Hi,
Just a quick note to introduce myself. Having grown up on a small farm in Suffolk with sheep and cattle (too many years ago to remember!) I have for many years longed to get involved again. we moved back to Suffolk from London a few years ago and a couple of years ago I was lucky enough to find someone who keeps a few ewes who was getting on and needing some help. This has led to me this year taken on 4 of last years ewe lambs and keeping them on some land at my in laws farm. I have only 4 of my own now, 2 of which will be going of to the butcher next month and 2 I will keep back for putting to the tup this year. One is a southdown and the other a southdown X. I am lucky enough to be helping out with my friends sheep still (35 mixed southdown & Hampshire ewes and 2 southdown tups) which means apart from lots of good advice I get to have all the meds i need without buying huge bottles! I have about 2.5 acres of grass to run my 2 on which should do them well even when they have lambed next year. I am moving them about in smaller areas behind electric nets to make sure I rotate the grazing well. They were wormed & hep'd before they came over and get a good dose of garlic & molasses each month, which along with clearing their mess up after them each week I hope will keep the worm burden down without the need for lots of drenches.
Thinking ahead though I don't want to use my friends tups if possible as although all lambs will be going in the freezer the blood line is too close to the 2 ewes I will be keeping. Is there anyone in Suffolk with a tup I could use? The Hampshire cross is a good size and the southdown a little smaller, what would be a good breed of Tup to try and use? I don't want anything too large, especially for their first lambing.
The other thing is I would like to shear them myself, I am OK with dagging but wonder if trying to do a complete shear would be too much?
anyway just to say hello and would welcome knowing of any other members on here keeping sheep in Suffolk , especially in the Bury St Edmund's area.
so, hello!