Good Sheep and Good Flock Management A Profitable Combination

Dorset Crossbred Ewes and Lambs

Good Sheep and Good Flock Management
A Profitable Combination

In order to maximize profitability in today's challenging farming climate, it is essential to have a farming system in place which makes best use of the land available and also to select sheep breeds that fit in with the chosen system.
James & Heather Ritchie who farm 120 acres near Kells, Ballymena, Co Antrim, have been using Poll Dorset rams as a terminal sire for the past three years and are well pleased with the results.

The Ritchies run a commercial flock of around 350 ewes, which is currently made up of 100 Mules, 200 Texel X Mules, and 50 Dorset Crosses.
They use Dorset and Charollais rams on the Texel X mule ewes, and Texel rams with the Mule ewes, and at present are running 3 Poll Dorset rams which have all been purchased from Thomas Wright, Ballytaggart flock, Ballymoney.
All of the land farmed by the Ritchies is classified as LFA and at the highest point reaches 590 feet above sea level.
Due to the nature of the farm, all being LFA it is not possible to have quality early grass, therefore James lambs the flock during six weeks starting from the begining of April. The ewes are housed in early February and divided into groups based on the number of lambs being carried. This allows for pre lambing feed rations to be varied accordingly. The ewes are all lambed indoors and the turned out to grass almost immediately, ground and weather permitting.

James and Heather find the Dorset X lambs very lively at birth, and quick onto their feet and suckling, accommodating a fast turnout to grass.
Once out the majority of the ewes are no longer fed concentrates with only the triplet bearing batch getting a little supplementary feeding with all the main flock naturally grown on grass.
The flock's first batches of lambs are normally sold during August and September and are sold direct to the meat factory with an average weight of 21kgs and grading U3 & R3. Later in the year the lambs are sold through the livestock mart.
Another notable attribute that the Ritchies have found with the Poll Dorset rams is their strong maternal traits and their ability to breed quality replacement females. James has therefore retained 60 Dorset X ewe lambs, cutting out the need to buy in replacements, keeping a closed flock which has both cost and flock health benefits.

James Ritchie has been using CAFRE Benchmarking system to compare his production figures with the average of N.I. Sheep producers and his results in all areas compare very favourably.
For the year 2011/2012 lambs sold or weaned per ewe on the Ritchie farm worked out at 1.78 which places him in the top 25% and the carcass weight produced per hectare was 283Kgs, again well above average. Comparing this production figure with the Kgs of concentrates fed per ewe is particularly impressive as each ewe only received 22kgs per head which is well below the N.I. average.

These figures are not only brought about by careful stock selection, but also by paying great attention to detail in flock and grass management and quality.
As Veterinary surgeons by profession both James and Heather know the importance of having healthy sheep and follow a strict health plan with the entire flock. The ewes are all vaccinated with Heptavac P and Lactovac and replacement breeding females are vaccinated with Toxovac and Enzovac.
The flock is regularly dosed for fluke and worms making sure that an appropriate wormer is used by taking dung samples to monitor faecal egg counts.
This is very important so that resistance to a particular product is not built up. Regular foot bathing is carried out with hoof trimming only practiced when deemed necessary. During the summer months the flock is monitored carefully for blowfly, and preventive action taken when weather conditions would suggest a threat, but James finds that good flock management and keeping clean tails there is not much of a problem even though his breeding ewes are not shorn until August - after weaning has taken place.

In addition to the flock’s health plan, considerable care is taken to ensure the best possible grass for the flock. Soil samples are taken and depending on the results the land will be treated using slurry, lime or fertilizer as appropriate, and frequent reseeding is carried out to keep the pasture clean and to maintain the quality in the silage. It is by making the best use of grazing that the concentrates are kept to a minimum.
James has found that the Dorset rams have a significant role to play within his sheep enterprise. He finds the lambs are fast growing, and easy to finish on grass, and the rams are hardy, prolific and of strong libido and have few problems with their feet. Given the maternal attributes of the Dorset females he is hoping that the Dorset cross females will also be beneficial within the flock.

The Northern Ireland Dorset Sheep Breeders Club are holding their 40th Annual Premier Show and Sale on Monday 30th July 2012, in McClelland's Mart, Ballymena. Show classes are kindly sponsored by Norbrook Pharmaceuticals, commence at 9.30am under the experienced eye of Mr Nick Burrington, Exeter, Devon, with the sale commencing at 1.30pm. For further details or a sale catalogue contact the Club secretary on 078 417 467 05 or Ballymena Mart on 028 256 334 70