Sheep farming is not the most profitable type of business. However, one can succeed in it, if one correctly calculates one's strengths and does not expect instantaneous excess profits. To earn money, you need to choose the appropriate breed of sheep, organize a good grazing and think over a marketing scheme for the products.

Breeding sheep is considered a rather complicated business. Absolute beginners who do not have experience in agriculture rarely take up sheep farming. However, experienced farmers know that these animals have many positive qualities.

These include:

• growth rate and weight gain;
• pasture maintenance, which allows to save on the construction of premises for animals;
• sheep of popular breeds bring offspring up to 2 times a year;
• the livestock is resistant to diseases, tolerates temperature extremes;
• sheep give not only tasty meat, but also hides, wool, milk.

Before you start organizing a farm, it is worth weighing its minuses. The disadvantages of sheep breeding include:

1. The high cost of breeding livestock.  The entrepreneur will have to invest a large sum in the formation of the herd.
2. In order for animals to gain weight well, it is necessary provide them with high-quality feed, some of which will have to be purchased.
3. For grazing need spacious pastures with fertile grass.
4. Demand for wool and hides is not high enough today.  Many farmers rely only on sheep meat, not paying due attention to wool, milk and other products that can give a sheep.
5. Profitability will provide only a large herd.  For his service it will be necessary to hire people of the necessary qualifications and provide them with a decent salary.

You can learn about the main advantages and disadvantages of breeding guinea fowl at home, as well as about the features of doing business in this area.

Breeding sheep as a business: where to start and how to succeed?

• Rent land for a future farm.  Ideal are the empty areas of ruined state farms, abandoned farms with ready-made premises for livestock. It is good if there is a settlement near the grazing area where you can hire workers.

The price of land depends on the ecological condition of the region, its remoteness, the availability of communications, transport accessibility and other factors.

• Equip the pastures.  For good fattening, sheep need juicy herbs with a predominance of legumes and juicy cereals.

The ideal option is to divide the pastures into sections, alternately planting them with grass and transferring the herd from one section to another. Install corrals and canopies for cattle, equip them with feeders. It will require the construction of a house for the shepherd, who must constantly monitor the sheep.

• Sheep breeding at home for beginners is recommended to start from registration of a farm (peasant) farm.  The creation of a legal entity is not necessary, but many farmers still prefer or require a veterinary certificate, without which it will be impossible to sell products.
• Hire staff.  To service a herd of 300-500 animals, 1-2 shepherds will be needed, as well as a livestock specialist with a veterinary education. It will take a few people for the daily care of livestock. Sheep workers can be hired by seasonal workers.
• Get young.  The minimum herd is from 200 goals. But for greater profitability it is better to buy 300-500 sheep. Provide them with feed supplementing the pasture diet.

Breed selection: which sheep to bet on?

The most promising direction for the farm is raising sheep for meat as a business.  The demand for this type of product is great, which will ensure stable earnings.

Dairy sheep farming is possible, but there may be difficulties with the processing and sale of products. In addition, the dairy farm needs more personnel, except for cattle and shepherds it will be necessary to hire milkers.

The choice of meat breeds is great. In the southern regions preference is given to fat tail sheep, whose meat is considered especially tender and tasty. This category includes Edilbayev and Karachai sheep, which produce delicious meat and fat, as well as a particularly large Hissar breed. Hissars grow very quickly, rams gain weight up to 180 kg.

In the areas of the middle zone and in the north, it has established itself well. romanov breed.  These sheep are multi-fertile, quickly feed meat, and are distinguished by lush, high-quality wool.

The Tekkel breed bred in Holland is also highly regarded. Sheep gives very tasty meat without the characteristic "lamb" smell. "

Farmers who want to get not only meat, but also high-quality wool can be included in the herd of sheep of fine-wool breeds. Altai, Caucasian, Stavropol sheep, characterized by resistance to cold and multiple fertility, are perfect. These breeds give good milk, from which high-quality cheese is obtained.

Sheep for herd it is better to buy in different farms, this will help to avoid closely related crosses and guarantee good immunity of young animals.

Purchase breeding animals only from certified breeders. It is not necessary to bet on one breed. Get a few different ones, later you can make a choice in favor of a more promising one.

