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Author Topic: Sheep Stocking Per Acre  (Read 5998 times)

Fishyhaddock

  • Joined Apr 2009
  • aberdeenshire
Sheep Stocking Per Acre
« on: October 19, 2017, 01:53:21 pm »
Hi everyone,


I was just wondering on what your thoughts are regarding how many sheep per acre of grass?


Obviously there are a lot of variables i.e grass quality etc.


I have just got access to just over 3 acres of decent grass which is split into 4 roughly equal fields. Just wondering what the rule of thumb would be regarding numbers bearing in mind the resting of the fields etc.


Thanks in advance


Fishy

Backinwellies

  • Global Moderator
  • Joined Sep 2012
  • Llandeilo Carmarthenshire
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Re: Sheep Stocking Per Acre
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2017, 02:28:16 pm »
Are you going to buy in forage or try to make your own as this would make quite a difference too.

Also what breed of sheep (and hence size)

Linda

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shep53

  • Joined Jan 2011
  • Dumfries & Galloway
Re: Sheep Stocking Per Acre
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2017, 06:22:53 pm »
You start with 3 gims /ewes then need a ram to breed and he needs a wether for company when not working , the ewes lamb  and at the end of summer you wean the lambs , suddenly you've gone from tons of space to only one spare paddock .  If you have plenty of grass you keep 1or 2 more ewes , if short of grass you sell 1or 2 ewes in a few years you will answer your question .

bj_cardiff

  • Joined Feb 2017
  • Carmarthenshire
Re: Sheep Stocking Per Acre
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2017, 08:48:16 pm »
Its a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string question' there are so many variables.

I'd probaby start with 6 ewes and a ram (or hire or borrow one), depending on breed you will probably get around 10 lambs and the grass will grow faster than they can eat it over the summer. Aim to get the lambs 'gone' by this time of year and there should be enough grass to see the ewes until Jan/Feb.

There's so many variables though, I'd rather grass that gets too long and trampled/wasted than have small lambs and thin ewes that you need to feed all winter to get up to weight

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Sheep Stocking Per Acre
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2017, 09:32:08 pm »
suddenly you've gone from tons of space to only one spare paddock . 

Yup. In a couple of weeks we'll have:

Field 1) Ewes plus tups
Field 2) Ewe lambs not being tupped
Field 3) Tup lambs not being ewed

It can be quite a logistical challenge at times! :-)

The best advice is to start with too few, and work from there (maybe four ewes plus a tup lamb you then eat). If your ground is anything like ours, its carrying capacity is WAY more in the summer than the winter, and it's the winter that must dictate.
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

farmers wife

  • Joined Jul 2009
  • SE Wales
Re: Sheep Stocking Per Acre
« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2017, 04:14:42 pm »
I cant say but this is how we work - working on the fact that you move the fence every week under strip grazing you can work out the number of strips you need.  The last strip is then left for 90 days.


Visual inspection of the pasture dicates the size of the area.  Sheep can eat very quick. Time of year is also dependant ie Oct - March you get very little growth so the area is larger or you bring them in.


Best course of action is to sit down and use a map to scale or blow up an area and sketch in lines.

 

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