How expanding his barn is helping this Kerry farmer lamb 750 ewes

“We needed the extra space – for example three years ago we had 500 lambs inside and we couldn’t let them out because the weather was so bad, we were under serious pressure and we were determined never to 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 for 100 individual lamb pens and the ability to keep ewes and lambs indoors for a few days if needed.

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

“There are still days when it is mentally busy. Last year 60 lambs were born in one day but having the right facilities makes management a lot easier.”

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

“Our weed doesn’t really get going until mid-March, so lambing starts for us,” says Glyn.

“The singles are kept on our furthest hill because they usually lamb unaided. Twins go up another hill, and then the triplets are kept down in the lowlands along with all the skinny ewes, and they are fed hay and a fattening nut at will.

“We know the exact date when the ewes are due – 147 days after they were in Aries.

“Any ewes that hatch are brought into the barn and monitored because we know they will soon be lambing. We mainly bring ewes with twins and triplets.

“We just scanned the first 500 ewes, our lowland crossbreeds. Our scan numbers are down compared to last year, but I’ve heard 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.

“Since my scan rate was down, I bought 20 extra lambs from the market to keep the numbers up.”

Glyn gets up every two hours at night to check on the ewes because they are lambing on slats.

“Things can get stressful during lambing season. There is always a risk of a lamb getting its leg caught in the slats, so we have to be very vigilant.”

Glyn helps with the lambing – “Last year we had two agronomy students from UCD and this year we have one local – 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. “Without him I would be lost.”

The Egans have always kept a mountain breed, but in recent years they have begun testing new breeds.

“We usually keep Scottish blacknose sheep and cross them with a Texel ram,” says Glyn

“The highest point on the farm is 14,000 feet above sea level and these lambs have great finishing ability and they have the resilience of the Scottish blackface sheep so they are a good fit for us.

“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 this way – they produce mule lambs, and they usually have two instead of one. There aren’t many people down here who keep this breed but they are very popular in England.

“We also raise a few Belclare cross Lleyn and keep the lambs as spares, they too are known to be fertile.

Most of Glyn’s lambs are raised for the factory, with the rest going to the local market. He sells them between 14 weeks and 12 months. It is difficult to earn a living with “poor” sheep prices.

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

“The Department of Agriculture is not doing enough to support sheep farmers… Without the Single Farm Payment there would be many sheep farmers who are not sheep farmers.

“The extra €2 we get from the Sheep Improvement Scheme is nowhere near enough.”

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

“I am 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 was Best Dairy Breeder in Muster and 2nd 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 rest of the time in Australia.

“In the last few years before I got home Dad had downsized to eight or nine head of cattle and the main business on the farm was raising lambs for sale.

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