Sheep Breeding Business Plan: Cost and Income Accounting

For example, you can take an average farm with a herd of 500 sheep:

1. For such a livestock, 25 hectares of land are needed, which will be divided into plots and sown with herbs throughout the spring-summer season;
2. The price for renting land in the middle lane is from 100,000 rubles per month;
3. Livestock purchase - from 100 00 000 rubles (from 5000 rubles for a thoroughbred sheep);
4. Feed in the winter - from 180 000 rubles.

The expenditures include the construction of a corral and canopy, salaries for employees, the cost of paperwork and additional costs.

In the revenue column, the main item will be meat sales. The price per kilogram starts from 100 rubles. From the sale of meat of 100 sheep you can earn up to 1,000,000 rubles.  Thus, the profitability of the business will be 25%. The farm will become self-sufficient after 2 years of operation.

Increase profitability will help:

• increase in livestock to 1000 or more animals;
• slaughter schedule shift closer to the beginning of spring, when the cost of meat increases significantly;
• meat processing (stew or sausage production workshop, smokehouse);
• the sale of sheep’s milk and products from it (primarily cheese);
• sales of hides and wool to wholesale suppliers. The profit will be small, but stable and not requiring additional financial investments;
• sale of pedigree young animals.

Master the meat processing yourself. Lamb can be smoked, prepared from it stew, sausages, snack sets. Processed meat is stored longer, in addition, its price increases significantly.  You can sell products via the Internet, private stores or markets.

Breeding sheep at home for beginners - video with recommendations for care and maintenance

Sheep farming is traditionally one of the most popular entrepreneurial activities in agriculture. The development of the sheep breeding business contributes to a number of reasons: sheep and sheep are unpretentious in keeping and their breeding does not require significant efforts, their mortality is relatively low. In addition, being pasture animals, sheep are not demanding on feed, which means that the need for bulk procurement of specialized feed disappears by itself.

The only drawback of this business is its small, only 10-15%, profitability. Agree, this fact can significantly cool the ardor of newcomers who have decided to start raising sheep as a business. In any case, with a sufficiently competent approach, sheep breeding can provide the owner of this business with a small but stable income. Later, the proceeds can be invested in other areas and thereby significantly expand the boundaries of entrepreneurial activity.

Business plan

The key to a successful start of any entrepreneurial venture is a clearly compiled business plan. Below is a free business plan for sheep and sheep breeding (sheep breeding), which can serve as a model for beginning entrepreneurs. Of course, the authors do not claim to be universal: as you work, you can subject it to the necessary adjustments, in your opinion.

Where to begin?

It’s worth starting with the acquisition of pasture. The size of your pasture is directly dependent on the number of goals that you plan to keep. As a rule, the content of one sheep with offspring accounts for about 1 hectare of pasture per year. You need to consider where you will keep your sheep. For these purposes, wooden pens or premises of abandoned farms are well suited. There is no need to equip the premises for sheep with heating: these animals are not afraid of winter cold. In case severe frosts strike, you can build a stove-potbelly stove in the pen: its heat will be more than enough.

Where to buy sheep and rams?

It is better to purchase sheep and rams in special farms, the reliability of which is confirmed by certificates and positive customer reviews. If you plan to purchase a large number of sheep, do not be too lazy to travel around several farms. By purchasing a large number of sheep from one farm, you increase the risk of intergeneric crossbreeding between individuals. Beginner sheep farmers often opt for Romanov breed sheep. This type of sheep is highly regarded for the palatability of its meat. Sheep of other breeds, for example, prekos or Russian longhair, are also good for breeding.

Farm staff

To look after the sheep you will need to hire personnel: at least one shepherd per 300 heads. Plus, you need to hire a milkmaid, a specialist in sheep shearing, as well as a veterinarian. That is, at least four employees.

Products and its marketing

From sheep breeding you can get three types of products for sale: milk, wool and meat. You won’t get particularly large incomes from sales of wool only: its prices are not so high. To establish the sale of sheep’s milk in large volumes is also not so simple. Therefore, you should bet on meat. The main customers of sheep meat are meat markets, cafes, restaurants, barbecue and other places of public catering. The demand for sheep meat, of course, is very inferior to the demand for pork. Therefore, you will have to take care of establishing contacts with regular buyers - this way you will ensure a stable income and increase profitability to the maximum possible.

