The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Pindo on October 02, 2014, 11:18:03 pm
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equipment aside, can anyone tell me a rough yearly cost for keeping a sheep?
Thanks very much.
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As my sheep are a hobby and a bit of an indulgence I never add up costs but to be honest, they don't cost much. They do well on grass and browse for much of the year but need hay (£3 a bale) and a bit of coarse mix (about £6 a bag) in the winter. Digestive biscuits to keep them friendly and that's about it.
I dare say there are all manner of sheepy delights to keep your pockets empty but they aren't necessary. Equipment you usually only have to buy once and you'll have the odd vet fees if you're unlucky.
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I too don't add up the costs but would add Heptavac p injection, worming treatment or at the very least the cost of getting a FEC done, fluke drench. Maybe a mineral lick.
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Roughly working out the inputs for my sheep -
Initial purchase
Grass keep (rental, or value of land).
Equipment (Hurdles, drench guns, digging shears etc etc).
Medical Supplies - Heptavac, Toxo, Enzo, any anti biotics you use, wormers, fly prevention. Fec's.
Water in some places.
Any forage (i.e hay or fodder beet) or hard feed bought in over winter. Along with mineral licks.
Shearing (if you need to, and if you don't do it yourself)
Fuel.
My time.
You'd be surprised at the costs when you add them up. But it's worth doing, as it allows you to see where you can reduce inputs.
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Non breeding lawnmowers are cheaper than breeding sheep, especially if brought on to clean grass after quarantine and rotationally grazed. May never need wormer, no Toxo or Enzovax.
Heptavac and flukicide, fly prevention, blue foot spray. Most (but not all) vets bills arise from consequences of breeding. Shearer, unless you're going to do it yourself; scanner if you're breeding and choose to scan.
Hard feed probably not required for non breeding sheep; mineral lick and hay only.
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Just for ongoing costs, not purchases or machinery/equipment:
concentrates (mainly blocks in our case) £10/head
vet + meds £6/head
sundries (keel, rubber rings, tags ...) £7/head
forage £8/head
Based on our last 3 years' figures - although the forage cost is what it cost us to make our own, rather than buying in, so would be a bit more if you are buying in, and we had one absolutely horrendous 5 month long winter in that which accounted for over half of the concentrates cost, so over a longer period of time that would be less.
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I'd go with Portlauren - the costs are quite a lot - Heptavac is around £20 and you have to do lambs twice out of new bottles so that doubles that price (you can't keep the bottle and do second dose from that). Sheep do get a lot of 'issues' I think and you will have a vets bill without a doubt every couple of years. If you can't shear yourself then don't even think about trying - shearers don't always want to come We pay £10 per head for a shepherd to shear, foot trim, worm and fluke and spray for flies, he provides everything. We keep rare breeds because we are hobby farmers and not in it for the money.
Decide why you want to keep them - because you like sheep? like to eat the meat? grasscutters? was just answering another thread on the latter - our mini-Shetland ponies which cost £50 each knock spots off the sheep for grass eating and they never need a vet, just £12 each for trimming their hooves 3x a year. Hardy as anything, don't need a house, just hay in winter, much much less hassle than sheep.
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Please tell us more about what breed? for breeding or lawnmowing?
The cost per sheep will depend a huge amount on these choices and on how many you have ....
a few sheep will cost a massive amount more per sheep than lots biggest outlay in a year is probably shearing unless you have a friendly neighbour. We paid £40 for our 18 sheep..... but probably wont cost more next year when we have 30.
All medicines are cheaper in large amounts and often can't be bought in small doses .... another reason for a friendly neighbour!
You don't need concentrate feed but will need hay in winter.
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If you can't shear yourself then don't even think about trying
its not hard if you handshear and only have a small flock. handshears aren't expensive.
choosing the right breed can determine your costs to a certain extent, there is a lot you can do yourself without needing a vet if you are willing to try, and learn.