Know How / Sheep

Whether you run a sheep flock that numbers in the dozens or the thousands, keeping your rams, ewes and lambs healthy and productive is the key to achieving maximum production.

Regardless of your sheep breed, location or system, these pages give you the important health, welfare, nutrition and genetic advice to help make your flock profitable and sustainable.

Key focus areas:

Breeding to suit your system
Grassland management and nutrition
Improving flock health
Finishing lambs to suit market requirements
Reducing your cost of production

Latest Know How

HOUSING AND HANDLING

How updating slats helped sheep farm cut lameness and labour

A purpose-built slatted lambing shed that was put up in the 1960s on a Monmouthshire farm has reduced labour and straw while keeping flock lameness below 1%. Over this time,…

FEED AND NUTRITION

How lucerne kept lambs growing as grass turned brown

Scaling up the acreage of drought-tolerant lucerne from 6.9ha (17 acres) to 12ha (30 acres) maintained grazing for lambs through the summer drought at Newton Farm, Brecon. While grass growth…

FEED AND NUTRITION

Tips on managing ewe condition to reduce mastitis risk

Condition scoring the flock in September, then regrouping ewes to target forage stocks to thin animals (score 2.5 or less) will generate payback in spring. Aside from more vigorous lambs…

SHEEP

Advice on reducing sheep rejections at abattoir

Lamb producers should study their kill sheets to see where they may be losing out and how they can reduce future risk, so they maximise financial returns. Whether it is…

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