Financial plan

Now we turn to the financial issues of sheep breeding. This sample financial plan is designed for sheep farms with a livestock of about 300 individuals.

Costs

• 300 goals - 1,050,000 rubles. provided that one individual will cost 3,500 rubles. (minimum wholesale price);
• Lease of land for pasture - 100,000 rubles. in year;
• Premises - 100,000 rubles .;
• Salary to employees - 600,000 rubles. in year;
• Overhead costs - 50,000 rubles. in year.

Total: 1.900.000 rub. The presence of just such an amount you need to start.

Income

• From the sale of sheep meat - 500,000 rubles. (50 individuals at 100 rubles / kg);
• From the sale of individuals - 500,000 rubles. (100 individuals at a price of 5.000 rubles per head);
• From the sale of wool - 100,000 rubles.

Total: 1,100,000 rub. in year. The return on business is a little less than two years.

Conclusion

As the calculation showed, sheep breeding, with the declared low profitability, can bring a stable income. With proper resource management and favorable conditions, you can always improve your results.

We hope that the reviewed business plan for sheep and sheep breeding will serve as an impetus for successful and profitable entrepreneurial activity in the field of agriculture.

Sheep farming has long been an interesting niche. It’s worth mentioning right away that you won’t earn billions, but by opening such a business you will surely be able to provide a comfortable old age.

Relevance Niche

In livestock breeding, the sheep breeding business is relevant. They are little susceptible to disease, which is a favorable factor for this industry. In Russia, this direction is quite promising.

Consider the advantages of sheep farming as a direction in livestock:

• An opportunity to receive state support for the development of agriculture;
• Small starting investment;
• Low feed costs;
• High demand for mutton with low competition;
• Year-round production;
• Minimum requirements for conditions of detention;
• Rapid maturation and increase in livestock;
• A non-laborious process.

As you can see, this business is very beneficial for the entrepreneur, since the rapid increase in livestock fully justifies the costs and brings to income in the shortest possible time.

But there is one significant drawback that should be mentioned. This is a low profitability, which is about 15 - 20 percent. It should be borne in mind that the first income will have to be re-invested to improve the sheep herd. In order to provide a steadily developing and reliable business.

However, the demand for sheep products (meat, wool, milk) is constantly growing and, according to statistics, is 2 - 2.5 tons.

Thus, we see the three components of success of sheep farming as a business - these are insignificant starting investments, consistently high demand, and minimum requirements for the conditions of keeping. Therefore, for farming, this type of activity is an ideal option.

About business

When drawing up a business plan for sheep breeding, it is necessary to take into account issues related to production technology.

First of all, it is necessary to create conditions for livestock walking, to consider its diet. Sheeps are unpretentious in terms of food and maintenance, so there should not be any difficulties with this.

Sheep is not provided for food by the clock, so they should be provided with constant access to food. In the pen, food troughs and a drinking bowl with water are required.

Chunks of rock salt are added to the feeders to help the sheep digest. In summer, in the presence of good pastures, feeding is not required. And in autumn and winter, animals are fed with cereals - barley, oats and hay.

It’s worth thoroughly preparing for winter. It is necessary to calculate the amount of fertilizing needed, pre-harvest grass, so that it is the main component in the nutrition of the livestock.

The most suitable herbs for feeding sheep are clover and bluegrass.

If you plan to procure and market wool, then it is worth diversifying the diet with vitamin supplements. Despite the fact that costs will increase, income from the sale of quality wool will not only cover them, but also bring profit.

One sheep required per year:

• 1.5 centners of hay;
• 1 centner of straw;
• 1 centner of concentrate or cereals;
• 2.5 centners of green grass.

To find out the size of their costs for the feed of all sheep, you need to multiply these numbers by the number of individuals available.

Market analysis

At the moment, there has been a suitable period for the implementation of the idea of \u200b\u200braising sheep as a business.

In this niche, competition is not significant. This leads to a reduction in financial risks and to pricing policies aimed at the maximum profit of the entrepreneur.

The tendency to reduce the number of sheep was a consequence of high demand for products and low competition.

