In this week’s sheep focus, AgriLand paid a visit to Seán Óg Cocoman in Croghan, Co. Offaly, who runs a commercial flock of ewes.

Seán, who works full-time (off-farm) for Quinns of Baltinglass, has been sheep farming – part-time – for the past five years.

However, after graduating from University College Dublin (UCD) in May of 2019 – with a degree in Animal Science – he decided he wanted to increase ewe numbers on the farm.

Farming alongside his grandfather, who runs a beef enterprise, the duo hopes to lease land in the near future to further expand the enterprise.

Speaking to AgriLand, Seán said: “At the moment we are quite heavily stocked and we can’t carry any more cattle or sheep until we either buy or rent some land.

“In saying that, this is my first full year being on the farm on a daily basis and I’m still learning. I’m in no rush to go into big numbers of sheep just yet.”

System

Farming 30ac of good-quality grassland, Seán carries 90 commercial ewes, alongside his grandfather’s 20 heifer weanlings.

In spring of 2019, he was lambing down 30 ewes. However, 12 months later, he is lambing triple that number, with just over 90 ewes set to lamb in the coming weeks.

The farm operates an outdoor lambing system, with Seán splitting a 10ac field in half – that has been closed up since last October.

The flock is made up of a number of different breeds; however, the ewes bought in last year were predominately Blackface Mountain crosses, with a couple of Jacob, Suffolk and Charollais ewes mixed in as well.

Currently, the majority of the flock are grazing a field close to where Seán lives so that he can keep an eye on his in-lamb ewes. The field is split in half, with in-lamb ewes on one side and ewes and their lambs on the other side.

This allows him to feed his in-lamb ewes separately, as they are still being fed a high-quality ration to help them get through their last few weeks of gestation.

All of the ram lambs are finished off grass and get a green mark on their backs. Any ewe lambs he doesn’t intend on keeping for breeding get an orange mark – on their backs – and are also finished off grass.

Moreover, any ewe lambs that Seán has earmarked for breeding are given a blue mark. These ewe lambs are usually a twin or a triplet lamb; the plan is to try and breed the most prolific animals where possible.

Sourcing the ewes

Up until October of 2019, Seán had a flock of 30 ewes, made up of a couple of different breeds, that were sourced from local marts and bred from within the flock as well – over the last few years.

However, as the plan was to expand after finishing college, the next task was to find a batch of ewes that could be sourced for a nominal price and would suit his outdoor lambing system.

Seán said: “In order to keep costs down, I needed to try to source some cheap stock. The way the market was last year, it was very difficult to buy ewes close to home. Hoggets were making crazy money last summer and even aged ewes were too.

“I needed a ewe that was hardy and had good mothering abilities because, due to off-farm work commitments, I knew I wouldn’t be around for when every ewe lambs.

So, instead, I headed out west to Maam Cross Mart and up to Drumshambo Mart, where I was able to buy up to 70 Blackface Mountain cross ewes.

“The majority of them were broken-mouthed, but I was able to get them for €50-60/head, so I was happy enough.

“The lambs they produce this spring I plan to earmark the best of them and breed them next Autumn and, from then on, try to operate a closed flock.”

He added: “When the ewes arrived on the farm in October, they were quarantined for one month before being introduced to the rest of the flock.

“All of the ewes were dosed for worms, fluke and run through a footbath. Any of the ewes that didn’t go in-lamb, which amounted to 10, were finished off grass and sent to the factory.”

Breeding

Seán doesn’t plan on building up a flock of Blackface Mountain type ewes, so in order to produce a lamb that has good conformation, he turned out three Texel rams to his flock in the first week of October.

The hope is that the lambs from these rams will be easier to finish compared to a typical Blackface mountain lamb and that the cross of the two breeds will produce a “nice square ewe lamb that will be suitable for breeding”.

The breeding season lasted six weeks, with over 88% of the flock going in-lamb. He put this high conception rate down to having the ewes and rams in good condition prior to mating.

The ewes were scanned in mid-December and he was happy with the results, considering the age profile of the flock.

Managing the flock over the winter

The fact that the flock was out-wintered, Seán had to carefully plan out his grazing. A number of fields were closed off in October, so that the ewes would have access to good-quality grass in the last few weeks of gestation and after lambing.

