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How extending his sheds helps this Kerry farmer lamb 750 ewes

Glyn Egan says, ‘One day last year there were 60 lambs born but having the right facilities makes things a lot easier’

Glyn administering a dose

Glyn Evans

Glyn with his father John on the farm

Sheep in pens

Sheep on the mountain

Glyn on his quad

Glyn administering a dose

Tamara Fitzpatrick Twitter Email

February 03 2023 06:58 AM

It’s the calm before the storm for Kerry sheep farmer Glyn Egan as he prepares to lamb his 750 ewes in six weeks’ time.

Glyn who farms 720ac in Kilgarvan with the help of his father John, says that while lambing season is the busiest time of year, the extension they built to their lambing shed two years ago has taken some of the stress out of it.

“We needed the extra space — for example, three years ago we had 500 lambs inside and couldn’t let them out because the weather was so bad, we were under serious pressure and it made us determined to never be in the same position again,” says Glyn, who lives with his wife Grace and their children Darrah (2) and Clara (11 weeks).

“We now have space to put up 100 individual lambing pens and the facilities to hold ewes and lambs inside for a few days if needed.

“We keep the lambs in for a day or so to make sure they are doing OK and are ready to go out with their mothers.

“There are still days where it’s mental busy. One day last year there were 60 lambs born in the one day, but having the right facilities makes managing things a lot easier.”

St Patrick’s Day marks the beginning of lambing season for the Egans, who keep their sheep in three batches in the run-up. They have just finished scanning and with 530ac of their land on the mountain, they allocate the sheep based on the number of lambs they are carrying and their general health.

“Our grass doesn’t get going until the middle of March so that’s when lambing starts for us,” says Glyn.

“The singles are kept on our farthest away hill because they usually lamb unaided. Twins go to another hill and then the triplets, along with any thin ewes, are kept down on the lowland and they’re fed ad-lib hay and a fattening nut.

“We know exactly the date the ewes are due — 147 days from they were with the ram.

“Any ewes that are springing are brought in to the shed and kept an eye on because we know they’re going to lamb shortly. It’s mostly ewes carrying twins and triplets we bring in.

“We just scanned the first 500 ewes, our lowland crosses. Our scan numbers are down from last year, but I’m hearing that it’s the same for everyone. It was a bad, wet autumn when the rams went out and that makes a big difference when it comes to breeding.

“With my scanning rate down, I bought 20 extra in-lamb ewes at the mart to keep the numbers up.”

Glyn gets up every two hours during the night to check on the ewes because they lamb on slats.

“It can be stressful during lambing season. There’s always the risk of a lamb getting its leg stuck in the slats so we have to be really vigilant.”

Glyn brings in help during lambing — “Last year we had two ag science students from UCD and this year we have a local fella — and John is still actively involved, which takes the pressure off.

“Dad works on the farm every day, he’s 73 and has no intention of retiring,” says Glyn. “I’d be lost without him.”

The Egans have always kept a mountain breed, but over the last couple of years they have started to trial new breeds.

“We normally keep Scottish black-faced ewes and we cross them with a Texel ram,” says Glyn

“The highest point of the farm is 1,400ft above sea level and those lambs have a great finishing ability and they have the hardiness of the Scottish blackfaced ewe, so they suit us well.

“This year we have some Swaledale ewes in lamb to a Leicester ram. I’ve heard a lot of good things about crossing the two that way — they produce mule lambs, and they usually have two as opposed to just one. There are not many people down here who keep this breed but it’s very popular in England.

“We’re also breeding a few Belclare cross Lleyn and keeping the lambs as replacements, again they’re known to be prolific.

Most of Glyn’s lambs are reared for the factory, with the remaining going to the local mart. He sells them between 14 weeks and 12 months. With “poor’ sheep prices, he says it is difficult to make a living.

“Last year was a tough year for sheep farmers, between feed, fertiliser and fuel,” he says. “Now lamb prices are at their worst and a lot of sheep farmers who bought store lambs a few months ago are losing money.

“The Department of Agriculture isn’t doing enough to support sheep farmers… without the Single Farm Payment there would be a lot of sheep farmers not farming.

“The extra €2 we’re getting through the Sheep Improvement Scheme is nowhere near enough.”

The Egans’ Kerry holding wasn’t always a sheep farm, says Glyn.

“I’m the eighth generation and my children will be the ninth on this farm,” he says. “My father was a mixed farmer — he kept about 35 suckler cows and had a large flock of sheep.

“Back in 1987, he won best suckler farmer in Muster and came second overall in Ireland, it was the first year of the competition.

“I left Ireland in 2011 and spent a year in New Zealand and the remainder of the time in Australia.

“For the last few years before I came home Dad had cut down to eight or nine cattle and the main enterprise on the farm was breeding lambs for sale.

“He had around 590 sheep when I came home in 2018 and we’ve since increased that to 750. It’s busy but it’s a great way of life.”

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