The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: steve_in_devon on April 14, 2013, 12:41:49 pm

Title: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: steve_in_devon on April 14, 2013, 12:41:49 pm: Hi
I have decided I woukd like to keep sheep, but before going to far am trying to get an idea of what it will cost me.
The idea at the moment is the buy 4 lambs and to grow 2 of for meat and 2 on to breed with.
The cost I am trying to understand are associated with feed, worming , shearing, etc.

What are the likely costs for someone to bring a ram for my ewes?

I know I will have some winter feed cost of hay, and maybe some shelter for them.

the sheep I was thinking of were Jacobs, but them was thinking of x them for future lamb with Texel for good meat .

Any advice on costs would be great.
Thanks
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: Bionic on April 14, 2013, 01:12:36 pm: Steve,
I will leave it to the experts to answer most of your questions but as a first time sheep owner (5 ewes and 3 lambs) what I can say is that you will find the cost of jabs/drenches very expensive for a few sheep.
Nothing comes in sizes suitable for smallholders and things such as Heptavax P only have a 10 hour life once opened so you can't save them until you need them again.
I would suggest you try to find someone else local to you that also has a small flock and see if they would share the meds.
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: Fleecewife on April 14, 2013, 01:21:53 pm: Pure Jacob meat is wonderful and fair sized joints. Maybe you could buy in a tup lamb - wouldn't need to be reg if you are just wanting meat producers and wouldn't cost much - then tup your ewes with him and send him for slaughter, so you get meat back for your investment plus next year's lambs. . That way you don't have to keep a male who is useless for 11 months of the year, but you can control your lambing time to suit yourself, rather than trying to borrow. Then if you change your mind and want to keep reg ewes you can buy in a reg tup to use for two years.

One way round Bionic's point about expensive meds, is to see if your vet will supply you with just the doses you need - ours does.

With just two ewes you could easily shear them yourself. I know a lady who ties her Jacobs up then shears them with dressmaking scissors :roflanim: . I wouldn't recommend that, but hand shears are not expensive at all and shearing is easy, once you've watched someone do it a couple of times. The cheapest way with most smallholding tasks is to do them yourself - they might seem daunting before you've tried but it's worth giving it a go.
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: lachlanandmarcus on April 14, 2013, 01:44:05 pm: If you can make your own hay, choose a fairly primitive breed, have a local abattoir and buy in a ram cheaply each year and then eat him doing your own butchery, it can be pretty low cost, I find. Once you need vets, powdered milk, indoor facilities etc then the costs start rising.
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: Bionic on April 14, 2013, 01:45:40 pm: Quote from: Fleecewife on April 14, 2013, 01:21:53 pm

One way round Bionic's point about expensive meds, is to see if your vet will supply you with just the doses you need - ours does.

Unfortunately ours doesn't :(
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: Fleecewife on April 14, 2013, 04:40:21 pm: Quote from: Bionic on April 14, 2013, 01:45:40 pm
Quote from: Fleecewife on April 14, 2013, 01:21:53 pm

One way round Bionic's point about expensive meds, is to see if your vet will supply you with just the doses you need - ours does.

Unfortunately ours doesn't :(

Shame - not all do unfortunately. I suppose ours have a lot of clients with small numbers of sheep (as well as plenty with giant flocks), so they are happy to split big packs. For things which go off quickly, we all have to do our dosing at the same time, but the vets co-ordinate that. It works in their favour because they charge a bit more for individual doses, plus they keep the goodwill of their customers.
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: Bionic on April 14, 2013, 04:44:29 pm: I have suggested that the vets keep a register to see who would be interested which they said they would do but I'm not sure if they have actually done it.
I am off to a worming meeting they are holding on Wed evening Linda (Backinwellies) is going too so perhaps we can remind them.

Sorry Steve for hijacking your thread
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: kaz on April 14, 2013, 06:14:50 pm: Quote from: Bionic on April 14, 2013, 04:44:29 pm
I have suggested that the vets keep a register to see who would be interested which they said they would do but I'm not sure if they have actually done it.
I am off to a worming meeting they are holding on Wed evening Linda (Backinwellies) is going too so perhaps we can remind them.

Sorry Steve for hijacking your thread

Would be interested in what they have to say as unusual for vets to hold a meeting like that.
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: lachlanandmarcus on April 14, 2013, 06:47:22 pm: I was told that strictly they are not allowed to do it....
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: steve_in_devon on April 14, 2013, 06:51:09 pm: Hi Bionic thats not a problem its interesting to hear. How often do you have to worm?

Other tham worming is there many other medication required for sheep.

Would you recommend doing a course of sheep beforehand or any books worth reading.

Thanks
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: Templelands on April 14, 2013, 08:24:39 pm: Defo get a hold of Tim Tynes book The Sheep Book for smallholders. We are in our first year and its been one of drama. That book together with the experts on this forum will keep you right.

We learned the hard way with a fluke outbreak, that kills. You'll do all your own vaccinations and drenches etc. We just call our vet and we pick up the number of syringes we need. The only things we have had to buy outright are combinex for fluke and worms and heptovac. Heptovac protects against
Pasteurella pneumonia and Clostridial diseases.

