Store lambs

[unlacedgecko]

Home mixed

Great stuff! Please could you PM me a constituent breakdown?

 

[Forever Fendt]

1 of the largest store lambs buyers round here has a very good relationship in the market, after everything was sold I've seen him going round the auctioneer saying he paid too much for a certain pen and wanted to pay less which the auctioneer agreed to do so! Is it true that the market will give you a better deal on commission when buying a lot of lambs and the slaughterhouse a better contract on lambs if you supply a lot of lambs through the year or is it just myths?

what markets are charging commission to buyers then ?

 

[Sheep135]

what markets are charging commission to buyers then ?

I don't know, I was asking the question because I didn't know.

 

[Forever Fendt]

I don't know, I was asking the question because I didn't know.

none as far as i know, if any are i would avoid them ,would it be viable for me to home mix creep using about 4/5 ton a week we are paying about £210 per ton so a good saving what are you putting in it

 

[Sheep135]

none as far as i know, if any are i would avoid them ,would it be viable for me to home mix creep using about 4/5 ton a week we are paying about £210 per ton so a good saving what are you putting in it

I will send you an analysis sheet when I can figure out how to put a photo in to a message.

 

[Yale]

We only did 1200 this year, but it would be the large number over the 6 month period not all at once. Majority would be fed outside but we have a shed that could comfortably hold 3500-4000 lambs if need be.

There's a big difference in work load from just over 1k lambs to just under 4K.

Have you got a routine of vaccination and disease control when you buy stores in?

With the small numbers we usually buy (none this year) we got them into the ovivac p system, a fluke and worm dose and quite often would dip the lot once we had finished buying.

If you get a scab outbreak which is likely with those numbers bought in then it can be a real pain because of long withdrawals on treatments.

 

[Sheep135]

There's a big difference in work load from just over 1k lambs to just under 4K.

Have you got a routine of vaccination and disease control when you buy stores in?

With the small numbers we usually buy (none this year) we got them into the ovivac p system, a fluke and worm dose and quite often would dip the lot once we had finished buying.

If you get a scab outbreak which is likely with those numbers bought in then it can be a real pain because of long withdrawals on treatments.

This year when everything anything arrived they were jabbed with bravoxin, wormed, mineral bolus and crovect when there were maggots about, the plan next time would be to either dip on arrival or use zermex or dectomax for scab and wormer. Next time may use ovivac instead of bravoxin because of a fair few losses with pasteurella this year. And with more lambs I would think it would be easier to manage and a lot more efficient then just messing round with a few hundred like this year.

 

[cattleman123]

Be careful...because you have done well with 1200....i bet with 4000 odd you will make less profit...you will have to be a little stronger buying ..feet will be more of a problem ...and things never go as planned...i been there and worn the tee shirt , i know more than one guy that went bigger and totally got pee'd off with the job....good luck

 

[mineshalffull]

I don't know, I was asking the question because I didn't know.

i think you probably mean the large buyers get charged less commission when they come to resell or are not charged for the lambs until they resell in the same market

 

[Sheep135]

Be careful...because you have done well with 1200....i bet with 4000 odd you will make less profit...you will have to be a little stronger buying ..feet will be more of a problem ...and things never go as planned...i been there and worn the tee shirt , i know more than one guy that went bigger and totally got pee'd off with the job....good luck

Yeah 1200 over 6 months was something of nothing really, the plan on feet would be footbath every week when drawing lambs and more often if a problem occurs. And with a large number it wouldn't be so bad if you had a field purely for sick and lame sheep, with 1200 it may only be 20-30 lame and you can't tie a field up for that many, and of the grass gets in front of them it would just multiply the problem. And the aim would be big numbers on a quick turn around, this year the best lambs were being bought for £45-53 and being sold 30 days later at 17kg dw. But the tail enders now are still here and won't make me bugger all. But hopefully I'll have a plan to go with next year and not just a bodge job.

