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dizandstell

Hi all
Does any one know how much land is required for grazing couple of sheep.
The general idea is to get a breedng pair of Soay sheep. The resulting lamb/s would be for the freezer. We have a small site, but it getting a bit tight between polly tunnel,ducks,geese and pigs.
Regards
Diz

tractorpunk · Joined: 02 Jul 2009 Posts: 35 Location: east Galway

i think i was told 4 per acre on rough land, 6 on good land. we have 9, including this years lambs, alternating between 2 fields, one about an acre and the other smaller and its more than enough. its bad land but they still cant eat it quick enough, we have to put the horses in for a couple of days every now and again to keep the grass down.

dara · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 182 Location: Mayo

Hi Diz, I'm not speaking from experience but I know a fellow who had to let his soay's go because no matter what he did he could'nt keep them off his neighbours land. A couple of 'ordinary' ewes would need at least an acre - if they were grazing that same bit all year round. And you'd still have to buy in hay (or whatever) most of the year as they would graze the grass down to the butt and never give it a chance. If you want lamb/hogget (the second is best) for your freezer you might consider buying a couple of stores towards the back end, which can be picked up very cheap, and let them graze on the late summer flush 'till Christmas. Finished with a bit of meal you'd have good stuff.

dizandstell · Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 9:38 pm Post subject:

Thanks Tractorpunk and Dara. I think a re think is the order of the day. I dont think we have enough grazing! We would end up bringing feed in, and i dont realy want to go down this way.
Thanks again
Diz

dara · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 182 Location: Mayo

Shrewd thinking - one of the biggest mistakes I have made is overstocking. It only takes a bad year, like the ones we're getting used to, and things can very quickly go pear-shaped.

jmchugh · Joined: 20 Jul 2009 Posts: 4

Hi,

Was just wondering what are Soay sheep like to keep are the easy to handle and do the mix well with other livestock ?

John

phil · Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:38 pm Post subject:

What is the attraction with Soay sheep,is it the wool,do they taste different,
or is it just that you like the look of them.

tractorpunk · Joined: 02 Jul 2009 Posts: 35 Location: east Galway

i've only been keeping soay since this spring so i'm no expert, but i do like them as a breed. we have a bit of experience with more commercial breeds and had decided to get some cheviots as our land is poor and we're up in the hills in the slieve aughtys, no place for lowland sheep.

the chance to get a starter flock of soay came up so we went for them instead. they are very hardy, bred for scottish island weather. they have harder hooves, less likely to get rot. they are quite small and dont eat a lot, prefering to browse like goats, so you can keep more stock than normal. easy to lamb, easy to handle cos they're small, no need to shear, impossible to herd without hurdles and pens and need good quality fencing or they'll vanish.
we haven't eaten one yet, they need a few extra months to gain a decent weight. we'll slaughter one at 7 months but will leave the rest a good bit longer. i'm told they taste good, less fat, but who knows.
fleeces are nice, chocolate brown,
i have seen cross bred soay/mule lambs but have heard that they dont get on well with other breeds and can get very stressed leading to still born lambs etc. i've no plans to mix mine with other breeds
oh yeah, people say they eat rushes, they dont, no more then the average piebald cob

patsonline · Joined: 23 Apr 2009 Posts: 39 Location: North Mayo

I dont suppose you know of anyone selling soay ewe lambs? I have just been reading up on these amazimg sheep, they certainly seem low maintenance, not only are they hardy, but the fact that they dont need shearing, dipping, or even need their tails docking makes them worthy of a try out. Would appreciate some contact numbers.

tractorpunk · Joined: 02 Jul 2009 Posts: 35 Location: east Galway

cant really help i'm afraid. i'll be looking for a new ram next year so i've had my eye out for others. my mate says there's a flock at the cragganowen centre in clare, some pet farms keep a few such as black water open farm in enniscorthy, and i've heard there's a couple of flocks in valentia island. thats all the leads i have and i haven't contacted any of them yet so you can get a head start on me. let me know if you have any success. i might have ewes or rams for sale next year if you can wait that long