Ewe lambs v hoggets

[saitek1989]

Looking to expand this year and I dont want to keep any of my own Ewe lambs bar 10-20 that are pure llyen as rest went to texel


My dilemma is should I buy ewe lambs at all or spend a bit more and go for hoggets

 

[Sandpit Farm]

I have also been wondering what breeding sheep will be going for later in the summer. The cull price and couples price is strong so you would expect breeding sheep to be proportionally expensive. However, with the lamb price as it is.... Will that affect ewe and ewe lamb price??

Personally, I think I would want to go for ewe lambs in your position. You will have to accept a lower % but I think you would justify two bites of the cherry.

 

[$Sheep]

I think you need to assess the existing age of all your breeding ewes to ensure good balance between ages. There may be some very good well proven 'older' ewes available to purchase from dispersal sales or similar. The price may also be more favourable with a lower depreciation cost. Make it widely known you are considering expanding the ewe flock and you may get the opportunity to buy privately a line of ewes that would have never been sold at the mart. As with any purchase caveat emptor (buyer beware) so do your homework re biosecurity and functionality.

 

[Jerry]

I lambed a bunch of hogs and ewe lambs this year. Ewe lambs for first time.

I will be doing lambs again this year and more of them.

They went very well and will be even better this coming season I suspect.

Nearly all had a single which is perfect. Still growing nicely and lots of milk after a bit of a slow start.

Getting an extra crop from them without knocking their growth and making better mums next time around must make them the stars of the flock?

All I did different was lamb them later than the main mob.

 

[saitek1989]

I have used ewe lambs before and was very happy with them far as I remember last time I bought 30 and only 15-16 or something held but had a high lambing % 1.6 or something one had bloody triplets they were lleyns bread pure

If I go for ewe lambs I'll be doing the same again lleyns bread pure only thing I didn't like was the lambs were like kittens but maby that was my fault they look excellent now as ewes tho

 

[Jerry]

Yes. Mine pure Lleyns as well and titchy lambs but they are growing away now on good grass so ewes milking well.

They won't be gone early but not too worried about that to be honest.

Some will go to a charrollaise ram as a test this coming season.

 

[jemski]

I have used ewe lambs before and was very happy with them far as I remember last time I bought 30 and only 15-16 or something held but had a high lambing % 1.6 or something one had bloody triplets they were lleyns bread pure

If I go for ewe lambs I'll be doing the same again lleyns bread pure only thing I didn't like was the lambs were like kittens but maby that was my fault they look excellent now as ewes tho

Better little lambs that grow than too big.

 

[CopperBeech]

Bought in two lots of sheep this year, a load of ewe lambs, and a load of older ewes.

The ewes lambs will hopefully have a good few years ahead of them, providing they avoid getting culled. But they all gave me singes (although they did pretty much all get in lamb). The older ewes pretty much all had twins, and should still have at least a couple more years here, maybe more, and someone else has already watched over them with the ear notcher for a few years and culled out any sh!t (hopefully).

 

[Guiggs]

I'd go for ewe lambs from my own experience!
More heads for the money and they will add value to your stock. If you can get any in lamb then in theory they've had an extra crop and I always find ewe lambs to be much quieter and easier handled than hoggs which can be a pain in the arse when lambing!

 

[saitek1989]

Theyr just a bit more hassle having to lamb them later would I be wise to just tip them along with the rest mid October for lambing mid March and what ever holds holds

 

[Tim W]

Theyr just a bit more hassle having to lamb them later would I be wise to just tip them along with the rest mid October for lambing mid March and what ever holds holds

I tend to tup my ewe lambs in a separate mob (give them the best grass over winter) but throw them in with the ewes to lamb----all lamb at the same time on grass only and get the same management/attention

 

[saitek1989]

Just wondering would middle of October be too early for them to be cycling

 

[Guiggs]

I run my bigger ewe lambs in with the ewes as a rule and if they get tupped and hold all well and good although last year I ran a group of later born ewe lambs in with a group of broken mouthed ewes for mid April lambing, I just gave them one cycle and then took them away,not many were tupped so I just ran the empties on grass and will tup them this time as well grown hoggs!

 

[CopperBeech]

The upside of ewe lambs, is as said, they increase in value rapidly!

 

[Guiggs]

Just wondering would middle of October be too early for them to be cycling

Depends on how big they are I'd say!
Think that need to be about two thirds of adult weight, mine are usually tupped in September!

 

[Jackson4]

Secret with ewe lambs is to get them well grown. I put my ewe lambs in with the 3in1 (barley) later on when the grass quality was going last year to keep them growing.. dont eat much, couple of quid/head. They were a good size and all got in lamb for the 1st april (2 on the third cycle scanner missed) and have reared 140% The hogs got cake for 4 weeks, then just the 3in1 at grass but they dont seem bothered eating barley when theres plenty of good grass. Its a cheap system but i wouldn't think the lambs would finish as quick as off a ewe. Make good attentive mothers though.

 

[Downton_shep]

Someone told me last year that a study was done in Ireland that showed that sheep that lamb as ewe lambs went on to have fewer lambs over the rest of there lives than sheep that first lambed as a shearling????
No idea if it's true or not.

 

[neilo]

I tend to tup my ewe lambs in a separate mob (give them the best grass over winter) but throw them in with the ewes to lamb----all lamb at the same time on grass only and get the same management/attention

I do the same here. Got some Glastir swedes going in to grow them on better this winter, although that wasn't a problem last year.

Theyr just a bit more hassle having to lamb them later would I be wise to just tip them along with the rest mid October for lambing mid March and what ever holds holds

The age of the ewe lambs would make a difference. If they are April born, they will have had to have grown well to successfully tup a lot of them in March. If they are big enough, a teaser will help get them cycling. I've never really understood the idea of tupping them afterwards, unless you are lambing inside and short of space. Lambing goes on long enough as it is (I had the last one 2 days ago)

 

[Tim W]

Someone told me last year that a study was done in Ireland that showed that sheep that lamb as ewe lambs went on to have fewer lambs over the rest of there lives than sheep that first lambed as a shearling????
No idea if it's true or not.

Not in my experience---
If a ewe lamb rears a lamb she will generally rear less in her next lambing but she is already ahead of the animal that lambs for the first time at 2 years old

year 1 2 3 4 5 total
lambs 0 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 6.4
lambs 1 1.2 1.6 1.6 1.6 6.8

See above----a ewe lamb lambing will add to lifetime efficiency + she will be a better as a result of lambing as a ewe lamb

 

[JD-Kid]

Not in my experience---
If a ewe lamb rears a lamb she will generally rear less in her next lambing but she is already ahead of the animal that lambs for the first time at 2 years old

year 1 2 3 4 5 total
lambs 0 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 6.4
lambs 1 1.2 1.6 1.6 1.6 6.8

See above----a ewe lamb lambing will add to lifetime efficiency + she will be a better as a result of lambing as a ewe lamb

kinda agree think the old school thing was most did not look after hoggets and i think most breeds were a tad slower growing
done right they last done wrong they will be culled out early
we lamb ewe hoggets here on tougher kinda country , it works OK if looked after but lambs are smaller so you have to have a plan eather know you are going to be holding on to lambs longer or be sell early in to store market and pour feed in to hoggets to get back up to weight for mateing