Since we’re recent returnees to farming, sheep are a new enterprise for us. And like any new venture, you need to figure out the system that works best for you.

This is our first year proper with ewes over winter, so we’ve spent the last few weeks trying to work out how best to feed them outside and make sure they have the right nutrition in the run up to lambing at the end of February.

Will hay work best for now? It’s scarce stuff to find, especially when you’re looking for square bales of it! What about fodder beet? It’s available locally, but how to get it from yard to field with the minimum fuss?

18% vs 20% ration

Then, there’s the concentrate requirements? Will we go with an 18% or 20% ration? We’re in an area where dairy is the dominant farm type so sheep supplies in general, and their foodstuffs in particular, are thin on the ground. So, where to source whatever ration you decide on?

How to combine all the above then to arrive at the right diet, at the right price, that us part-timers can get out to the sheep in the field?

shop around, ask plenty questions, and never take the first deal you’re offered

Luckily, price and availability ruled out some of the above options and we were left with fewer options than we thought we had. It was easier then to come up with a final plan. Advice from a number of different agri-food agents in the area also helped. None of them are based locally, but each said they’d deliver to us nonetheless. A little knowledge is a useful thing in this instance.

The lesson here is obvious: shop around, ask plenty questions, and never take the first deal you’re offered. I’d like to think we’ll apply the same approach even when we have a well-established winter feeding plan.

Ewe condition

The ewes themselves are in good condition. We’re slowly building numbers and our stocking rate is still low enough at seven ewes per hectare. Therefore, the ewes have had plenty grass and very little upset since the ram was left out back in October.

They’ll need less feeding from here to lambing than might otherwise have been the case. We’ve had our share of bad luck so far with the sheep enterprise, but there’s been some good fortune like this too.

Maybe the biggest lesson is to learn from your mistakes and note down the causes of your good luck. Now, that’s a system that should work well for anyone.

Kieran Sullivan and his brother farm part-time in Co Waterford. You can follow him on Twitter: @kieran_sullivan

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