Posted: Sun Apr 02, 06 10:04 am Post subject: Keeping sheep
No idea on livestock at all but there's a decent halal abbatoir 16 miles away and Rich the tractor keeps cattle so I'll have someone to talk to if I need to so how easy is it?
I need the easiest option available, is it possible to buy young weaned lambs and grow them on yourself?
nice one .
bahhh .
electric fence (you know i think electric fence is good but it is )
sheep muck is ace in the veg compost but not if they drop it off themselves
food is a good bribe to make sheep go places but they are quite willful at times , not too often , it depends on the breed and are they still boys .
they taste good
Nice. I'd love to go on a course but no time at the mo. I'm lucky in that the lady next door's son (the tractor man) keeps some cattle and all his equipment on her land, so he's there at least twice a day. I'll be able to call on him for help if necessary, just wondered in a general way how easy it was going to be really.
If you're just rearing weaned store lambs to fatten for a few months of the year and don't want to buy in feed, you should be OK with a density of three to the acre on good grass - so your three acres gives you nine sheep.
Depending on the breed, it's unlikely that they'll need shearing.
It's a fairly low-maintenance project, and there's no reason why it shouldn't work well. The alternative would be to rent out your three acres to someone with sheep in exchange for a lamb or two. A piece of land like that is invaluable to someone who needs to rest a some of their own pasture for a while, and the result would be that you get the grass down and some meat with absolutely zero input, as the sheep owner has to sort out fencing and security (which ain't cheap. A three-strand reel-based electric fencing kit, with posts and energiser would set you back at least �250 new). It doesn't get any easier than that!
The alternative would be to rent out your three acres to someone with sheep in exchange for a lamb or two. A piece of land like that is invaluable to someone who needs to rest a some of their own pasture for a while, and the result would be that you get the grass down and some meat with absolutely zero input
Now that Mr G sounds ideal, I'll ask around..
Treacodactyl Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 25795 Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
Posted: Sun Apr 02, 06 1:34 pm Post subject:
Do you need to dip lambs at all, especially if kept to 14 months? What about looking after their feet and trimming up their bottoms? Are any breeds much easier to look after and less likely to suffer problems than others?
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