) you want 27-29kg. And be prepared to farm them until February at the earliest.
Good luck, if you were closer too me I’d be in your yard in the morning to sort out an arrangement.
Thanks very much for some great detailed advice!
Every days a school day
- Location
- Essex
Interesting question! He's a bit slack on that but quite honestly I know what it's like starting out on your own and if it gets too far behind I make sure they are sold in my name. I think he's almost out of the woods now and we're on our 4th winter. Plus I want him to do well because he bought quite a few sheep off me when I was breeding and he has a young family.
I know I sound a bit soft but I don't want to be so hard on him that he fails completely.