I farm: “130 pedigree and crossbred sheep and 15 bucket-reared calves on 50 acres with my wife Pauline. We started in 2015 with a small farm and thought it would be a niche business to get into the pedigrees.”
Pedigree: “We run 50 pedigree Charollais ewes, 20 Beltex and 50 crossbreds. We also keep some pedigree Suffolk and Bleu du Maine ewes to breed first-cross rams. Our aim is to breed long-lasting, hardy rams for commercial farmers that produce fast-growing lambs.”
System: “The pedigrees start lambing the first week of January with the ewes sponged for the second week of August and scanned in October. The Charollais scan at 1.9 and the Beltex 1.5. Ewes are housed in early December and we concentrate on feeding good-quality silage. They also get a high-energy 18% protein ration.”
Denis Kavanagh farms pedigree Charollais and Beltex sheep. \ Patrick Browne
Lambing: “We find both breeds easy-lambing, hardy and quick to get up and suck. Ewes and lambs go into lambing pens for three days and then to small group pens. When weather allows, we get them out to grass and we introduce creep feed after a month. The crossbreds lamb for the end of March and we rear these lambs 100% off grass and sell in Tullow Mart.”
Sales: “We sold 99% of the pedigree rams from home last year, beginning in June. It suits a lot of part-time farmers who can come in the evenings or of a Saturday. 
Our aim is to create repeat business so we want to make sure the ram is well conformed but most importantly, he is hardy and will work for a commercial system. With the first-crosses too, we’re seeing more of a demand every year.”
New shed: “We started building a new shed in 2017 and had our first lambing in it in 2019. It works well to have everything under the one roof and we’ve an indoor handling system which is very handy in bad weather.”
Quotable quote: “2021 was a good sheep year but you’d want a good lot more of them before you see an extra €5,000 in the bank! It’s like any business, we do our best to produce a good product and hope the results will follow.”
I farm: “130 pedigree and crossbred sheep and 15 bucket-reared calves on 50 acres with my wife Pauline. We started in 2015 with a small farm and thought it would be a niche business to get into the pedigrees.”
Pedigree: “We run 50 pedigree Charollais ewes, 20 Beltex and 50 crossbreds. We also keep some pedigree Suffolk and Bleu du Maine ewes to breed first-cross rams. Our aim is to breed long-lasting, hardy rams for commercial farmers that produce fast-growing lambs.”
System: “The pedigrees start lambing the first week of January with the ewes sponged for the second week of August and scanned in October. The Charollais scan at 1.9 and the Beltex 1.5. Ewes are housed in early December and we concentrate on feeding good-quality silage. They also get a high-energy 18% protein ration.”
Denis Kavanagh farms pedigree Charollais and Beltex sheep. \ Patrick Browne
Lambing: “We find both breeds easy-lambing, hardy and quick to get up and suck. Ewes and lambs go into lambing pens for three days and then to small group pens. When weather allows, we get them out to grass and we introduce creep feed after a month. The crossbreds lamb for the end of March and we rear these lambs 100% off grass and sell in Tullow Mart.”
Sales: “We sold 99% of the pedigree rams from home last year, beginning in June. It suits a lot of part-time farmers who can come in the evenings or of a Saturday.
Our aim is to create repeat business so we want to make sure the ram is well conformed but most importantly, he is hardy and will work for a commercial system. With the first-crosses too, we’re seeing more of a demand every year.”
New shed: “We started building a new shed in 2017 and had our first lambing in it in 2019. It works well to have everything under the one roof and we’ve an indoor handling system which is very handy in bad weather.”
Quotable quote: “2021 was a good sheep year but you’d want a good lot more of them before you see an extra €5,000 in the bank! It’s like any business, we do our best to produce a good product and hope the results will follow.”
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