[TracyC]

Hi there, in January we bought a smallholding.  Our neighrbour is selling us 2 Texel X 5 month old lambs when they have been weaned in 3 weeks time.  They have not had Heptavac as they normally don't breed from the lambs (his words) so I assume they just go to slaughter.
We have a CPH number and I see that I now need to register as a livestock keeper with the APHA which I will do.
So assuming the purchase and paperwork work our smoothly, I'm looking for some general advice for newcomers.
We're only getting 2 to start off with and I'd like to breed from them in 2017 for lambing 2018.  I have been given some wonderful advice already and I'm looking for even more.  We live in the North East of England, County Durham. 
My husband is a butcher so the lambs we would produce in 2018 would be for the freezer.
Looking forward to any advice.  Especially around only having 2 lambs and most products being sold are for 50 or so!  It's worth noting the farmer we bought them off can help with hands on but he's getting rid of his flock after this lot as they are losing too much money, so I can't jump on the back of his injections/shearing etc.  It'll be all us and the vet.  Whatever we can do, we will.

Thanks in advance.

[harmony]

Hi and welcome! 


If you have already gots lots of advice then ask specific questions you need answers too.


If your friend is giving up see what you might purchase from him in the way of equipment.


You will need to look locally for shearers and what are you going to do about tupping? Your location will be a help. You are right medicines etc don't come in handy sizes for smallholders so knowing where you are will put you in touch with other local smallholders. You may have a smallholder group in your area. Try the RBST too.

[Rhea]

Our vets will put people with small flocks in touch with each other to share the larger packs of vaccinations, so it's worth seeing if yours do something similar.

We started with 6 earlier this year and it's been an experience! You're lucky to have someone to give you hands on help as you're learning, I think it will really help. Good luck - you'll love it   

[Fleecewife]

Many vets will split packs so people with only a small flock buy just what they need.  With a drug which doesn't keep they would need you all to collect it and dose the same day.

For shearing - your farmer friend will I'm sure demonstrate how to shear.  There are also lots of you tube clips showing just how to do it.  Get yourself a good pair of hand shears and do it yourself, so you can get them done when they're ready rather than waiting for a shearer to get around to you.

Some things it's best not to learn from retiring farmers, such as foot care and worming regime.  We'll give you the up-to-date gen on TAS

Good luck with your venture - it's an exciting time 

[SallyintNorth]

Welcome to TAS  from the west side.

My only comment so far is whether you have room for three ewes?  If you have two and one dies, you're in a pickle, whereas if you have three and one dies, you've still got a pair to be company for each other.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Hi and welcome to TAS from Ceredigion! It all sounds really exciting for you both! Here's wishing you all the best for the future, and sheep breed quite quickly, although not like rabbits , so you should a decent sized flock in a few years. If you like I have some ram lambs for sale, almost fat, you could butcher them and sell the meat or keep it for yourselves if you like? It might give an idea for what to expect, however mine are pure Lleyn so carcass may be a little different, but mine are nice and long with good confirmation and who knows seeing as they're out of a good tup you could keep on back for next year as a tup?

[twizzel]

Echo everything above especially having 3- you could also start them on Heptavac, it would be worth it although the smallest bottles are for 25 doses. But better than a ewe dropping dead from pasteurella or similar. Sheep are flock animals so the bigger the flock the better they will cope, we find our tame lamb flock gets harder to handle as the season goes on (and every month a few more go in the freezer), by the time there's only 4 or 5 left they are not as easy to move as when there's a few more.

[CarolineJ]

Hello  You're going to love this forum!

[Fleecewife]

Echo everything above especially having 3- you could also start them on Heptavac, it would be worth it although the smallest bottles are for 25 doses. But better than a ewe dropping dead from pasteurella or similar. Sheep are flock animals so the bigger the flock the better they will cope, we find our tame lamb flock gets harder to handle as the season goes on (and every month a few more go in the freezer), by the time there's only 4 or 5 left they are not as easy to move as when there's a few more.

I think they're getting the picture    Round up = disappearing chums 

[twizzel]

Echo everything above especially having 3- you could also start them on Heptavac, it would be worth it although the smallest bottles are for 25 doses. But better than a ewe dropping dead from pasteurella or similar. Sheep are flock animals so the bigger the flock the better they will cope, we find our tame lamb flock gets harder to handle as the season goes on (and every month a few more go in the freezer), by the time there's only 4 or 5 left they are not as easy to move as when there's a few more.

