Offaly sheep farm in Ireland sees lambs thrive despite weather swings
On Ken and Richard Mathews' sheep farm in Co. Offaly, Ireland, lambs have performed well despite a wet spring followed by a very dry spell. The farm is now preparing for the next breeding season.
Ken and Richard Mathews run a sheep farm near Killeigh in Co. Offaly, Ireland. Irish farming news site Agriland, working with meat processor Irish Country Meats (ICM), made a return visit to see how the flock has performed since the previous update in June. The farmers say the lambs are doing "remarkably well", even though the weather was erratic: a particularly wet spring was followed by an extremely dry spell.
Finishing the lambs
Of the 374 lambs born on the farm in spring, 71 were still there in late October. Most of the later-born lambs are being finished on Tyfon, a leafy turnip hybrid. The exception is the pet lambs, which are finished indoors.
By August 7, 108 lambs weighing 40–44kg remained on the farm and were moved onto Tyfon. By August 18, 56 of them had reached 47–50kg liveweight and were drafted for slaughter, with an average deadweight of 22.16kg. Another 42 lambs finished on Tyfon were drafted on August 24, averaging 21.8kg deadweight. Of the 229 lambs slaughtered in total, 145 were graded U3 and the other 84 were graded R3.
Pet lambs
This year 70 pet lambs were reared on an automatic feeder. The farmers weaned them at four weeks old because of problems in earlier years when lambs stayed on milk for longer. The lambs had ad-lib creep feed and were housed indoors until finished. Rearing cost came to €90 per head, and all 70 were sent for slaughter before the lambs reared in the fields. They averaged €185 per head, giving a gross margin of €95 per head before any costs outside rearing were deducted.
Preparing for the next season
In late October, 170 Suffolk and Belclare-cross Suffolk ewes were put on high-quality pasture for flushing ahead of the rams being introduced this week. Belclare rams will go with the Suffolk ewes, and Charolais rams with the Belclare-cross Suffolk ewes. A Chartex ram, a Charolais-Texel cross, is new to the farm this season and will run with a group of Belclare-cross Suffolk ewes. The rams will stay with the ewes for two cycles and will be raddled after 20 days, so the ewes can be monitored closely before lambing.
