I see no point in spending 130 quid on a sheep that has a year with nothing to do.
I can. They get wintered where they’ll be wintered every year. They go into the shed after lambing to pick up the shed bugs, get used to the drinkers, silage and cake on the bedding. They have a summer done on our roughest bits, get MV tested twice and are straight into the embryo recipient team. Younger ewes hold more embryos. You weigh that against inexperience, but at least we’ve managed as much of that as we can as above, and mules are bankers on mothering, even lambing first time as shearlings. If I have to pay £130 on the year’s trade for the type I want I’ll pay it. They can be anywhere from £80-£120 usually. This year we have enough of our Texel x coming on we don’t need to buy, but that would be the first time in 10 years.