clod hopper
Member
- Location
- SHREWSBURY, shropshire
Ahhhhh! But I was also told the white dorper sheds less! Impressive sheep to look at all the sameIn an unracist way.... stick to the whites
Ahhhhh! But I was also told the white dorper sheds less! Impressive sheep to look at all the sameIn an unracist way.... stick to the whites
A good pal of mine and fellow TFF member breeds his own Scotch Mules and he rarely feeds them concentrate at all and his output is pretty good for an upland/hill unit.Those are indeed valid & important reasons, rather than buying from breeders who seemingly value head markings over anything much else.
For me, breeding a ewe that will produce without lots of feed input is quite high on the list too. A mule is the sheep equivalent of a Holstein cow ime, in high input systems they can work well enough, but put them in a low input system and their output is pitiful. Much like the Holstein, they will milk themselves to death if you don’t put the inputs in.
Much like in dairying, the most profitable systems are high input/high output and low input/moderate output. Those trapped in the middle, running a relatively high cost system, but with only moderate outputs, will always struggle.
But you buy 150 more lambs in than them.What I’m saying is you are going to sell 150 less lambs. There for you could keep less sheep and still sell the same amount of lambs as someone who breeds there own replacements.
A good pal of mine and fellow TFF member breeds his own Scotch Mules and he rarely feeds them concentrate at all and his output is pretty good for an upland/hill unit.
To me the BFL or Zwartbles are more like the Holstein of the sheep world.
The mule is like what you'd get crossed a Holstein with something like a Galloway
i know someone that imported some from SA at great expense ,feet were v good (at least compared to uk stock and were imported for that reason ) , uk society refused to register them so he threw in the towelI don't think they're fantastic shedders either. If somebody fancies importing some, sorting the feet issue and getting their coats right, then I promise I'll buy a tup!
I wonder what their justification for that was?i know someone that imported some from SA at great expense ,feet were v good (at least compared to uk stock and were imported for that reason ) , uk society refused to register them so he threw in the towel
It would devalue their inferior stockI wonder what their justification for that was?
It would devalue their inferior stock
i know someone that imported some from SA at great expense ,feet were v good (at least compared to uk stock and were imported for that reason ) , uk society refused to register them so he threw in the towel
But their lambs are gone in early autumn and you’ve two less mouths to feed over the winterThose are indeed valid & important reasons, rather than buying from breeders who seemingly value head markings over anything much else.
For me, breeding a ewe that will produce without lots of feed input is quite high on the list too. A mule is the sheep equivalent of a Holstein cow ime, in high input systems they can work well enough, but put them in a low input system and their output is pitiful. Much like the Holstein, they will milk themselves to death if you don’t put the inputs in.
Much like in dairying, the most profitable systems are high input/high output and low input/moderate output. Those trapped in the middle, running a relatively high cost system, but with only moderate outputs, will always struggle.
But who raised the heaviest lambs?For a lot of years we've always bought a small number of mules, perhaps 30 a year and crossed with NZ Texel to breed gimmer lambs. This is to reduce cost and disease risk.
Last year we bought 20 easycare gimmer lambs as well as mules. All 3 breeds ran together from September and reared similar amounts of lambs. Son asked me to have s look at them this week as he had split them into breeds. The Texelx looked ok , as if they'd reared lambs but would be fit to tup come November. Mules very disappointing, very lean bordering skinny and will require pushing to scan well whilst easycares by far the fittest.
Wintered on stubble turnips our own and easycare not seen cake . Mules would be on cake pre sale which I think spoils them if you want to be forage based. I find mules not as good as used to be and can only see us going down easycare/exlana route in future only buying tips to reduce disease risk.
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But who raised the heaviest lambs?
But their lambs are gone in early autumn and you’ve two less mouths to feed over the winter
Autumn?But their lambs are gone in early autumn and you’ve two less mouths to feed over the winter
If the ewes were all treat the same then the breed with the heaviest lambs will have a huge difference on profitabilitySurely thats not relevant unless your ego likes seeing your name in the market report!
A better question would be " who's lambs left a greater margin per acre/ hectare ?"
Ewes don't have to have teeth to carry on being productive, used to keep welsh ewes with no front teeth, they would keep going for years.
I just looked at their body every Autumn,
Did send them on tack for a bit in winter.
If the ewes were all treat the same then the breed with the heaviest lambs will have a huge difference on profitability
If the ewes were all treat the same then the breed with the heaviest lambs will have a huge difference on profitability