Sheep Housing for Expanding Flock Size

This video shows our current set up for feeding and housing sheep then leads into relocating our small flock of 21 ewes into a coverall. This is where we add in an additional 80 ewes bringing us up to a total of 101 ewes.
See the flock be unloaded into their new space, listen to the sounds of the sheep and enjoy watching how they behave.
It is highly recommended to keep any new livestock separate when bringing them onto a farm. In our case with this video, this was two flocks being co-located into a new barn. We relocated our small flock of 21 ewes together with an additional flock of 80 bought from Bennett & Sons. Follow along as we continue to grow our operation.
Sheep Housing
Sheep need to have access to forage, water and protection from the wind.
It is recommended that housing be available when lambing occurs during the winter months. Housing usually improves the number of live lambs per ewe.
Housing facilities for sheep do not need to be elaborate or expensive. Old sheds and barns can be excellent housing and usually can be easily renovated to improve the management of the operation. The most important features of any structure are that they provide easy management, enable wet and wind free conditions and good ventilation.
Space requirements
Space requirements for sheep accommodations must be calculated to determine how many sheep can be housed in a given area. Feeder space, handling space (i.e. for shearing), as well as floor space for pens, should be considered in developing the design.
The recommended pen space for various management groups in the flock is:
Ewes for flushing - 10 to 14 sq. ft/head
Ewes with lambs - 16 to 20 sq. ft/pair
Weaned lambs (market lambs or replacements) - 8 to 10 sq. ft/head
Lambing pens - 16 sq. ft/pen
Rams (180-300 lb.) - 20-30 sq. ft/head
Feeder Space - 9 to 20 inches/head depending on size, shorn or unshorn, breed, pregnancy and the number of times fed per day
Creep feeder - 8 to 12 inches/opening/lamb
Reference: Sheep Housing Design Criteria (PSU 92), James W. Hilton, Penn State College of Agriculture Sciences and Cooperative Extension. Source: ag.umass.edu/crops-dairy-live...
Visit us at ambryacres.com/raising-sheep/

[@kopenhagenkid]

Great video

[@ambryacres]

Much appreciated

[@lm9640]

That was fascinating. I grew up in the country on a small farm. We had friends and neighbors with a few sheep and goats , but I never got to see anything like that. Thank you all for sharing the video!

[@ambryacres]

Glad you enjoyed it. And thanks so much for watching

[@Yhhndgewd55lke]

@@ambryacres خ د

[@angham3829]

Maybe they run around outside in fields. God sees this.

[@user-hu5hi7kv7j]

​@@ambryacresفي مخ❤😂

[@kopenhagenkid]

Awesome looking new barn

[@ambryacres]

Thanks so much Kevin

[@abdoulayeball9903]

@@ambryacres Hi Ambry. Beautiful barn!!! Would you mind sharing how much the barn costed you?

[@ambryacres]

Hi! We are only renting the barn. We had access to them and thought it would be a great way to begin with sheep . Our plans were to stay there if it ran smoothly then we wanted to relocate the sheep into a new drive through barn to feed with our TMR and reduce labour but due to incredible increases in building costs we are going to continue as we are doing. The costs for this type of building keeps changing here in our area and have increased more than double what they were just 3 years ago. Sorry I don’t really know anymore what they cost due to the continuing increases.

[@swefy3]

beautiful sheep

[@ambryacres]

thanks so much

[@kiahpeace9090]

It looks like 2 different breeds of sheep. Black faces and legs then all white sheep? They're so lovely. I enjoy the sound too. 💖

[@ambryacres]

Thanks so much for your comment. Yes we have two breeds. The all white ones are Rideau Arcott Breed and the black faced ones are based on a Suffolk Cross. And me too, I never tire of their sound. Such a fun livestock to watch

[@chabbis5957]

tres propre paillé, tres bien 12/10

[@ambryacres]

Merci, chabbis59

[@FixItYerself]

the baaaaaing coming from my laundry room after leaving my phone w autoplay on was amusing. 🤣

[@ambryacres]

Hahaha glad you enjoyed it. The sheep sounds are my favourite part

[@Truth_Advocate]

How cute. I’ve never seen a sheep with a black face.

[@ambryacres]

Some have so much detail and others are all white. They’re all so sweet ♥️

[@dbaileyanorchardistsdaught5041]

Beautiful barn! The additional sheep looked strong but not as healthy and strong as yours. I’m wondering if you had to sequester the newer sheep before blending them? This seems to me a more sound practice. What are the most challenging health concerns within your flock? From the outside looking in the sheep look amazing that is why I ask. Thanks you for your answers, God Bless! #supportsmallfarms #familyfarmingtastesbetter

[@ambryacres]

Thanks orchardist’s daughter for these comments! The original flock are going to be two years old and the new addition are ewe lambs. As we grow, facilities will be designed for sequestering with sound practices.

[@kipronowycliffe8752]

@@ambryacres, Jhon

[@giuseppegeorgees5049]

How often do you clean up the bean straw bedding and replace? Do you do it by hand or with equipment?

[@ambryacres]

We use either a tractor or skidsteer to clean the barns out. We add fresh straw every week. We clean the barns out several times a year.

[@P3FARM]

Mantap ❤❤❤ salam dari indonesia

[@ambryacres]

Greetings from Canada. Thanks for joining us

[@davidryle1164]

Nice looking youngsters, not Suffolk though, are they clun?

