Advice on buying and breed of sheep to graze down my paddock

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Cobbytype

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I've had a flock of 38 sheep (neighbouring farmer's flock) on my paddock many years ago when it was first seeded and the grass came through too thick and lush for horses to graze. The sheep did a good job. My paddock has stood empty for nearly a year and the grass is long now, but I've no use for the hay that could be cut from it (and it's a problem getting a farmer to do just 4 acres), so I'm thinking of getting a few sheep to graze it down. I have a holding number for the land.

I could do with a bit of advice as what type of sheep to get. I've read that Wiltshire sheep don't need shearing, which would be a bonus as I think I'd struggle to find anyone to shear just a few sheep. But if their coats are short, how to they fair in the winter? I've got a gated field shelter, so if the weather was really poor, I could bed them down in there, but ideally I'd like a breed that's not too difficult for a learner to look after.

If I were to buy say 4 sheep, would that be enough to graze down 4 acres until say next spring? Would I be best to buy 4 of this year's lambs with a view to selling them next year, as I don't want to keep sheep long term (unless I get the bug:-))

There are no sheep farmers local to me anymore, so I can't loan a few like I did years ago.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Wiltshires very sensible choice they don't have a short coat they grow a full sheepy coat which blows come spring/summer (your field will like someones been shearing in it) Not sure on the rest though sure someone will come along who knows though.
 
Remember that you'll need a flock number as well and all the guff that DeFRA get excited about plus you'll need to trim feet, worm, spray against fly strike as a minimum. Four sheep won't be enough for that amount of grass, they will just pick at it and sheep don't like long grass much either. I'd have a look on a local FB smallholding page, it's almost certain that someone will have sheep that they'd be only too happy to put on there for you. Or someone who has small machinery that would cut, bale and cart away for free.
 
I'd personally get some of this years lambs then send them to slaughter late autumn when the grass stops growing so quickly. Having sheep over winter is not masses of fun and you won't need to worry about shearing then

Then next spring start the cycle again. If you can bear to take them to slaughter yourself it's not hard to sell them on

I'm not sure about Wiltshire sheep but I have Shetland sheep which are self shedding however this happens too late in the year and leaves them at risk of fly strike so I have mine sheared in spring and have not had a problem finding anyone though a small flock attracts a premium (£50 total for six sheep in my case so doable)

A small flock can be a pain as medication (workers, fly treatments) come in big bottles and the initial costs are high, the price of keeping a small flock is not in proportion to the average commercial sheep but they are worth their weight in gold if you rotate paddocks

Foot trimming is dead easy, find someone to show you first
 
do you plan on putting horses on it again ? we use small fields to keep the ewe and ram lambs seperate before they are ready for market but 4 acres is a good size for someone to use , sheep are not good with long grass though . If you dont need it long term then it would be better rented out and letting a smallholder do all the work !
 
WelshD said:
I'd personally get some of this years lambs then send them to slaughter late autumn when the grass stops growing so quickly. Having sheep over winter is not masses of fun and you won't need to worry about shearing then

Then next spring start the cycle again. If you can bear to take them to slaughter yourself it's not hard to sell them on

I'm not sure about Wiltshire sheep but I have Shetland sheep which are self shedding however this happens too late in the year and leaves them at risk of fly strike so I have mine sheared in spring and have not had a problem finding anyone though a small flock attracts a premium (£50 total for six sheep in my case so doable)

A small flock can be a pain as medication (workers, fly treatments) come in big bottles and the initial costs are high, the price of keeping a small flock is not in proportion to the average commercial sheep but they are worth their weight in gold if you rotate paddocks

Foot trimming is dead easy, find someone to show you first
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Thanks for that. I have a fried who shows a couple of goats, so I'm hoping that she will show me how to trim feet, as I'm guessing sheep feet are similar. If not, I'll have a look on Youtube:-)
 
I have 3 Zwarble castrated rams, I got them as lambs last year, if they were trouble they were going to the butchers. I paid a bit more as the were dogged sheep, the people I got them from did sheep dog trials, so they will follow a bucket and if they get out they will follow you, most of the time and our none sheep dog drives them or the husband.
So I would say its not the breed, apart from Soay which are a b***er to catch, its the breeder and how much they have been handled. They do not really like long grass, I would get it topped and put them on after, if they get runny poos they are more likely to get fly strike.Try this site for loads of practical advice
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=61910.0;topicseen
 
maree t said:
do you plan on putting horses on it again ? we use small fields to keep the ewe and ram lambs seperate before they are ready for market but 4 acres is a good size for someone to use , sheep are not good with long grass though . If you dont need it long term then it would be better rented out and letting a smallholder do all the work !
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Yes, I plan to put horses on the land again, but I'd like it to have a rest from horses for this year.

I've had an ad running locally but can't find anyone to use it for their own sheep - there are no farms in my village now, as all the land has been bought up by the big corporations who use large contracting firms to do the arable work (there isn't one farm animal in this village now!).