Statistics on the number of sheep in private farms suggests that business in this direction is promising. In terms of numbers, this is approximately 10 million individuals. By territorial location, not all regions of Russia are suitable for this type of business. Acceptable for this are the southern and central regions.

This is the Caucasus, Stavropol and Krasnodar Territory, the South Urals and the Volga region. The listed areas are provided with the most fertile areas for walking animals.

Different breeds of sheep unequally adapt to a particular climate and environmental conditions. The most suitable for meat-greasy breeds are regions with a cold climate and mountains. For coarse-haired - Northern Caucasus, for fine-haired - Central regions. The Caucasus has the best climate for sheep breeding, where the largest number of farms and pastures are found.

Business Registration

If a decision is made to raise sheep and build a business on this, then the question arises of its registration. As a rule, the owner needs constant sales channels that require documented confirmation of transactions. Therefore, registration of IP is necessary.

In addition, it will be necessary to obtain permission from the sanitary and epidemiological surveillance to work with wholesale customers.

A fire service permit is needed to confirm that the shepherd meets all technical requirements.

If you want to save time and nerves, you can resort to the help of specialists. Then the acquisition of such services is reflected in the costs.

Land for business

After all the documents are drawn up, a pasture suitable for sheep breeding is searched.

Many are considering buying their own land. But the optimal solution in order to start raising sheep can be considered a rental plot. This is a less costly option with no financial risks.

Sheep easily get used to weather conditions, so in the summer it is advisable to use walking in the open area, and in winter - in pens, with small heating units.

Breeding sheep

For novice farmers, an important issue when raising sheep is which breed can be raised.

Three types of sheep are popular in Russia:

• Meat and greasy  - the Astrakhan and Kazakhstan breed belong to it. These breeds have good weight and fast weight gain.
• Meat  - These are breeds such as Texel, Suffolk and Zwartles. These animals breed well and quickly get used to the climate of central Russia. Are growing fast. A year old sheep can already be sold.
• Romanovsky  - the most popular species in Russia. Sheeps grow very quickly and bring good offspring. Withstands temperatures up to -30 ° C. The males go for meat, and the females - for breeding offspring.

Consider the basic requirements for conditions of keeping and breeding livestock. We will stop our choice on the Romanovsk sheep.

Grazing

Pastures for sheep are:

• Steppe  - Suitable for both early and late grazing. Grasses that grow on such pastures are feather grass, thin-legged, sheep fescue, forbs.
• Mountain - legumes and cereals grow on them.
• Artificially created  - distinguish between annual and perennial pastures. At annuals, winter rye, moghar, sorghum, Sudan, and oat mix grow. On perennials - alfalfa, clover, bluegrass, fescue, earthwort, clover.

For the winter period, sheep are fed with hay, consisting of cereal, legumes, wormwood.

Care

Sheeps are unpretentious, live in cool conditions, so in winter it is enough to provide them with a room with a heater. It is advisable to build it in a dry and sunny place.

The room should not be higher than three meters, with good air ventilation and reliable insulation. The temperature should be kept between 10 - 15 ° C.

In winter, you can do with roughage in food. In the summer - oats and fresh grass.

Fattening

Sheep fattening occurs when they reach 7 - 9 months, then they are sent for slaughter. The best individuals are left in the shepherd, others are castrated to improve meat quality. They are selected at the age of 4 to 6 months.

Feeding occurs on natural pastures. After feeding, it is recommended to complete the final feeding in the pen, which favorably affects the timing of feeding in the direction of reduction.

Breeds and purchase of sheep

When developing a sheep breeding plan, you need to ask which breeds are most popular for breeding in Russia. These are:

• Gissar  - very large sheep. Weight - up to 180 kg.
• Texel  - Dutch breed. Odorless meat. Hardy, well established in the middle lane.
• Romanovskaya  - suitable for central and northern regions. Valuable wool.
• Karachaevskaya  - valuable coat, high immunity. It adapts well to temperature changes, tolerates high humidity.
• Edilbaevskaya  - suitable for southern regions. Especially valuable meat. It is capable of year-round grazing.

When forming the budget for the purchase of animals, it should be calculated that the minimum possible number of sheep is 200 individuals. With such a livestock it will be possible to recoup costs quickly.

