[xnbacon]

Hi,
We're a bit new to this game and were contemplating getting a few lambs primarily for fattening to eat later this year.  What sort of price would I be looking at?  Given that I'm in the south-east England, does this mean the prices will be higher?

[claireS]

I am also new to this but have spoken to a person from Sussex who said that if u wait until April the farmers are virtually giving away orphan lambs. However around here (SW) I have been told to expect to pay £15-20 per orphan lamb. HOpe this helps

Claire

[BadgerFace]

Hi

I'm in Sussex. The going rate seems to be around £15 for good Cades. If your thinking  about store's they were making around £60 a head at the Mart last week, with Hoggets fetching around £80.

Check out the prices on South East Marts website  Sheep prices are high at the moment.

[lindy]

Hello,
I'm in East Sussex and you can probably pick up a couple of cade lambs cheaply, but by the time you add up the cost of everything else i.e bottles, milk replacement powder, bedding, lamb nuts it is not a cheap way to rear meat. Also if you bottle feed lambs you will find them quite demanding and there is the risk you will become attatched to them. If you do end up sending them to the abattoir that will cost too as well as paying for them to be butchered. Just thought you should be aware of the cost first if money is a consideration.
Lynn

[woollyval]

I posted on this topic yesterday but it disappeared!!!

Pleeeeeeease for the sake of the lambs get youself on a sheep course, a lambing course or spend as much time as you can with a very experienced sheep farmer/smallholder as the number of phone calls I get at this time of the year from people whose orphans are ill/dead/poorly/hypothermic etc is too high!!! and they have really very little idea of how to look after them, what the costs are (v high) and labour involved! Its not an easy option!!!

[xnbacon]

Thanks for the useful replies.  I have to admit I was thinking more of store lambs rather than orphans.  I did give the orphans some thought though, however the whole idea was to eat them eventually but - apart from more practical considerations - I could just imagine the uproar from elder daughter if and when they went to slaughter especially if she'd been helping to look after them!!

[tirdu]

Hi there. we sold some fat lambs yesterday and they made 65 pounds a piece after deductsions. They werent the best type really, welsh mountain sobetter lambs will be a lt dearer for you. 

[danndans]

apparently last years run of the mill lambs were fetching £80 a piece today

think its time i had a root thru mine if they're fetching that sort ofprice 

[tirdu]

well im telling you dandanns nows the time to sell them. Especially for people such as myself who have started lambing know anyway

[buddy]

It depends on eaxctly where you live to the availability. A lot of farmers have finished lambing by April in this area as it is milder than the north, supposedly. Also they lamb early so that the lambs are bigger when it comes to selling them on. If you have farms around you it is easier to pick up cades, it is lovely to experience bottle fed sheep as they are so easy to manage when you are new to sheep. It doesn't cost that much to bottle feed a couple but try to be choosy as they are sometimes very sickly looking and likely to die. Completely the opposite, but you can buy whole or half lambs for a good price so why bother with growing your own so to speak? I have heard that a lot of the commercial farmers are having large singles this year and not multiples so maybe this is affecting the price and availablity of orphans. Good luck whatever your choice.

[DavidnChris]

Hi,
we have 2 pigs on an enclosure which is part of 1 3/4 acres. I had originally thought about having a few sheep to keep the grass down but ended up with the pigs. Sheep are hard work and have 2 amibitions in life  a) to escape  b) to commit suicide. Or so I was told.
Anyway, having got started on the pigs and found we're enjoying it I've gone back to the idea of sheep to keep the grass down.
So here's the questions.
If I buy two to fatten and send to slaughter what would be the timing of it?
That is to say when do you buy them and what age would they be ?  How long would you have to keep them before they were the correct weight?
David.