NATIVE tup for large flock

That is strange mine are always well fleshed just getting them the right weight thats the issue most of the time. If they go through the crate at 40kg i can almost be certain there ready.


A few people have said that they wouldn’t try a Hampshire down ram from us because the lambs get too fat and that’s also often said of most of the Down breeds.

Would you agree with my way of thinking that over 42-43 kgs that can happen, but that’s the fault of the shepherd and not the breed? If the breed has produced you a nicely finished 40+ kg lamb then I think it has done its job and the rest is down to the shepherds skill in recognising that I think.

I’m just in the job as a hobby, by the way. I in no way class myself as any kind of expert!!!

Just something I’ve been thinking for some time because we can get our pedigree Hampshire Downs and Hampshire x Lleyn lambs to 40+ kgs at 12-15 weeks and they always grade well at Farmers Fresh.
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Would you agree with my way of thinking that over 42-43 kgs that can happen, but that’s the fault of the shepherd and not the breed? If the breed has produced you a nicely finished 40+ kg lamb then I think it has done its job and the rest is down to the shepherds skill in recognising that I think.


A lot of wise :rolleyes: farmers look at a falling trade and instead of shifting lambs when ready, hold onto them to put extra weight on to counter the poorer price... them moan lambs don't sell as well as they've fallen out of spec
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
A lot of wise :rolleyes: farmers look at a falling trade and instead of shifting lambs when ready, hold onto them to put extra weight on to counter the poorer price... them moan lambs don't sell as well as they've fallen out of spec[/

Wise words that some definetly go by, myself included. 16kg in July is often worth more than 18kg in September with no risk of flies, dying, more room for others etc..
 
Why is it so important that the up is native?

We are supposed to be a cosmopolitan society, that is open & invites the best of the world to meet the best of British.

That applies to sheep too.

For me with the natives Suffolk or Park type Cheviot (for low input flock)
 

primmiemoo

Member
Location
Devon
What makes the Dorset lambs hard to finish do you think?

They've been SIG'd a little too lean in the ram lines, imo - just imo - and have gone scopey from a little too cobby - again, imo.. But they can be good dual purpose.

I'm sure there are types that nick perfectly, having said all that.

I {heart} Dorsets, really.
 

twizzel

Member
I put a Dorset over my Lleyns, only a small flock but have been pleased with the lambs from the last 2 years. Keep the best Lleyn ewes pure and the bottom third go to the Dorset for meat lambs. Easy to finish, just got to watch they don’t go over fat.
 
I've used Hampshire tups on my Easycares as a terminal sire for the past four years. Pretty easy lambing and tough lambs that want to get up and suck. Carcass weights won't be as heavy as Texel x lambs and possibly Suffolks but my reasoning is that you get more lambs to compensate and less work. There is a small discount for store sales. I am careful to buy from a select group of commercially-focused breeders.

Sounds like there might be some direct selling or similar involved in this plan of yours? If so, Hampshire lambs will take a bit of beating as @Coximus I think will confirm.


Hampshires grow really well out fo everything I have tried them on. Even hebrideans weaned 30Kg+ lambs. Do seem to have a hard check at weaning but they easily pulled 300g/day on poor grass and some ran to 700g/day (only about 10% of them and all rams) but selling 41kg at 3 months straight off the Dam cant be beaten. Down side is they are prone to daggs and seemed IMO to have very little resistance to worms - Easycare, heb X and Tex lambs all ran on with little check from worm burden but worms ran through the hampshires (in all 3 rams offspring have used on 2 separate years) and they needed treating so Im assuming lower resistance their. Also roundly 15-20p/pkg less than texels at most markets I use - usually on par with suffolk for price but if its a quiet day they sell as good as Tex. Deadweight all E/U/R grades mostly U's and Kill cleanly around the 50% from any dam.

Dont keep them past summer as with the daggness they become a fly-nightmare. I wont use one again unless Lambing a batch In Feb, as Having them around in July just sucked the sunshine out of my sky - they may grow well and sell fine but compared to Easycare x Tex types that you check with binoculars - these were in every 3rd day to pull out a strike, clean a skitty bum. Good news was from an early march lambing I got the last lot I did gone in June. May try one next year for a feb lambing to Give cashflow early in the year.

Plus's

Good birth coat, very good get up and go sucking before being licked dry often, Lambing in snow outside no problem and they were "honest sheep". Grew well on avg grass, put on good grass they rocket ahead, and given feed they rocket even more, Id say an excelent TERMINAl Breed for early lambing.
 

Whitepeak

Member
Livestock Farmer
Why is it so important that the up is native?

We are supposed to be a cosmopolitan society, that is open & invites the best of the world to meet the best of British.

That applies to sheep too.

For me with the natives Suffolk or Park type Cheviot (for low input flock)
The abattoirs and supermarkets do it for cattle with their native beef schemes. Maybe I should write to them that they are discriminating against my continentals and that they should be more inclusive and pay the same premium for my Blondes as they do Angus
 
Hampshires grow really well out fo everything I have tried them on. Even hebrideans weaned 30Kg+ lambs. Do seem to have a hard check at weaning but they easily pulled 300g/day on poor grass and some ran to 700g/day (only about 10% of them and all rams) but selling 41kg at 3 months straight off the Dam cant be beaten. Down side is they are prone to daggs and seemed IMO to have very little resistance to worms - Easycare, heb X and Tex lambs all ran on with little check from worm burden but worms ran through the hampshires (in all 3 rams offspring have used on 2 separate years) and they needed treating so Im assuming lower resistance their. Also roundly 15-20p/pkg less than texels at most markets I use - usually on par with suffolk for price but if its a quiet day they sell as good as Tex. Deadweight all E/U/R grades mostly U's and Kill cleanly around the 50% from any dam.

Dont keep them past summer as with the daggness they become a fly-nightmare. I wont use one again unless Lambing a batch In Feb, as Having them around in July just sucked the sunshine out of my sky - they may grow well and sell fine but compared to Easycare x Tex types that you check with binoculars - these were in every 3rd day to pull out a strike, clean a skitty bum. Good news was from an early march lambing I got the last lot I did gone in June. May try one next year for a feb lambing to Give cashflow early in the year.

Plus's

Good birth coat, very good get up and go sucking before being licked dry often, Lambing in snow outside no problem and they were "honest sheep". Grew well on avg grass, put on good grass they rocket ahead, and given feed they rocket even more, Id say an excelent TERMINAl Breed for early lambing.
That's true, they can be a bit daggy. I treated them with crovect and didn't have any strike last year (y)
 

Sandpit Farm

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Derbyshire
That's true, they can be a bit daggy. I treated them with crovect and didn't have any strike last year (y)

And shearing the ewes and tups isn't much fun... I am happy to promote Hampshires if I don't have to shear them!! The rich Spring grass can sometimes cause a dag or two.

My good friend keeps them and every year we get ewes and lambs in pre weaning, marking lambs with faults and weighing to calculate DLWG. We Clik the ewes and Crovect the lambs. It can take all day as we narrow down the breeding lambs quite hard. It is nice for him as its an objective view of his sheep and he gets to evaluate exactly which stock tups have performed well.
 
We don’t get the dag problem here. I have seen some very mucky Hampshire’s on other farms but most I find are fine.

I wonder whether it’s just an individual farm thing. Not enough or too much of a trace element that some farms have and some don’t.

Only mucky bums we get are if they have a bit too much beet. They can go off their feet if they gorge on beet or if you give them too much feed, so they are probably a good thrifty sheep.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

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