Squirt and haircut

For a natural increase in the number of sheep, breeding uses mating. It happens:

• Freestyle  - occurs on farms with a small number of sheep - up to 200 goals. One ram can mate with 50 females or more. The case is applied in July, juveniles appear in December.
• Planned  - graze sheep so that the sheep are separate from the sheep. Then they are connected for 2-4 weeks for mating. This tactic requires additional costs. Since every 30 sheep will need a shepherd.
• Artificial - the most expensive fertilization. But lambs have high quality indicators.

Livestock shearing is carried out in 2 stages:

• in spring, shear the sheep’s wool with a uniform distribution of wool;
• in spring and autumn - sheep with a heterogeneous type of coat.

Before you cut the hair, you need to make sure it is dry in order to avoid damage during storage. Sheep does not need to be fed a day before shearing. And do not drink for 12 hours.

Spend it manually or using a special machine. The fleece is cleaned in a special way, and after that it is folded.

Slaughter of sheep

The sheep breeding business involves the study of such issues as slaughtering livestock. Difficulties with this usually do not arise, since the sheep are quite calm animals.

Slaughter is carried out in two ways:

• In horizontal position. The sheep are tied and cut arteries on the neck and near the ears. Waiting for the blood to drain. Butchering.
• Upright. To do this, the legs of the sheep are tied and suspended. They do everything the same as in the previous case. But this method keeps the skin and meat clean.

Staff

To breed Romanovskaya breed requires the development of a business plan, including a clause on employees. Immediately it is worth noting that if you are going to open a small home-based business, then you can do without employees.

If you intend to start a business with a larger farm, then the following employees will be required:

• worker for sheep feeding and harvesting;
• shepherd;
• veterinarian;
• sheepshearer;
• milkmaid.

If necessary, it is possible to use one-time services of a veterinarian and one who will shear the sheep. It is possible to combine several posts in one person. So you can reduce staff costs.

For large volumes of production, it is necessary to include these employees in the staff.

Ensure a decent salary to employees to avoid frequent staff changes. Analyze this before the labor market, comparing the surrounding areas.

Marketing

Business capacity depends on successful marketing policies. Sales and pricing depend on it. For a competent study of these issues, it is necessary to research and analyze the market from all sides.

On our site you will find the most diverse home business ideasthat will help you navigate in what is now popular, in demand and what kind of injections are needed to engage in one or another type of activity. The sheep breeding business plan is relevant not only for people with huge capital (buying animals is very expensive), but also for beginning entrepreneurs living in rural areas, under such conditions, you can easily buy a couple dozen sheep, go out and sell them more expensive , you will need only labor costs and a minimum of money for food and premises, after which you will receive only profit.

As it grows, you can find the necessary personnel and automate the work, getting rid of things yourself, without problems, but at the initial stage everyone should do it personally, or at least be interested in things in order to get the work done as efficiently as possible.

Sheep farming is a very ancient occupation, until today people eat sheep meat, use wool to create fabrics and clothes, and also produce various products from the milk of these animals. All this is necessary for someone to grow and supply, so why not you?

When drawing up a business plan for sheep husbandry, one should also take into account the breed of animals, there are “meat” ones, known for their taste and volumes of “valuable substance”, and there are also “wool” ones, but in our case they are useless, in Russia sheep wool is in little demand and bought up it is very cheap, while in cultivation it is only a little cheaper than meat, we sell it only because it goes as a “supplementary material”, and money is never redundant, even if it is small.

A sheep breeding business plan - where to raise and how to feed

Since you start a similar business with one goal - to earn more money, then you need to build on this. Sheep breeding, with the proper approach, can bring big profits, but for this it is necessary to take a responsible approach to this matter. The most expensive thing in sheep is meat, wool is also appreciated, but its quantity and cost, in comparison with a meat, is ridiculous, therefore it is better to choose a breed of “meat”. “Romanovskie” sheep are one of the most popular, first of all - they grow well, and plus their meat has excellent taste properties, but this is not the only option, there are still popular breeds, such as Russian longhair.

