The make-up of the Irish sheep sector, where over 40% of flocks record fewer than 50 sheep on their annual sheep census and over 65% of flocks record fewer than 100 sheep, gives rise to a significant number of farms opting to purchase their replacements.

While a high percentage of large flock owners breed their own replacements, there is still a significant number who like to source replacements with desired maternal attributes. This practice has taken place for generations, with breeding groups marketing Suffolk Cheviot and Mule sheep commonplace in the industry and lasting the test of time.

It has also afforded some flock owners the opportunity to develop a solid sales avenue for ewe lambs or ewe hoggets with a high health status.

It is still early to predict if hogget supplies will be significantly tighter

There is an anticipation in the trade that hogget supplies could be tighter in supply this autumn. This is stemming partly from the fact there were 37,322 more hoggets slaughtered this spring. It is still early to predict if hogget supplies will be significantly tighter as it must also be remembered that there has been an increase in the number of farmers operating a dry hogget system in recent years.

Nevertheless, many mart managers comment that they are seeing interest in sales for well-presented batches of strong ewe lambs, with some farmers of the opinion that hoggets could be harder to buy and viewing them as an alternative.

System review

It is always worth assessing your farming system from time to time and asking if there are areas that can be improved.

An important area is reviewing your replacement policy. It goes without saying that you generally have the greatest control of your flock’s genetics when breeding replacements from within the flock. But purchasing does provide an opportunity to introduce a different gene pool and can work successfully provided a robust health plan is in place.

Tables 1, 2 and 3 provide a blueprint for reviewing the financial performance of your replacement policy and they highlight key areas where a strong focus is required.

Taking Table 1 first, the option of purchasing hogget ewes and incorporating them straight into the flock is probably the most straightforward and easiest system to manage.

Some will argue that the purchase price or cull ewe value should be higher and that is fine

Taking a purchase price of €180 and direct veterinary and associated costs of purchase/transport of €15 leaves hoggets entering the flock at a price of €195.

If we assume a cull ewe value across the flock of €90, it gives a net replacement cost over five years of €21.30 per ewe.

Some will argue that the purchase price or cull ewe value should be higher and that is fine – the benefit is in carrying out the exercise.

Dry ewe lambs

Table 2 looks at the option of purchasing or retaining ewe lambs and running them dry until joining the flock as two-tooth hoggets. This has become a more common system in recent years with an aging profile in the sector. It involves less labour than breeding from ewe lambs and suits retaining home-reared replacements best.

It provides an option to increase stocking rate and, potentially, output on farms where there is resistance to increasing ewe numbers. Taking standard production costs over the winter, the system has a net replacement cost of about €15 per ewe.

It is worth noting that for farmers operating this type of system as their sole enterprise it is important to keep costs in check as the margins are tight if hoggets are not sold at a high price.

There is probably a bit of room to reduce veterinary costs but offering hoggets with a full suite of vaccinations could also be a good marketing asset.

Breeding ewe lambs

The lowest-cost replacement policy is where replacements are incorporated into the flock as ewe lambs and lamb down as yearlings.

The system explored in Table 3 is based on high levels of efficiency. It is assumed upwards of 80% of ewe lambs joined go in lamb and deliver a litter size of 1.2 lambs per hogget mated and one lamb weaned per hogget lambed.

A lower lamb value of €65 takes account of ewe lambs that do not contribute to output.

A higher allocation of meal feeding is factored into the system to allow concentrates to be introduced earlier and also fed for a four- to five-week period in early lactation.

A cost is also factored into the equation for creep feed offered to lambs.

This system offers faster incorporation of genetics into a flock and the potential to increase lifetime output by more than 10%

The other cost factors are higher costs for straw, with ewe lambs housed for longer, and a contribution towards equipment such as creep feeders, for example, while a higher veterinary cost is also assumed to account for the possibility of veterinary assistance and aspects such as blowfly treatment and faecal egg counts.

This system offers faster incorporation of genetics into a flock and the potential to increase lifetime output by more than 10%.

It offers the lowest-cost option of incorporating replacements but it is a system that requires precise management and on highly stocked farms where labour is an issue it should not be allowed to complicate a system.

Farm circumstances

The financial budgets discussed should be used as a guide. They are only as good as the information used to formulate them and, therefore, realistic costs should be used for your own farm. It is important not to compare systems on cost alone as the policy needs to take into account how it dovetails with the farm’s circumstances.

Sight should also not be lost of the direction that the breeding programme is taking and the influence of genetics in underpinning higher levels of output.

Important veterinary costs

Purchasing replacements leaves a farm at greater risk to introducing disease on to the farm. The growing incidence of enzootic abortion and toxoplasmosis means vaccination for these two diseases is vital to protect your flock. These diseases account for in the region of 60% of veterinary costs. Other significant costs include a double treatment for worms to protect against anthelmintic resistance, a double treatment to protect against liver fluke resistance, clostridial disease vaccination, dipping to control external parasites and a cost for footbathing of lameness vaccination.