[@villagesheepkm1276]

They are so kin

[@brianclark7778]

Whats the spacing on the horizontal boards on the alley feeder?

[@ambryacres]

Hi there and thanks so much for your comment! 7” space between horizontal boards on the feeding alley

[@justinwjmaccurdy]

Where did you source your tarp barn? I am looking for something of a similar to slightly larger size. What is the price roughly per square foot?

[@ambryacres]

We are renting the coveralls. They were not being used by the owner so unfortunately I am not able to answer your questions. We had inquired on pricing a few years ago but the prices have dramatically changed. Good luck with your project 🙏

[@aleembhatti1036]

Thanks Plz Make video on full setup one,one thing specification & How much cost it & Which Sheep breed is best and what qualities in it We will support you by subscribing and like,share your channel

[@ambryacres]

Thanks for reaching out. We are working on videos to share some costs and will continue to make more videos on our operation shortly as we will begin our first lambing group for year two

[@lawrenceearle4134]

Great Video, How high did you raise your feeding floor above the bedded floor? if you were doing it again, would you to it the same?

[@ambryacres]

Oh gosh! It’s awhile ago now. About 10” off concrete floor. No, if we had to do it again we would aim to simply pour a concrete feeding alley but we would have to change the format of feeding. Unrolling bales ever day is not the most ideal for us. However for feeding in this manner, yes it works well as long time is available to remove straw bedding every season to ensure the pack doesn’t get too high as this forces the flock to eat bent over which isn’t ideal as they put pressure on the feeder

[@enricofaloci4093]

Complimenti veramente

[@user-ec4ik7dy1p]

hello, how many sheep per square meter?

[@allmedcom]

Don't you quarantine any new animals and treat for internal and external parasites before mixing with the original flock? The feeding ally is too wide for sheep unless you will use a feeding cart. Best wishes ❤

[@ambryacres]

Ideally we would. In this case both flocks were co-located to a new barn. Neither flock came off pastures where parasites would be more of an issue . Thanks so much for pointing out the feeding alley, we designed it to accommodate the width of a round bale which gets rolled out . Appreciate your comments, thanks!

[@zakayolangat7787]

Good work!

[@angham3829]

John 1:29 King James Version 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

[@Ptitnain2]

Why did you put the water point higher than the rest?

[@ambryacres]

Thanks so much for your comment on the water set up. This is the way the coverall barn was originally constructed for housing pigs.

[@Ptitnain2]

@@ambryacres If you had to change anything about your set-up what would it be?

[@ambryacres]

@@Ptitnain2 Excellent question! For this scale, everything is working well. We will continue to enhance and modify prior to lambing.

[@riteshjadhao1284]

What is the size of your barn.. Specially height...it will be very helpful if you share .. Engineering drawing...Love from INDIA❤️

[@ambryacres]

Barn size is 40' x 100' and 20' high. Hope this helps.

[@KerneelsLombard]

What make is that barn? I like it?

[@ambryacres]

I believe its a MegaDome

[@duncanosborne4871]

Where's your tups or have they been tupped

[@ambryacres]

At the time of this video, we did not own any rams. We have since purchased 3. Our lambing is planned to begin the third week of April and we will have new videos on that process coming.

[@alshynermek]

First sheepment

[@wendyrowland7787]

What about quarantining the incoming stock.

[@jamieburke4546]

So true Wendy, aswell I noticed the new lambs were coughing as the left the trailer 😑😑😔

[@ambryacres]

@@jamieburke4546 the cough had disappeared a few days later

[@mohammedsalauddin815]

Where is this ?

[@ambryacres]

Ontario, Canada

[@craigcupitt5656]

What's the dimensions of the barn

[@ambryacres]

40’ W x 100’ L x 20’ H each coverall

[@greentree4001]

What do you call this sheep breed ?

[@ambryacres]

They are Suffolk crossed with the rideau dorset

[@jakemiketta3868]

Horses 🐎 eat hay. Sheep 🐑 don’t. Do they?

[@ambryacres]

Yup, sheep are a ruminant and forage makes up the majority of their diet.

[@jakemiketta3868]

@@ambryacres. Okay 👌

[@marlan5470]

Two different kinds: browsers and grazers. One feeds on tree shoots and shrubs mostly, and the other feeds on grass. They both impact the land differently.

[@jakemiketta3868]

@@marlan5470. Okay 👌

[@ExploreDrass]

Are these sheep available in india...

[@colinchick2692]

I should imagine that there are different breeds that would probably be more suitable to Indias climate

[@user-yw7be2xi7t]

سعر كام

[@splen2356]

20 dinar

[@masr1965]

Where is your location please

[@ambryacres]

Hi there! Thanks so much for your comment! We’re located in Eastern Ontario, Canada.

[@masr1965]

@@ambryacres Thanks what is price of average weight of 50 KG sheep or goat?

[@masr1965]

@@ambryacres May I have your contact information ?

[@chriscarter7785]

50kg lamb in Saskatchewan Canada goes for about $180 to $225. I run a small flock of 200 ewe's in northern Saskatchewan

[@KerneelsLombard]

@@chriscarter7785 where are you located? I am from Humboldt and looking to buy ewes?

[@biguywholovehentaiok]

101cget rapture ok