The main place to buy will be a pasture - sheep walk on it, and also there should be a corral / stall in which animals will be in winter or in bad weather, and this, as is known to all residents of the post-Soviet space, happens quite often. An ideal option would be to buy a pasture with a farm or paddock already built, even if its condition “desires better”, which is much more practical than building from scratch, and even cheaper in the long run. How much space is needed - this is definitely worth adding to the business plan for sheep breeding, about 1 hectare is spent on each individual with subsequent offspring.

  The room itself, thank God, does not have special requirements, sheep can easily tolerate cold, therefore it is not necessary to warm the paddock, if it is too cold, you will have to slightly heat the stove-potbelly stove, this will be more than enough for animals. As you can see, there is nothing “secret” or unusual in keeping and raising sheep.

We move smoothly to nutrition and maintenance - in the summer and other “warm” seasons, pastures serve as the main feeding trough, there sheep walk, eat and spend most of the time of the day, they are already sleeping and recovering strength, but there is no grass on pastures in winter , and they need to eat, so the food should be prepared in advance.

The best solution would be hay, but not coarse, they cannot tolerate it, we need one that is made from legumes and cereals. It is worthwhile to agree in advance with those who have such "wealth", or to offer their services in the collection of hay in order to minimize the cost. Otherwise, buying food will happen in the winter, when the price rises. But hay is not the only option, the diet of animals for better growth should be diversified even in the warm season, when there is a lot of grass, barley, oats and other similar crops are suitable. As you can see, the business plan for sheep breeding is quite simple and understandable even to a beginner, but we have not talked about the organization of work yet.

For feeding, walking and all other procedures, and most importantly - checking the health of animals, you need staff, on average, about 3 posts are enough for such a number of sheep, a shepherd, milkmaid and veterinarian - they must always be there and fulfill their duties with all responsibility , another person can be called “from time to time”, meaning a haircut specialist, since there is no permanent job for him, to hold such a position is simply unprofitable.

Costs and revenues from the implementation of the sheep breeding business plan

Most people start doing business or some business, because they see money there, of course, there are often situations when a person simply does his favorite business, puts his soul into it and is a leader, while making good money on it, but this does not happen everywhere and certainly does not apply to sheep breeding. How would you, on the consumer’s side, this business seemed overly profitable, in fact, everything is modest, the profitability at the level of 15-20% does not look exciting, but there are not so many risks (if there is, where to sell the fruits of production), therefore, income is small, but stable, which for many beginners will be much more acceptable.

If your turnover is large, then the 15-20% that you get as a result will turn into a significant amount, of course, without a large start-up capital, starting a large business by buying several hundred sheep will fail, however, over time, when it’s go uphill sheep breeding business can become very profitable. In principle, this is not even a minus, since a person who has not previously “worked” in this area will most likely not cope with a huge population, and some nuances are clarified only after direct work. Consider the initial stage, which brings maximum problems and minimum profit - training before the fight, which will not be so difficult, because you will gain experience and be able to manage the economy as efficiently as possible.

Here is an exemplary business plan for raising sheep, from which you can start at the start, of course, all prices are approximate and can vary greatly in one direction or the other, depending on your place of residence, the materials chosen and the cost of labor. We consider based on the "average cost" in the market - this will help determine the order of numbers (how much income, expenses and what they will go to).

So, let's say we want to get down to business immediately seriously and are ready to purchase about 300 sheep, today the cost of one individual in bulk purchase is about 3-4 thousand rubles, totaling about 1 000 000 rubles. To create and design the premises, you will need another 100,000 rubles, plus you should not forget about the pasture, where the sheep will “feed” the meat and spend most of the time (provided that the season is warm), it also costs about 80 - 100 thousand rubles (annual rental price). Workers, who will be on the order of 4-5 people, will have to pay another ~ 600,000 rubles per year, totaling the amount of 1.8-2 million rubles, which is not so much for so many animals and volumes.

Now let's talk about the most interesting and burning - income from the sale of goods. Oddly enough, but wool brings the least money, for a year with 300 sheep it will be possible to "collect" it in the amount of about 100 thousand rubles, most of all it brings sheep meat, which is valued on the market for its useful properties, as well as selling animals entirely - for You will receive 100 pieces (in both cases) of the order of 500,000 rubles, in total we will receive a little more than a million rubles from the sale of 200 sheep. If it is possible to negotiate directly with the sellers (there are acquaintances involved in the sale of meat, etc.), then the income will be even greater, though the sale period will be delayed, but in some cases it is worth it!