Have a can of Terramycin handy, bloody miracle worker!

With regard to worming we were told to get a worm count done and then the vet will decide what's the best treatment. Sometimes worming is not needed. If its wet during fluke time treat anyway, no matter what the fecal count says, another lesson learnt this year!
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: JMB on April 14, 2013, 08:38:23 pm: You'll also need to buy sheep hurdles or build a race in order to round them up.
If you know any local people who will help you to start its money with paying. We used to pay someone to vaccinate them, drench them, shear them etc so we could learn.
I find it an expensive hobby to start. And if you are going in to lambing then you also need to think about indoor or outdoor, and make provisions.
Maybe you could start small with some store lambs which you just fatten up - no overwintering costs etc.
Re worming, it depends on where you are. And conditions. For instance we used to fluke 3 or 4 times a year but have has casualties due to wet weather so it'll be more often now .
My vet bill for one flukey lamb, now dead, was about £200 with one vet call out and another to put down, plus meds. But then I'm very soft with my sheep
J xxxxx
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: Remy on April 15, 2013, 09:26:16 am: When I had my first six orphan lambs (originally intended to just keep the grass down) it didn't cost me much. The lambs were free, I hardly wormed them, didn't vaccinate, just had them shorn once a year and they were tough as old boots, for sheep! The biggest cost was entirely stock fencing our land! But so glad it was done - ours are the only livestock who don't escape down our lane ;D .

Once I started breeding and increasing numbers I had to invest in hurdles for easier management; the cost escalated when I bought in different breeds from various sources and started having trouble with worms so had to put the whole flock on a stricter management program of worming and vaccinating. It also depends on the weather as to how you are able to manage your flock - last year's prolonged wet weather was a disaster for many.

As others have said, if you only have a few the cost of drenches/vaccinations are expensive. Wormers have a fair shelf life but the vaccinations don't. There are also the unexpected vet fees which can mount up hugely, as can the cost of post mortems! My sheep have cost me far more than the money I've made out of them, but I don't intend to buy any more in now and am going to concentrate on breeding for market so hopefully I can recoup some losses in years to come!
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: Bramblecot on April 15, 2013, 10:26:45 am: Hi Steve :wave: , I would contact Devon Smallholders Association and see if there are any members near you who could give advice/help out/share equipment and meds. Experienced helpful neighbours are a blessing ;D . Store lambs are a good way to start, best of luck.
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: steve_in_devon on April 15, 2013, 12:24:38 pm: Hi Bramblecot :wave: I will have a look at Devon Smallholder website, thanks.

My may worry is vets bills, I know I would be able to get the Jacob lambs I want for about £85. I know I will have to get some hay in during the winter.
Its getting the cost of the worming, dipping, vaccinating, ect that I don't quiet get and dont want to start until I have an understnding of this.

I can borrow hurdles. and I had planned to make a small shelter for them, but during lambing I could have access to some old barns so not to worried about that.

Thanks
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: lachlanandmarcus on April 15, 2013, 12:47:38 pm: You could save some money on the purchase - our unreg Shetlands only cost about £25 each - if I were paying £85 a head it would blow the whole thing out of the water. If you do pay £85 then it is definitely a hobby costing money, which is fine but it's useful to know that at the start.
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: JMB on April 15, 2013, 04:25:24 pm: The worming etc is complicated.
You can find advice by searching online .
As a rough guide, from my notes, we used to treat for worms and fluke 3 or 4 times a year, say October, January, April and maybe July. ( you may need to do it more often depending on weather)
If you were looking at the the cost of products you could look up combinex which you'd use in October and January and then you'd use a different product for the April and July, such as Mebadown or supaverm.
You could look these up as a starting point. These are combined wormers and flukers with different ingredients.
Once a year, usually 6 weeks prior to lambing, you give them heptavac. The first year they need 2 injections, then it's annually. The stuff doesn't keep so you are supposed to buy a new pack every time.
In terms of fly strike etc, people don't dip much anymore. You'd get crovect and pour it on. We do ours at shearing and then again in the autumn.
You'll find these products online.
It'll give you an idea of cost. If you get products with a long shelf life they can last a couple of years of dosing.
Sometimes your local vet can give you smaller doses of wormer etc to save you buying a big pack. But some don't.
Sorry it's complicated, and other people may do different things
Hope that helps a bit
Joanne xxxx
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: Azzdodd on April 15, 2013, 08:57:04 pm: A good thing to think about is try an get a couple off free sheep that people don't want or pets just incase you don't like keeping sheep after all! And if you do build on them :-)
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: steve_in_devon on April 16, 2013, 07:07:41 am: Free lambs/sheep where would I find them?
Title: Re: The cost of keep sheep
Post by: Azzdodd on April 16, 2013, 07:41:40 am: Free sheep very often put up on sites like preloved that people have as pets an no longer want them worth put a wanted add up. There was 5 grey face dartmoors near me yesterday but I missed them :(