How much does it cost to raise a market lamb?
- Nurse Karl
- Jan 27
- 2 min read
March 12, 2019
When my son joined 4-H, he started something big. His 2 sisters followed in his footsteps and continued what he started. He started by buying his first market lamb for $150. We actually paid for his startup costs on his first lamb and after his first sale, he was able to pay us back and then keep his 4-H Sheep Project afloat with his own funds. Knowing that we had 3 kids who would potentially all be in 4-H at the same time at some point, we opted to start a breeding program as market prices quickly started rising. The following year, lambs were going for $250 and 10 years later, they are maintaining market lamb prices on average $300 per head. Some showmen pay quite a bit more for competitive breeding lines up to the thousands of dollar range, but for the average 4-H kid in our area, I wouldn't recommend it because they will not be able to turn a profit.
Hay prices have also sharply gone up. In 2007, alfalfa hay was about $7/bale. Since about 2015, the same hay goes for about $17-25/bale depending on the season. Hay alone is not enough to build the desired muscle. Grain feed is necessary and there are loads of feed makers out there. We use a high quality feed that provides 16-18% protein and it has worked very well for us. If the lambs are on the small side, they are weaned from their mothers and fed only show feed. If they are already market ready and need to maintain weight, we cut the show feed with an all-stock feed from our local mill. (Remember: Sheep can not have too much copper in their feed)
Check out this link for more specific info on feeding sheep
So let's start the math...
market lamb $300 (preferably weaned and at about 40-60 lbs)
Days to Fair (final weigh-in): 75
Desired weight: (minimum 100 lbs) 120-140 lbs.
Avg daily gain (ADG)= desired gain/#days in feeding period
Ex: start weight = 65#
desired gain 55#/75 days to fair= need to gain 0.73 lbs/day
Feed conversion: on average, 6 lbs of feed = gain 1 lb.
(approx 5lbs high quality feed/ 1 lb. gain)
Feed conversion = # pounds of feed/total gain
Based on previous example, we need to gain 55lbs x 6lbs =
Need approx 330 lbs of feed to attain our goal (assuming 1/4 is hay and 3/4 is grain)
330 lbs x 0.25 = 82.5 pounds of hay needed (approx 1 bale @$20)
330 lbs. x 0.75 = 247.5 pounds of feed needed (approx 5 bags @$20 = $100)
Approx total cost of feed $120.00
Feed cost per pound of gain = total feed cost/gain
Ex: $120 / 55 lbs = $2.18 for each pound of weight gain
So, using our example, market lamb start cost $300+ $120 = $420 project cost
Let's go further and analyze break even point at a sale....
Based on end weight of 120 pounds…$420 total cost/120pounds = $3.50/lb. break even point
***Theses are 2019 prices. Please adjust accordingly with current feed prices