The market has now become smaller, but the demand for skins and wool is still there, and it will never disappear, just the meat is considered the most valuable in these animals, emphasize the “growth” thereof, so that the weight of each carcass is maximum, thus make good money. Other “by-products” like sheep’s milk and cheese made from it are even more difficult to sell, since such dairy products are not suitable for everyone (a specific smell, taste), and buyers of such goods are not enough even in big cities.

A business such as raising sheep takes time to begin. In addition, the reproduction cycle in this case is quite long, and therefore the specifics of doing business is special. In this article we will talk about the main things that you need to consider before creating your own flocks. Find more business ideas in this article:

Growing sheep as a business: what you need

Before starting such a business, calculate the strength and means and make sure that raising sheep is your strength. After all, this difficult task will have to devote a lot of time. For sheep breeding you will need:
  Corral
  Pasture
  Wintertime Food
  First you need a large space on which the sheep will live and graze. Pasture can be rented, but to build a corral you will need your own land.
  In the summer, the vegetation in the pasture serves as food for the sheep, and in the winter they will have to prepare food for the animals. As food in the winter, sheep are stocked with hay (500 kg per head), root crops (another 500 kg per one) and 100 kg of concentrates.

What breed of sheep to choose?

Buying one lamb will cost you 3-5 thousand rubles. To breed a whole flock with the prospect of profit, you need to buy at least 30 goals.
  For residents of the middle strip, it is most profitable to buy sheep of the Romanovskaya breed. This is the most common breed of sheep, which is valued for its fertility. Romanov sheep at a time produces 3-5 lambs, while other breeds are not able to give birth to more than 2-3.
  She will live up to 25 years on average, but for raising sheep as a business, these animals are not kept for more than 8 years. This is due to the aging of the body of the sheep after eight years of age, due to which the meat of the animal is no longer tasty, and the quality of the coat and offspring is deteriorating.

It turns out that in this business, the reproduction cycle in the field of meat sales is 7-8 years. Lamb meat is also appreciated for its beneficial properties and taste. Therefore, flock owners sometimes slaughter and lambs. Only the weight of a lamb is 7 times less than the weight of an adult, so it is not profitable to specialize only in the sale of its meat.

Making a profit from sheep breeding

The content of a whole flock brings income from several sources:
  Sale of lambs
  Sale of wool
  Sale of meat of an adult
  Sale of lambs. The gestation period for Romanovsk sheep is about 5 months. At one time, such a sheep produces up to 5 cubs. Under good conditions of keeping the sheep of this breed is able to bring offspring twice a year. It turns out that every year you can get up to 10 lambs from one sheep, and from a whole flock - up to 290. In money terms, this offspring brings about 1.45 million rubles annually.
  ! About 25-30 sheep should be counted on one ram. And in our herd of 30 goals one male will be enough.
You can mate these animals at the age of one year. The ability to bear the fruit and give birth to a sheep manifests itself a little earlier - at the age of 7 months. But practitioners advise not to start mating immediately after the maturation of the female, since at this age the animal is not able to give birth to healthy offspring.

Sale of wool. The Romanovskaya breed belongs to the wire-haired species, from which they get wool three times a year. From one sheep at a time it is possible to comb out up to 3 kg of wool, that is, 9 kg each year. With flocks of 30 goals receive 270 kg each year. If you sell wool at its average price of 200 r per kg, you get about 54,000 rubles.
  Sale of meat. For sale for meat, sheep aged 7-8 years are selected. That is, this type of income will be available to you, as a business owner, over the years. The sheep by this time is gaining weight up to 50 kg, and the sheep - up to 80 kg. The total weight of meat for sale from the whole flock is 1,530 kg, which is about 306,000 rubles.

Conclusion

The main source of income from keeping flocks is the sale of lambs. Obtaining wool and meat of adults bring much less profit, so when choosing a breed, you should focus on its fertility. Therefore, the Romanovskii breeds are the most popular in breeding.

Growing turkey. Profitable business with minimal investment! Growing potatoes for sale. Profitable seasonal business. Growing champignon mushrooms as a business. Profitable, quick return on investment.