 

[cattleman123]

Yeah 1200 over 6 months was something of nothing really, the plan on feet would be footbath every week when drawing lambs and more often if a problem occurs. And with a large number it wouldn't be so bad if you had a field purely for sick and lame sheep, with 1200 it may only be 20-30 lame and you can't tie a field up for that many, and of the grass gets in front of them it would just multiply the problem. And the aim would be big numbers on a quick turn around, this year the best lambs were being bought for £45-53 and being sold 30 days later at 17kg dw. But the tail enders now are still here and won't make me bugger all. But hopefully I'll have a plan to go with next year and not just a bodge job.

Well they did do well....wow what withdrawals are on the drugs you are you using ..interestesting...

 

[Sheep135]

Well they did do well....wow what withdrawals are on the drugs you are you using ..interestesting...

Bravoxin has no withdrawal, wormer (zermex) and crovect is only 2 weeks. Going on to clean ground and ad lib creep helped, is an expensive way of doing it and risky if the trade collapses but if it stays up you can make good money.

 

[hindmaist]

There's no reason why it can't work from a technical point of view,as long as the management is first class.Your biggest problem is that for a large part of the year a 36 kg store lamb is only worth about a fiver less than a 42kg fat lamb.You can't turn them over for a fiver,never mind feed them.Short keep tends only to work well on a rising market.Thats not to say it can't be done profitably but it will require a huge amount of skill and probably a huge amount of time attending markets to get them bought right.

 

[Sheep135]

There's no reason why it can't work from a technical point of view,as long as the management is first class.Your biggest problem is that for a large part of the year a 36 kg store lamb is only worth about a fiver less than a 42kg fat lamb.You can't turn them over for a fiver,never mind feed them.Short keep tends only to work well on a rising market.Thats not to say it can't be done profitably but it will require a huge amount of skill and probably a huge amount of time attending markets to get them bought right.

A lot of the lambs I bought were 20-30kg, and I know buying some of the ugly mixed pens is a better buy than a nice even pen. I'm planning to be there every week so that if the trade is poor I can fill a lorry but if I can't touch them I can leave it. I think if you can buy cheaper lambs then you have somewhere to go if the price drops.

 

[flashsheep]

We do exactly what your going to attempt,doing about 12000. Your biggest issue is trying to buy volume, we need to operate in at least half a dozen markets to keep the flow coming in. The money's always earned that end not when you sell. You will get scab you will get bad feet you will get loads of deaths but keep selling and have different outlets, don't commit to one place cos you will need to shift lean crap lambs good big lambs and everything in the middle. We only worm with a cheap white and a multivitamin dose and that's it,keep hammering those expenses down cos they will kill you. Don't get obsessed with weight shift them quick don't hang on for kg.

 

[asheilio]

We do exactly what your going to attempt,doing about 12000. Your biggest issue is trying to buy volume, we need to operate in at least half a dozen markets to keep the flow coming in. The money's always earned that end not when you sell. You will get scab you will get bad feet you will get loads of deaths but keep selling and have different outlets, don't commit to one place cos you will need to shift lean crap lambs good big lambs and everything in the middle. We only worm with a cheap white and a multivitamin dose and that's it,keep hammering those expenses down cos they will kill you. Don't get obsessed with weight shift them quick don't hang on for kg.

What do you feed? ad lib concentrate?

 

[flashsheep]

Yes contracted, same mix same price all year

 

[Sheepykid]

Would that be housed lambs or out at grass? Or a mix?

 

[CopperBeech]

Its all in the buying, which is easier if you are buying large numbers from one home.

 

[asheilio]

• What are the majority of people on here doing,
  • Putting the lambs straight onto grains with a bit of roughage and into a shed a la feed-lotting
  • Or are many of you grazing stubbles / catch crops etc. with perhaps supplemented grain?
  • Or a bit of both depending on how close they are to the chequered flag?
  • Or different again?

• Follow up question, all things averaged out, what kind of margin would you budget per lamb?