[RatRace]

I'm new to this forum so apologise if this has been posted before.

is keeping sheep economic, or will i pay more to rear them than I can expect back.

what costs are associated? I figure:
vaccination
worming
unforseen vet bills
spraying
shearing
feeding during the winter
slaughtering
butchering

Have i missed anything, and is there any profit ?

[egglady]

a friend of mine has had sheep for about 17 years and she reckons she "breaks even" most years but that's about all!!   And she spins/or sells her wool....

[Moleskins]

I saw the number of replies to this was none and thought to myself 'that's about how much profit there is in sheep'

Unless you're going to have a lot you won't make any money at it, a lot will be hundreds.

[OhLaLa]

I'm not sure there is any profit in smallholding.

My pigs cost a fortune to buy, feed, look after (arks, fencing etc etc), butcher. The fencing for the sheep will take years to 'payback', then there are all the bits of kit needed plus the essentials (worming etc etc).

Even buying seed for veg isn't cheaper than the end produce in the supermarket by the time you've taken in cost of seed, tools, and yes - failures, and man hours.

But then, that's not why I do it..........

[bigchicken]

I usually breed about between twenty & thirty lambs per year and I would argue that you can make money from a small flock not a future but you should be able to double you costs for the year and maybe a little more. I sell most of my lambs at the local farmers auction marts and they seem to do well enough.

[trefnantbach]

big chicken, I'd be interested to know how you go about selling your lamb in farmers markets. Not a silly question - we're new to it and slaughtered 3 lambs this autumn, sold two half lambs and the odd leg and shoulder, the rest is in the freezer for now. We want to go about selling lamb a bit better next time. What beurocracy is there before selling in a farmer's market, do you need food hygine certificate etc if the meat is cut at the abottoir etc. does it need to be in a chiller cabinet whilst being sold etc. Any advice appreciated

[Anke]

They won't pay the mortgage, but if you sell the lambs well you should break even, have some spare (not a profit, but some payback for fencing and anything unforeseen), plus you should have as much lamb for your own freezer and sell a few to friends. I currently have 17 breeding ewes, I am adding a few more each year to build up (as I get better at keeping sheep and land becomes available) a flock of varying ages. But I don't do it for the money!

That is if the weather plays ball - I was meant to sell mine last Wednesday, I couldn't even open the gate into the field and my trailer wouldn't have touched the ground with its wheels... Not much better this week, and I am now really getting worried!!! Sleepless nights come with livestock!

I sell through the local auction mart - I was really scared of going there (all REAL farmers and 99.9% male) - but the auctioneers don't mind at all selling smaller groups (most of the lambs are in groups of 15 max), but there are also twos and threes. I don't go in the ring I have to add, but stand at the side and watch. After I did the first batch I was so relieved, even though i was the only woman in the whole place!

[JarmFarm]

Do sheep make profit? Very good question. I think if your going to do sheep start with a small number e.g. 5-10. Dont buy ewes buy lambs to start of and make sure they are a suffolk/mule or texel/mule as these will grow alot quicker and be ready quicker. Buy them at about 2.1/2-4 months old these are called store lambs. Feed these lamb feed untill they are ready in weight. Try and get the sheep all the same age so by a batch from one place, this means you have the sheep roughly about the same weight. This will half the jobs you have to do. You get the experince of sheep handerling but you don't have to lamb them or sheer them. Slaughtering cost are about £25 per sheep and thats killed and butchered.
JARM Farm

[Castle Farm]

I started my flock by buying 6 Llyen ewe lambs after weaning. I now have 17 gone to the tup (I rent my tups in for £3 per ewe).

This year all the ewes had twins and I sold the boys off (9) at £57 each. I kept the ewe lambs to join the flock next season, so I will then have 24 for breeding.

I estimate the value of the ewes at about £100 each, possibly more now they are in lamb (hopefully) and the young ewes around £75 each.

I get them sheared for £2 each and the shearer gets the wool.
These are pure Llyens and a very commercial breed.

I harvest my own hay and the hard feed costs about £12 per week rising to double that prior to lambing.

Never needed a vet, so far.



I sold my boys direct to Farm Fresh who collected them from here so no market fees.

They keep the grass down and more than pay back for their keep.

[woollyval]

I wouldn't buy lambs at 2 - 4 months... 2 months is too young and 4 month good lambs will be ready to kill and anything else will be poor stuff someone is trying to get shot of....!  Good stores are a tad older in my experience and are often the ones that are put away for the winter to be killed late winter early spring as lambs or a bit later as hogs! Stores are also very expensive at the moment!

Best profitable way to have a go and see if you actually like sheep is to buy a couple of older ewes with lambs at foot in April. They will eat your grass and you will get some experience of handling, shearing, worming, spraying etc. In the autumn pop the lambs in the freezer, keeping the skins to send for processing into lambskins. Send the ewes back to the market in the breeding ewe section and have a sheep free winter to contemplate the experience and decide if you like sheep or not...not everyone does!

Costs

To buy a ewe with 2 lambs around £110 - £120 plus depending on age type and breed 2 ewes with twin each = about £280max debit
To kill and butcher 4 lambs £25, value of sold meat if keeping a whole one for yourself  3 x £100 - £75 =£225 credit
Skins...£20 to abattoir to get them back so £20 each to process = £100 sell them for £50 each = £200 credit
Shearing £30 unless you do it yourself = £30 debit
Medicaments etc....some will last for following year £100 = £100 debit
Sale of ewes back at market in breeding ewes section £85 each if decent = £170 credit
Sundry items and unexpected stuff including transport if you have to borrow a trailer etc and market premiums £100 debit

Therefore Debits = £510 Credits = £595 plus a freezer with a lamb in it and the grass nicely mowed

Of course this is only ball park but is based on the prices around here in Somerset and based on buying some decent suffolk mule or other commercial type ewes with decent lambs at foot.....

Store lambs can range from £35 for total rubbish to £85 for good strong stores......
 

[Cinderhills]

Castle Farm - your sheep so good.  What a great photo.

[shrekfeet]

The way I see it, the sheep convert something I would have to spend time mowing into something I can eat. Some are sold butchered to friends at £50/half and the rest go in my freezer. I am eating the best lamb I have ever tasted and I think my own meat is cheaper than butcher/subsidised by the few sales. My mother has the fleece and weaves with it and I salt the skins and get them tanned. It's not cheap but they are beautiful and great Christmas presents.
If you took into acount the time spent, meds and risk it would never stack up in a spreadsheet, but that's not why we do it, I guess!
So, in a nutshell, I don't really think there is much, if any profit in sheep!

[Ayeskint]

Hi there, I have a flock of sheep from a range of breeds and found that I make more money selling my lambs at the slaughter market.  The bigger the sheep the better the price so small rare breeds are not very profitable.  My flock is based on mules and suffolks - I started with bottle fed lambs from the local farmer who was desperate to get rid of them.  I haven't spent much on purchasing my sheep and none of them are registered because they are hybrids.  Although I can't give you costs I know that this is a more profitable way for me than selling the meat. Winters like this are expensive - but if you are prepared to put in the time and money to ensure that your sheep are fed and healthy then you might fair better than a large scale farmer in the long run (lambing etc).

Carol 

[pottsie]

I've just started doing a few lambs, like Ayeskint i tend to get baby (pet) lambs of local farmers, i paid £20 each for my first 2 and was given 2 this year for helping out an old couple. It cost me £25 for delivery and £22 each for slaughter and butchery, all in all i had a £69 pound cost for 2 lambs (suffolks) in the freezer. Going to do 6 - 10 this year if i can get hold of them as ive had so many requests.

Good luck Rob.