I think they're getting the picture    Round up = disappearing chums 

ha ha... they aren't stupid 

[Bramblecot]

Welcome .
 Def. buy as much equipment as possible from your farmer who is retiring from sheep.  You can never have too many compatible hurdles!  The kit is often more expensive than the sheep.  And have a few store lambs so that you can do the whole process before you have your own lambs.  Good luck, sheep are addictive.

[TracyC]

Oh wow!  Firstly, apologies that I haven't been back sooner.  The farmer's 3 weeks has turned into 6 now with harvest and the timing for weaning the lambs.  however all that aside - thank you for such a lovely warm welcome!
Based on your comments we've decided to go for 3.  Forgive my lack of knowledge on terminology yet but these are apx 6 month old females (ewes?  or not yet?).  They will stay with us until next year when it's the right time to breed from them.  The farmer said we can do it this time next year, when they're around 18 months old? 
The plan is to get another farmer friend to lend/hire us his tup (am I doing ok?) for the 3 girls and then in 2018 hopefully have some lambs from them. 
We would like to be self sufficient in our own meat, so some or all of them would end up in the freezer (hoping that goes down ok on here) and then hopefully do the same thing the next year and so on.
I am pleased I will be able to try and shear them myself when the time is right, I don't expect someone will want to come out for 3 sheep, more than likely not worth their while.
I shall be on here daily from now on, I'm back to work and have normal PC access, so thank you all again for your comments so far!

Oh one more thing - what hard feed/treats would you recommend for taming them?  Do you supplement grass over the winter with hay and hard feed?  We have hay already as I have horses so that's not a problem.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Oh wow!  Firstly, apologies that I haven't been back sooner.  The farmer's 3 weeks has turned into 6 now with harvest and the timing for weaning the lambs.  however all that aside - thank you for such a lovely warm welcome!
Based on your comments we've decided to go for 3.  Forgive my lack of knowledge on terminology yet but these are apx 6 month old females (ewes?  or not yet?).  They will stay with us until next year when it's the right time to breed from them.  The farmer said we can do it this time next year, when they're around 18 months old? 
The plan is to get another farmer friend to lend/hire us his tup (am I doing ok?) for the 3 girls and then in 2018 hopefully have some lambs from them. 
We would like to be self sufficient in our own meat, so some or all of them would end up in the freezer (hoping that goes down ok on here) and then hopefully do the same thing the next year and so on.
I am pleased I will be able to try and shear them myself when the time is right, I don't expect someone will want to come out for 3 sheep, more than likely not worth their while.
I shall be on here daily from now on, I'm back to work and have normal PC access, so thank you all again for your comments so far!

Oh one more thing - what hard feed/treats would you recommend for taming them?  Do you supplement grass over the winter with hay and hard feed?  We have hay already as I have horses so that's not a problem.

Borrowing a tup would be the best, it saves a lot of money in buying one and also you won't have to keep him then sell him later on Yes hay would be fine for them over the winter, with some sugarbeet or ewe nuts too. I would use sugarbeet pellets to tame them, they love sugarbeet. Only give them a few handfuls though.  Make sure the hay is free from mould as mould can cause problems in sheep. All the best it sounds like you are doing very well!

[Liz Kershaw]

Hi, this forum is great and I've found it very helpful as a newbie 2 years ago. Advice ref hurdles etc is very good, as it all mounts up, but as you go on from year to year, the initial cost will even out. Also really good advice about listening out for the newest advice ref worming and feet. I had a MASSIVE bawling out by the vet when I asked for routine wormers (having been advised to do this by long-established breeder) and when I made the mistake of mentioning feet trimming I thought she was going to go through the roof.

Good luck, you'll love the sheep. I have found mine really rewarding.

[TracyC]

We're still waiting here!! I wish I'd not put 3 weeks now, the farmer is obviously busy with other things and weaning will happen when it happens.  He's got 100's of acres to finish harvesting and looks like he's just had a huge pile of lime delivered so I'm guessing he'll be doing that next.  Hopefully we'll get them shortly though as he did say another couple of weeks when hubby went for the corn for our chickens.
Re the sugarbeet, does it need to be soaked?  I'm asking from a horse background as we'd not feed dry sugarbeet due to it swelling, just wondering if it's the same?  I'll pick up some ewe nuts next time I'm passing the agri shop.  I'm so excited!