The Poultry Keeper

IrishLass · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 21 Location: Ireland

I've heard sheep need very little land, so approx. how much land would be enough for 20-30 sheep?

and for cattle, how much land would they need per cow? and do they really need to be kept in all winter if they are not for milk/meat/breeding?

Thanks!

Itsybitsy · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 1356 Location: Leicestershire

Hi

Can't help with the how many sheep per acre but more with the cattle question. Cattle are brought in for winter for several reasons -
1) Prevents the land being "poached" - if your land is poorly drained they could, if it's wet end up up to their bellies in mud.
2) Keeping them sheltered from the worst of the weather means they don't use as much energy in keeping warm so therefore you don't need as much food to keep them in good condition.
3) Shepherding them is much easier if they are housed - you don't have to go out in freezing conditions or driving rain to check and feed them, if 1 is missing you will have to go and find it.
4) Any problems health wise and they are close to hand and easier to deal with.
Course it's not all a bed of roses
1) If you house them in unsuitable buildings and the weather turns mild you could end up with pneumonia.
2) If the roof isn't too weathertight and it rains in then the underfoot conditions could be worse than outside.
3) You will have to feed them every day inside whereas outside they will still be able to forage a certain amount and if the winter is mild then the feed will be less.

There is no right or wrong answer to this, most modern farms house their cattle because it's less labour intensive and the cattle are easier to manage, but only you know your situation, they can live outside all winter.

Itsybitsy

debcat · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 9:57 pm Post subject:

not a clue on cattle - can't stand the things
sheep we work on 5-6 per acre,
we swap grazing every few weeks, so they have a rested field to graze
breeding stock are fed sheep nuts and beet in the winter as well as hay
with really good grazing you might fit a couple more in per acre

bronskibeat · Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 1615 Location: Clawddnewydd

The IACS or now SPS work on something ludicrous like 2.4 sheep per acre and they would probably have cattle at 1 per 3 acres (just a rough guestimate). Like Debcat says, depends very much on how much grass you have and whether you give them supplementary feed, plus during spring/summer months there is much more grass than autumn/winter months. Also it will depend very much on what sheep breeds you intend to keep. Hill/mountain/primitive breeds will take care of themselves on comparatively little whereas the downland breeds will require substantially more in the way of extra feed.
Most native breed cattle probably dont need to come in for the winter, it is as itsybitsy says, more a case of ease of management for both you and the cattle and also whether your fields get very wet and poached. If they do live out, you will need to make sure they have access to hay or silage daily during the winter months. They will need some form of shelter from the elements though in the form of a good thick high hedge, trees or wall. Keeping them in makes it easier to spot potential problems before they get a hold - it is not easy trying to find and treat livestock on a dark and filthy wet night!!!
Hope this helps a bit Very Happy

IrishLass · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 21 Location: Ireland

Thanks for the info, some of the land people say is needed for animals is unnecessary, if you go by the text book your supposed to have 2 acres per horse/pony, that's fine if your going to divide it in half and rest half, but if you turned a pony out on 2 acres of lush spring/summer grass you'd have a case of laminitis right there.
I've seen 10 + sheep grazing in people's front gardens and their alright lol. (biggish front gardens though, about quarter of an acre)

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7154 Location: isle of lewis

it is a good idea to rotate grazing to keep your worm burden down ,something to keep in mind Very Happy

manic nonie · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 12:18 pm Post subject:

If your thinking about any livestock its a good idea to see what the people from near by keep to give you a idea some people will have tried different breeds and have had good results others have and lost the flock to the fact that the animals aren't suited to the conditions that the owner has asked of them.

don't know if your interested but I tend to have a few good sources purely for imformation this is a new one I've just found:

http://www.nationalsheep.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=9&Itemid=41

the likelyhood is that those people only have their sheep on that land for short amouts of time. rotational grazing is advisable not only to control worm burden but also to maintain the grazing.

nonie

tell us what you deside please.

IrishLass · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 21 Location: Ireland

thanks for the info. I'd definetly be rotating the land regularly anyway.