The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: vfr400boy on January 02, 2020, 10:47:45 pm
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So after looking for what seems like forever I managed to find my self 1.2 acers of grass land for a very good deal ! The land has just been re fenced and has a water supply,
So now all the questions.....
How do I get a holding number?
When and were is the best time to buy some weand lambs ?
Is 4 lambs ok on 1.2 acres?
What's the best lambs to start with?
What equipment will I need ?
Can you still home kill your own lamb if it's for your own consumption?
And anyone in east Yorkshire I can get some lessons off ?
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Congratulations! And yes, you should be fine with 4 lambs on more than an acre.
You’ll get lots of advice, I’m sure, and we will all agree about one thing - you will need some hurdles to make a pen for when you need to handle them :).
My usual advice for first timers looking to fatten a few lambs is to see if one of your local farmers / sheep keepers can sell you a few. That way you will have advice on tap, and possibly even a bit of help as you learn. Plus, local sheep should have good immunity to the local nasties ;)
Others may offer different perspectives ;) :D
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Congratulations! You really can't beat your own patch of land!
Its probably not the best time of year to buy weaned lambs. Unless you really mean store lambs? Store lambs are 2019 born lambs that need time and feed to grow big enough for eating. You can find adverts on some sites like preloved. If you see an advert from someone selling any sheep local to you it might be worth your while to contact them and say what your looking for. You really can't beat face to face contact with a sheep farmer. Most care for their animals and would want to give out as much advice as you would like, to ensure they are well cared for.
Which breed is a whole kettle of fish! Firstly look at your land, how well does it drain, is there much shelter (hedges etc.) what breeds are kept or come from your area and will the meat be just for yourself, or will you want to sell to friends etc.
Personally, I find the hill types and smaller sheep quite hard to manage as they can be quite 'lively'
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For store lambs at this time of year I would take someone knowledgeable with you and give Selby mart a look see. I sell mine there. I know that it is over the border into North Yorkshire but not far. Store sales are every other Saturday.
I have sheep that start lambing in 2 weeks time and know several local farms that started before Christmas. They are unlikely to be selling store lambs though as they are aiming for selling early year lamb at Easter.
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The best piece of equipment I (and probably everyone else on here) have bought is some hurdles... they pen sheep up, plug gaps in the hedge, a week doesn’t go by when I don’t use them.
If it’s clean ground that hasn’t had sheep on then try to protect it and give whatever you buy a quarantine drench of Zolvix... and keep in for 48 hours after treatment, because you want to avoid worm resistance at all costs.
Maybe find a smallholder that has a few store lambs for sale, I think if you bought from a commercial market the lambs would be fairly wild and difficult to handle.
The rules surrounding home kill are very strict even down to who can eat the meat. Personally it’s much easier to take them to the abattoir and pick up your butchered lamb a week later.
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Thanks for the replys.
The feild is a long thin strip that's flat at the top then drops down the dale side ( not to steep) it has a mature hedge and trees at one side and open at the other it's not had any stock on for 10 years just had the grass cut for hay
I have a 8x6 shed I was going to cut the bottom off so it stands about 4ft tall then the eves for a shelter for them?
I know selby market well I used to buy and sell fur and feather there but think I'd like to buy my first ones face to face off somebody
I was thinking spring time that will give me chance to set the shed up and clear some brash that's been left when it was refensed
I have a fair bit of 4x1inch timber I have left over from a fencing job I could make some hurdles out of ,
Am looking to grow 3 and a half for my self and the other half for the land owner .
Will I need to give any extra food if I get them in spring ?
Sorry for all the silly questions
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I’m not sure you’ll find any store lambs in spring, it’s the wrong time of year. If you do find some they will be the very poor doers from last years lamb crop, unless you look for a primitive breed which would grow on and finish as hogget in the summer. Most farmers lamb in the spring and store lambs come available late summer when grass quality declines.
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I’m not sure you’ll find any store lambs in spring, it’s the wrong time of year. If you do find some they will be the very poor doers from last years lamb crop, unless you look for a primitive breed which would grow on and finish as hogget in the summer. Most farmers lamb in the spring and store lambs come available late summer when grass quality declines.
O in my old book on keeping sheep it says you can get weand lambs in spring 8weeks old to grow on is this not a thing anymore?
In my simple little head I thort I would get some mid spring and kill them end of September or October ha
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We used to buy 2 wether Jacob lambs early May and take them for slaughter late October. These were bought from a breeder who separated the triplets and bottle fed them, so very tame. Of course this period coincides with our lawns growing, so it meant the mower was never used. A double cost saving then as no petrol and very cheap (and very tasty) lamb. Last pair of lambs were £70 and £24 for slaughter and butchering- probably twice that price now though.
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Some farmers will lamb indoors in December / January, but that type of lamb is usually aimed to be sold finished so isn’t likely to get sold in the store ring.
Hill farms will lamb later - not till April, many of them - and will probably mostly lamb outdoors. Many of these lambs will be sold at weaning in the store ring from July onwards, for finishing on better ground. Mostly the lambs will be on their mums for four months, maybe only three if it’s young mothers or triplets.
What you would be able to buy earlier are orphan lambs, ie ones that have been bottle reared, or which still need to be reared on the bottle. Not always the best way to start, although many people do start that way and it’s not always a rough ride! Lol.
If you ask around locally, you might find an early lambing farmer who might be glad to rehome some triplets or even take a twin off a young or struggling mum or four for you. Partly to help you get started and partly because the remaining lambs would then do better, as would the ewe. You can wean at eight weeks, so the earliest you’d get weaned lambs this way is likely to be end Feb-ish.
The other thing you might get offered is to put two or three ewes with their lambs in your field for you to keep an eye on, and to keep four of the lambs back when the ewes go home.
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On the killing/butchering side there is a small butcher/abatoir in Bubwith that I can recommend.
You can never have too many hurdles. A trough of some kind to feed from, one that is not going to blow away is useful.
To get a holding number see here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-land-you-use-to-keep-livestock (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-land-you-use-to-keep-livestock)
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I often call at bubwith good pork pies !
Only reason I want to home kill is not to stress them out unnecessary plus my cozen is a butcher,
Going to start asking some local farmers tomorrow see how that goes,
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I might have a couple of late lambs (well hoggs now) that I could let you have. If the land has only been cut for hay, I'm assuming it has a fair bit of grass on it at present? If so, then it really wants eating off before spring and should be able to support a couple of hoggs till fat. Even at this time of year there is nothing like ad lib clean (ie no worms) grass for fattening sheep. With a feed block to supplement they would easily be fat in a couple of months and then you can give the grass a rest to recover before the spring growth spurt.
You don't want to be buying weaned lambs before May. The earlier ones cost a lot more because they are destined for the early market and sell at a premium. If you're planning to eat them yourself you may as well save your money.
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Thank you I have sent you a pm
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Got my holding number and animal health number now so am almost ther now