Sheep

Importance of review

Importance of review Frank Campion of the Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Athenry, Co. Galway reports on how it is vital to do a yearly review, even more so in difficult years. After a comparatively difficult year with wet weather making grazing conditions difficult and impacting flock performance, most farmers […]
12 December 2023

Tackling the fluke challenge this winter

Tackling the fluke challenge this winter Veterinarian Shane McGettrick, who is Laboratory Manager at the DAFM Regional Veterinary Laboratory in Co. Sligo is on this week’s OviCast to talk about the fluke challenge this winter. Shane starts by discussing what fluke-related issues they are seeing in the lab at this point in […]
29 November 2023

Managing forage brassicas

Managing forage brassicas This week’s OviCast podcast features Mark Dolan to discuss the different aspects of managing forage brassica crops. The Teagasc Walsh Scholar gives some background to some of the work he has been involved in using forage brassicas to finish store lambs. The yields of different crops, along with the […]
22 November 2023

Finishing store lambs this winter

Finishing store lambs this winter Finishing store lambs in the winter months has numerous benefits and challenges, but there is a potential margin in finishing lambs currently, Frank Campion and Mark Dolan tell us more. A key component of any lamb finishing system is to have a proper budget done. This should […]
21 November 2023

What sets the top and bottom performing sheep farms apart?

What sets the top and bottom performing sheep farms apart? The recently published Mid-Season Lowland Lamb Enterprise Factsheet, generated from the Teagasc National Farm Survey 2022, sheds light on the economic performance of sheep farms in Ireland last year. Representative of 12,288 sheep farms nationally, the National Farm Survey shows that profitability, […]
21 November 2023

Research update: Aiming to eliminate concentrate supplementation to finish lambs

Research update: Aiming to eliminate concentrate supplementation to finish lambs Philip Creighton, Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc Athenry, Co. Galway reports on lamb performance across the groups on the Sheep Research Demonstration Farm. Rams were turned out to ewes on October 6. Ewe body condition score going to the […]
12 November 2023

Is it time to house finishing lambs?

0 Is it time to house finishing lambs? Teagasc sheep specialists, Damian Costello and Frank Campion, are on this week’s OviCast to discuss the challenging grazing conditions in recent weeks that has put pressure on farms both in terms of lamb performance and grass utilisation and supply. We discuss the option of housing […]
9 November 2023

Monitoring mating liveweight and body condition score on BETTER sheep farms

0 Monitoring mating liveweight and body condition score on BETTER sheep farms Frank Campion of the Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc Athenry, reports on mating liveweight and body condition scores on the BETTER sheep farms. Mating liveweight and body condition scores (BCSs) for the mature ewes from the lowland BETTER […]
7 November 2023

Recording Hill Sheep Groups – an opportunity for the hill sector to improve

0 Recording Hill Sheep Groups – an opportunity for the hill sector to improve Ireland, along with other countries, had tried hill sheep breed improvement in the past, but ultimately it failed for several reasons. These include: a lack of market for parentage recorded rams; no short-term gains seen; practical difficulties of recording […]
7 November 2023

Examining the options with store lambs

0 Examining the options with store lambs With the large number of store lambs currently on farms, farmers are considering finishing lambs, selling as stores, or buying store lambs for finishing. Eamonn Dempsey, Drystock Advisor in Tralee, looks at the options available to farmers. The target is to finish store lambs from grazed […]
6 November 2023