A few pet lambs would be as good a thing as any.
Would you have a favorite ewe yourself pal?
They are all lovely ewes.
@Smark to be honest, as lads have said here, there is a lot of work for little reward in them. In relation to the lambing, 90% of them will do it themselves but the 10% that don’t can go horribly wrong. As lads have said here, dead lambs, rotten lambs, ringed up ewes, twin lamb disease… the list goes on. When working on a sheep farm years ago in the Sunny South East, during the 6 weeks of lambing season, we went to bed at 2 and got up at 7, the farmer got up at 5 and he still had fatalities (not many but some).
Once the newborns go out to grass, you have to watch them like a hawk because foxes, pinemartens and dogs (both lambs and ewes) are a serious threat.
During the summer time, maggots are a serious risk and the sheep need to be herded every day, so in a word, no you cannot go on holidays for a week or two in the summer, not unless you have somebody herding that knows what he/she is doing and in Limerick, with sheep that’s rare enough. Limerick has the lowest population of sheep in Ireland by a country mile, so expertise with them is not common.
The ewes (and rams) then need to shorn, feet trimmed, dosed, vaccinated and probably need to be ran through a footbath regularly enough too to keep them sound too. You will need to register with DAFM to get a flock number, in order to get it you will need to show that you have good enough facilities and fencing to keep your sheep contained.
Don’t mind them @Smark, go for it. I think you could be the best sheep farmer in Limerick if you put your mind to it.
Calf bed and lamb-bed out for a couple of hours, smells lovely… Great fun putting it back in, all about technique… Best part of lamb bed replacement is the back ache holding her two back legs in the air while the vet puts it back in…
A limousine bull calf would be a right job for the freezer. Put him out to grass next week and have as little human contact with him as possible, just a fresh paddock every few weeks and leave him thrive away on his own,he’d love the soltitude, no need to squeeze him either if he’s kept away from other stock, he’d fill 2 freezers for a finish.
He’d be grand all summer and that prick @Smark can let us know how he gets on when he puts him in next October.
The only sheep farmer in limerick
Those north Clare cunts with their farms of rock are just afraid of a bit of competition. He’ll make a holy show of the scrawny, limestone fed, excuses of sheep they’d be producing.
There’s a fella in Shannongolden that does organic lambs. It’s absolutely beautiful Meat.
I’d love to meat him
Good excuse to treat yourself to a. 22
As bad as they are, they’d still be able to carry you around on their back.
Wiry little fuckers like himself
Is it too early for sheep shagging jokes?
Best thing is to walk him into a freezer and let him slowly freeze. A great taste off the meat after.
Right lads I’ve grossly underestimated this venture. I’ll get a few chickens instead.
Spider mites, salmonella, cooping cough, foxes, rogue roosters, remembering to shut them in every night… . Have you thought this through?
My life partners father keeps a few chickens and as far as I’m aware they’re not locked in at night. I believe they go in and out of a shed at their own discretion. They just roam around during the day.