I've had hay off the land previously, but getting someone to cut and bale 4 acres is difficult and I was always left until last, when the bigger jobs had been done and the weather had turned.
 
have you not got a local small holder group locally? or a farmers facebook. i know my farmer friend likes having horse pastures to seperate the rams out. Our 4 boys will spend several weeks in someones fields when they are being kept away from the ewes and at weaning its great to have land elsewhere. i honestly would not want the hassle of looking after sheep, the damn things too frequently decide to die, and fly strike is a worry at the moment, shearing is not an issue as loads of people happy to do a few sheep, but the price charged is greater than with a larger flock. and hoof trimming is surprisingly easy :)
 
Bosworth said:
have you not got a local small holder group locally? or a farmers facebook. i know my farmer friend likes having horse pastures to seperate the rams out. Our 4 boys will spend several weeks in someones fields when they are being kept away from the ewes and at weaning its great to have land elsewhere. i honestly would not want the hassle of looking after sheep, the damn things too frequently decide to die, and fly strike is a worry at the moment, shearing is not an issue as loads of people happy to do a few sheep, but the price charged is greater than with a larger flock. and hoof trimming is surprisingly easy :)
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I've just had a look on FB and there is a smallholders group, so I've asked to join. I never imagined it would be so difficult to find someone with sheep to graze a field - I've had zero response from a local ad. I could have rented my field out 10 times over for horses, but it could do with a rest from horses this year and I think some cross grazing will do it good.
 
cross grazing works brilliantly, the sheep really condition the pasture. my horse shares with the sheep and the horse fields look great, and the horses love the grazing the sheep create
 
Wiltshires don't need shorn because they are a shedding breed. They shed their own wool around March-June. I have shedding sheep and there is less wool on the field with them than with normal sheep because their staple is shorter in the first place. Sheep have been bred to be extra woolly so we can harvest the wool. Shedders generally have less to start with. There are other breeds you could try. If the fences are good soays are very cheap, very hardy and usually will shed as well. But the fences have to be good enough ;)
 
FfionWinnie said:
Wiltshires don't need shorn because they are a shedding breed. They shed their own wool around March-June. I have shedding sheep and there is less wool on the field with them than with normal sheep because their staple is shorter in the first place. Sheep have been bred to be extra woolly so we can harvest the wool. Shedders generally have less to start with. There are other breeds you could try. If the fences are good soays are very cheap, very hardy and usually will shed as well. But the fences have to be good enough ;)
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I think I'd give the soays a miss then - there's a 100m stretch of fence that's seen better days and it borders the farm track. It's equine fencing (the wire squares), but has gone a bit saggy in parts, so I guess the escape artists would climb/jump over it if really determined.

I've put an ad on the local smallholders page - if no-one wants to graze their flock until autumn, I'll go back to plan a) and see about buying a few.

What I'd really like is some of these once the grass is short: https://www.donedeal.ie/donkeys-for-sale/free-to-a-good-home/9818659 The neighbours could do with a decent alarm clock to get them up early on a Sunday morning :-)
 
FfionWinnie said:
Wiltshires don't need shorn because they are a shedding breed. They shed their own wool around March-June. I have shedding sheep and there is less wool on the field with them than with normal sheep because their staple is shorter in the first place. Sheep have been bred to be extra woolly so we can harvest the wool. Shedders generally have less to start with. There are other breeds you could try. If the fences are good soays are very cheap, very hardy and usually will shed as well. But the fences have to be good enough ;)
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Where do you buy those from? I found finding shearers difficult for a small flock and "managing" was never ending.

Soays? Did the OP say they had a tennis court? Or deer fencing? :D

A nice generally quiet easy-care breed is the Lleyn, though it will depend on the strain. I'd get a few again except I hate sheep! A never ending succession of clipping, dosing, foot trimming, dagging, lambing, fostering, weighing, injecting, registering, tagging, crotching, tailing, speaning, selling, weaning.... Now, what have I missed? Sheep? Horrible horrible things! Don't do it!
 
Agree you may as well just get some lambs to fatten on for sale in Sept time. We have texel x, suffolk x mountain, and straight suffolk. Our suffolk are soft. The injection of mountain makes them hardier and less susceptible to illness and/or worm. They do need a lot of input but considering unlike horses, you get some output too - I cant deny its worth it.
 
I think I've found a smallholder to put his sheep on the land. There will be around 20 or more; a mixture of breeds including Jacobs, Texel and a breed beginning with 'm' (can't remember the name). Hopefully they will make a nice tidying up job.

I'll post some pics when they're in situ. If they are bombing around the field like their tails are on fire, I'll know that the spirit of my horse lives on, as he hated sheep and would chase them at any given opportunity:-)
 
LJR said:
Mules? :) My favourite breed :)

Good news, much easier to be able to give them back!
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I don't think it was Mule, sounded a bit like 'Mem/Mhem'???

I'm quite excited and the people seem nice too. They have said that as long as I give them a week's notice, they will remove the sheep when the weather turns and/or when the grazing has gone.

It will be a bit of an interest for me without the responsibility. This is the first time in my life that I've been without animals of one sort or another and I don't like it - I feel as though I've lost my identity. It'll be a nice way to ease back into country bumpkinshire :-)
 
The first lot of sheep have arrived today; there's plenty of grazing for them, as my paddock has gone feral during the past 3 weeks:

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Thankfully the sheep are loving the docks and are making short change of the willowherb and thistles too. Ten more are arriving tomorrow, so I'm hoping that by the end of September the paddock will look a bit less like a wilderness.
 
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