Due to the wet weather, the ewes have been dosed for fluke three times since last October.

To keep the flock in good body condition, he ensured that the ewes had plenty of grass ahead of them, as well as supplementing with oats and a good-quality ewe ration that contained 20% soybean.

The ewes were moved onto fresh pasture regularly throughout the winter period. Coming into the lambing season the ewes exhibited a body condition score (BCS) of between 2.5 and 3.0.

All were dosed for fluke and administered a clostridial vaccination. He also gave them a mineral drench about four weeks ago.

At the beginning of the lambing season, the flock was split in two. 20 ewes that are due to lamb in April were separated from the other 70 that are due to lamb this month.

Lambing season

As of now, 12 ewes have lambed down. However, a few have aborted. To make up for these losses, Seán has sourced a few pet lambs that he has successfully managed to foster onto these ewes.

The vast majority of the ewes have lambed without assistance. The only job he has had to do is put a mark on the newborn lambs.

He also believes that lambing ewes outdoors is much healthier and that farmers face more animal health issues when lambing ewes indoors.

He explained: “It has been a slow start. I’m expecting a big burst now in the coming days. In general, the ewes are lambing down nicely with no issues with the lambs either.

I had two ewes that aborted, but I have managed to foster lambs onto them. Once the ewes lamb down, I move them onto fresh pasture.

“Any ewes that lost a bit of condition or are struggling to produce milk I will feed them separately and give them some concentrates – just to help them along.”

There are two livestock trailers in the field where the in-lamb ewes are currently grazing. The idea of this is when the ewes are about to lamb down and the weather is bad, he is able to move them into the trailer that is bedded with straw; it provides a clean and warm environment.

Also, Seán plans to record as much data as he can this lambing season to identify any ewes that have any health issues or that gave trouble at lambing, so that they won’t be allowed to go through the system again.

Any ewes that give bother at lambing, such as prolapsing or mastitis, are marked with a red X on their back. This red X means that the ewe won’t be bred again.

He explained: “The fact that I don’t have adequate housing facilities was the main reason why I am lambing outdoors and why I chose to buy Blackface Mountain ewes, as they are hardy enough to withstand harsh weather conditions.

“The trailers have already come in handy. At the moment I have a ewe and two lambs in one of them. I hope in the next few days, as the lambs get a bit hardier, that I will be able to let them out and clean out the trailer and have it ready for the next ewe.

“I bought some square bales of hay – to feed the ewes that will be in the trailer – a few weeks ago as well.”

With the help of his family, while he is at work, Sean hopes to see the majority of the ewes lambed down in the next two weeks without any major issues.

“It’s great to have the support of my family because, when I’m not around, there is always someone around to go out and check on the ewes – just in case any of them need help lambing.”

Beef enterprise

As well as running a sheep enterprise, Seán helps out his grandfather who keeps 20 weanling heifers.

The heifers are sourced at the local mart at 12 months-of-age and are finished, predominately off grass, at 24 months-of-age.

Once the cattle arrive on the farm, and a few weeks before they are sent to the factory, they are fed concentrates.

He explained: “We try to buy in mainly Angus cross and Hereford cross heifers. An old hayshed was converted into a slatted unit a few years back, so we are only fit to hold about 20 cattle – which suits us fine.

“The way the beef trade is at the minute it was a safer option investing in ewes than it was in cattle anyway.”

Expanding

At the moment, the farm is quite heavily stocked, especially if you factor in the newborn lambs that have arrived and that are due over the next few weeks.

Seán hopes to expand his flock over the next year or two and move up to 150-200 ewes. However, a lot of this will depend on whether he can rent or buy more land.

He added: “Currently, 90 ewes are more than enough to keep me going. The way the weather is, it would be difficult to manage anymore than that.

“Next year, I plan to lamb the ewes down at a later date because the weather over the last few years, in January and February in particular, has been terrible and it doesn’t suit outdoor lambing.

“If I can get hold of a bit more land I would like to get up to 150-200 ewes but, as they say, you can’t run before you walk…so I’m going to take it step by step and try to get through the next few weeks of lambing.”

outdoor lambing

Sheep focus: 'It was a safer option - financially - investing in ewes rather than cattle'