Thinking of changing to shedding sheep. Change my mind.
- Thread starter hendrebc
- Start date
- Location
- Dumfries & Galloway
Can I ask you @hendrebc whether you have changed over to Exlanas?
Also, could I ask you @neilo how you are getting on with the Exlanas? I hadn't realised until reading this thread that you had any, but knew you had the Charollais and Highlanders. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.
To give context, I've got a closed flock of Texel x Welsh and Lleyns and will be looking at buying another ram this year in order to avoid in-breeding due to retaining more ewe lambs.
I'm at a juncture where I either choose another Lleyn ram or take a leap of faith with the Exlanas. I do appreciate the recording work that goes on with Exlanas. Though, Lleyn has worked really well in terms of being a 'dual breed'.
Wool is a loss making inconvenience as far as I'm concerned and I wouldn't miss it. However, as I wouldn't be getting rid of the current woolly ewes, so a full shedding flock and its benefits would be very much a long-term thing.
Also, could I ask you @neilo how you are getting on with the Exlanas? I hadn't realised until reading this thread that you had any, but knew you had the Charollais and Highlanders. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.
To give context, I've got a closed flock of Texel x Welsh and Lleyns and will be looking at buying another ram this year in order to avoid in-breeding due to retaining more ewe lambs.
I'm at a juncture where I either choose another Lleyn ram or take a leap of faith with the Exlanas. I do appreciate the recording work that goes on with Exlanas. Though, Lleyn has worked really well in terms of being a 'dual breed'.
Wool is a loss making inconvenience as far as I'm concerned and I wouldn't miss it. However, as I wouldn't be getting rid of the current woolly ewes, so a full shedding flock and its benefits would be very much a long-term thing.
- Location
- Devon
You might want to ask Neil about his experience with Lleyn as well as his Exlanas
Not trying to stir but it demonstrates the variety within breeds as well as between.
I have highlanders, lleyns and Exlanas.
My lleyns excelled where Neil says his failed
I think its a slow process to get a breeding flock where you want it. I tried to skip a step with the exlanas by buying in females, then wasn't selective enough with what I kept. The exlanas have their place here and its where I want to end up, but think its going to take some time to get the whole flock there.
Throw in triple resistance and haemonchus issues and sheep are certainly a challenge....!
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
Neil has the worst exlana in the country, don’t ask him 
Sorry PBH, I didn't know that you also kept Lleyns and Exlanas as well. I always seem to mix you and @Anymulewilldo up for some reasonYou might want to ask Neil about his experience with Lleyn as well as his Exlanas
Not trying to stir but it demonstrates the variety within breeds as well as between.
I have highlanders, lleyns and Exlanas.
My lleyns excelled where Neil says his failed
I think its a slow process to get a breeding flock where you want it. I tried to skip a step with the exlanas by buying in females, then wasn't selective enough with what I kept. The exlanas have their place here and its where I want to end up, but think its going to take some time to get the whole flock there.
Throw in triple resistance and haemonchus issues and sheep are certainly a challenge....!
The only complaint I have about my Lleyns is that they're not as milky as I'd have wanted, though still acceptable. But again, this could be down to the types of Lleyn I've had/bred. Otherwise, I'd be happy with their performance. Like I said before, I really like being able to draw Lleyn fat lambs to sell, whilst at the same time being able to keep replacements as well, without having to have an extra ram around the place for a small amount of ewes.
Ewe longevity is very important to me, cull ewe price not so much. I run a small flock of around 100-150 outdoor lambing ewes.
I had a dalliance with the thought of changing over to shedders back in 2017, but didn't quite have the courage and went for the Lleyn. I'm probably overthinking this, but I do regard it as being quite a serious change in direction (serious enough to be planning 7 months in advance
).Can I ask you for your general thoughts on Exlanas PBH and how you see them differ to the Lleyns you have?
