Author Topic: My first purchase (Read 3724 times)

Valleyfarm · « **on:** September 29, 2014, 03:35:02 pm »

Hi guys, I am thinking of putting four to six ewes on my small holding (3 acres). I intend to keep them on the same ground as chickens and ducks. They are just for pets and to mow the lawn a bit too.
I've seen some Texel cross sheep locally, they appear mucky round the rear end but otherwise look to be in good form. Should I be concerned? Or is this just poor housekeeping?

They are about seven months old. What should I expect them to have been treated for? I mean what questions should I ask re worming, vaccinations etc.
Any other questions I should definitely have answers to?
Thanks in advance for any replies!

Porterlauren · « **Reply #1 on:** September 29, 2014, 05:50:25 pm »

Are you planning to just keep them on the same piece of ground continually? If so, it's a recipe for disaster!

R.E the mucky bums, could be worms, or maybe just lush grass, but probably the former. Could also be something more sinister. Mind you, some of the lambs on the estate that are wired onto clover, have wet arses at the moment.

I'd be asking if they have are on the Hep P system, have they been wormed, fluked etc or not.

If you do get them, shut them in a barn / shed / on concrete, FEC them and then worm accordingly before turning them onto pasture.

Valleyfarm · « **Reply #2 on:** September 29, 2014, 07:07:36 pm »

Ok thanks. I'm not sure what you mean not keeping them on the same ground? I intend to rotate them between two areas one is about two thirds of an acre and the other about a third of an acre. Is this enough for six ewes?
What is FEC ?

Rosemary · « **Reply #3 on:** September 29, 2014, 07:12:19 pm »

FEC - faecal egg count. You send off a sample of poo to a lab and they tell you how many worm eggs there are in it and what type so that you can target your worming programme.

More info here http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/livestock/sheep/

Womble · « **Reply #4 on:** September 29, 2014, 07:25:38 pm »

Hi VF, since I'm just learning all these new words myself, maybe I can help!

FEC is a Fecal Egg Count (Darn - cross posted with Rosemary!). Basically you take bits of poo from several different sheep down to the vet, who charges you £20 to look at it under a microscope to tell you how many worm eggs are in it. The vet will then advise what action to take if any. The reason you put them in a barn is so that the infected poo that they do whilst you're waiting for the test result and wormer to take effect can be cleaned up and doesn't infect clean pasture.

The other thing to ask about is whether they've had any vaccinations. Heptavac-P is the one most commonly used and gives protection against a variety of chlostridial diseases. If they're on a Hep-P programme, they should have had two doses as lambs, and will then need an annual booster in the spring.

Others may disagree, but if I only wanted some sheep to mow the lawn, I'd be looking for something more interesting than Texel crosses! You could go for something really friendly and nice to look at, like Ryelands or Zwartbles (had to get the Z-word in somewhere!

) , or you could support a rare breed, or even get a mixture of different rare breeds.

The 'how many sheep can my land support' question is a nightmare for beginners. I've had estimates of between four and forty for our five acre holding depending on who I speak to. Really it seems to depend on so many factors that it's hard for anybody to really say. The best advice seems to be to start with just a few so you can be sure you're not over-stocking, as you can always get more later once you've got a feel for it.

Hope that helps!

Valleyfarm · « **Reply #5 on:** September 29, 2014, 07:38:23 pm »

Thank you so much for some sage advice have you any idea how long they would need to be treated before turning out into pasture?

Porterlauren · « **Reply #6 on:** September 29, 2014, 08:01:24 pm »

What wobble says is correct, although my vet is cheaper by far! I think it's £6 for an individual sample and £12 for a group sample (where I take in ten from the flock).

Ideally you keep them in or on dead ground for 48 hours after worming and they should be good to go. What you are trying to avoid is them dropping resistant worms onto your fields.

R.E stocking and numbers. The amount of sheep that a piece of ground can support is relative. I.E I am happily going to move 25 ewes into a fresh 4 acre field this week, but it will only need to support them for a few of weeks before they are moved off. That's a stocking density of over 6 sheep and acre. There is no way that I could keep anywhere near that number on 4 acres, year round, even with it divided up and rotationally grazed. In my experience sheep need range to thrive. The old adage is that a sheeps worse enemy, is another sheep!