[bryntevans01]

Hi guys,

Just awaiting my flock numbers to come back from Daera and looking at getting a few sheep to get going but just wanted some advice and answers from you guys if you'd be so nice?

Looking at getting around 8-10 sheep hopefully pregnant(!?) With the intention of rearing for meat and increas flock next year a little. I have a 1.75 hect field to put them in, its fenced well but apart from that what else do I need? Is there any advice you can give or anything that would be really useful I need to get? I'm a first time in livestock so all is appreciated.thanks guys.

[Marches Farmer]

Lots of posts on starting with sheep.  Usual reply is to read Tim Tyne's Sheep Book for Smallholders and start with wether lambs taken to slaughter weight and sold or butchered - that way you find out if sheep-keeping's for you without any possibility of getting sentimental and deciding to keep them for breeding.  One thing you'll need is more land - around 6 acres is nowhere near enough for 8-10 ewes + around 10 to 20 lambs unless you're happy to buy in and store and considerable amount of hay.

[SallyintNorth]

Lots of good stuff right here too https://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/livestock/sheep/

[Sbom]

I'd definitely recommend starting with lambs to fatten. Breeding is not something to be taken on without experience. You need to make sure you've got an outlet for your lamb when the time comes for slaughtering.

If the field is well fenced that's great, make sure you have a catching area would be my recommendation. Somewhere you can feed them a little to get them used to going into. Chasing sheep is not a fun activity!

[bryntevans01]

Thanks for that, will have a look for that book. Land isn't a problem, father in law has 100acres and I've literally nicked it haha! We've just harvested all our barley so plenty of feed through winter. Idea is to get half to slaughter and I'll butcher them myself and the other half to breed. That sounds easier than it probably is :-D

[harmony]

I would not recommend anyone getting lambing ewes as their first foray into sheep keeping unless you have experienced help on hand. If all goes well it is an extremely satisfying thing to do but equally it can so easily go wrong. You are absolutely right "sounds easier than it is"! As others have said there is good information out there and always plenty of people willing to share their experience on here.

[Fleecewife]

Are the lambs you intend to home slaughter for your consumption alone?  You mention Daera so you are in NI - here we are allowed to home slaughter only animals intended for our personal use, not for selling on. Is it different in NI?

[bryntevans01]

Thanks for the advice guys. I do have some help and experience on hand luckily, his advice was to get a few and try it to learn! So I may just start with 4 and go from there. We've got plenty of land and fresh cut barley so plenty of feed too. Not sure if would want to slaughter myself to be honest, that's another level!! 

I am in Northern Ireland but recently moved from Wales with the wife and we've inherited her uncles (non-working) farm so we just want to start it off little by little. I've 20 years exp as a Michelin chef so butchery is the east part!

Thanks guys

[twizzel]

Have to be very careful feeding barley to sheep as can cause acidosis and bloat very easily. Best fed whole not milled but for lambing ewes they would need something with a bit of protein as barley is quite low in protein and minerals.


I would start off with a few bottle lambs or buy some store lambs at market now and run them on over the winter. I did pet lamb rearing for 5 years before venturing into lambing my own ewes, the last 12 months has been a huge learning curve!

[Marches Farmer]

Ewes generally get an 18% protein ewe nut or roll in late pregnancy.  Barley is more often fed to cattle.

[shep53]

You can feed whole barley by mixing with mins and a high protein pellet circa 35% or make a blend by adding sugar beet , grass nuts or similar .  Advantage 3in 1 feeders are specifically designed to feed whole cereals