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
I don’t know about variety, Neil seems to have uniquely terrible exlana, the super lacking in any maternal ability kind. Thank feck he got all of the bad onesYou might want to ask Neil about his experience with Lleyn as well as his Exlanas
Not trying to stir but it demonstrates the variety within breeds as well as between.
I have highlanders, lleyns and Exlanas.
My lleyns excelled where Neil says his failed
I think its a slow process to get a breeding flock where you want it. I tried to skip a step with the exlanas by buying in females, then wasn't selective enough with what I kept. The exlanas have their place here and its where I want to end up, but think its going to take some time to get the whole flock there.
Throw in triple resistance and haemonchus issues and sheep are certainly a challenge....!
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
One of my home bred exlana ewes last Wednesday, getting ready to drop her winter fleece all over the fields.
Oh dear.... I hope I haven't put my foot in it, or its a sensitive subjectNeil has the worst exlana in the country, don’t ask him
I took a bit of a sabbatical from TFF a couple of years ago, and only found out last night when I was looking up Exlanas, that the Mayor of Montgomery kept them. It seems like a different world out there now
pgk
Member
- Location
- south warwickshire
We had pure Lleyns for a number of years but struggled with fly strike as we bred them with tighter fleece. We do have a lot of wooded water meadows. Bought easycares from iolo Owen and having moved over have now bought 3 exlana rams on figures. They have performed well although last tup we bought in was a recorded easycare, his lambs have better shape than we are used to. Exlana ewes bought in have not done as well as we would have liked, think they may have struggled with the transition to our harder ground. Main issue we face with shedders is low lambing percentage compared with the Lleyn for which we are still seeking an answer. Possibly because we run our ewe lambs too hard, have sent them on tack this year so would like to be able to report 2023 shearlings are doing 180%Neil has the worst exlana in the country, don’t ask him
- Location
- Devon
My main beef with the exlana has been they're a little too lively!Sorry PBH, I didn't know that you also kept Lleyns and Exlanas as well. I always seem to mix you and @Anymulewilldo up for some reason
The only complaint I have about my Lleyns is that they're not as milky as I'd have wanted, though still acceptable. But again, this could be down to the types of Lleyn I've had/bred. Otherwise, I'd be happy with their performance. Like I said before, I really like being able to draw Lleyn fat lambs to sell, whilst at the same time being able to keep replacements as well, without having to have an extra ram around the place for a small amount of ewes.
Ewe longevity is very important to me, cull ewe price not so much. I run a small flock of around 100-150 outdoor lambing ewes.
I had a dalliance with the thought of changing over to shedders back in 2017, but didn't quite have the courage and went for the Lleyn. I'm probably overthinking this, but I do regard it as being quite a serious change in direction (serious enough to be planning 7 months in advance
Can I ask you for your general thoughts on Exlanas PBH and how you see them differ to the Lleyns you have?
If something is out, high likelihood its an exlana. They're good at jumping electric!
I record my maternal flock (minimal, in house, not signet) and I find the exlanas more flighty when catching up new born lambs. I think this has a lot to do with where I sourced ewes from, as I know others that don't find this at all.
In the early days I think they struggled with the "goat like" confirmation label, but they've definitely improved greatly on that front.
If you keep them behind "proper" fencing, and aren't worried about recording, I suspect they'll equal your lleyns, perhaps a little less prolific, depending on your experience with lleyns.
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
Remember there are Easycare breeders that performance record their sheep, myself and @Johngee (who is in Wales) are two.
- Location
- North wales
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
We had pure Lleyns for a number of years but struggled with fly strike as we bred them with tighter fleece. We do have a lot of wooded water meadows. Bought easycares from iolo Owen and having moved over have now bought 3 exlana rams on figures. They have performed well although last tup we bought in was a recorded easycare, his lambs have better shape than we are used to. Exlana ewes bought in have not done as well as we would have liked, think they may have struggled with the transition to our harder ground. Main issue we face with shedders is low lambing percentage compared with the Lleyn for which we are still seeking an answer. Possibly because we run our ewe lambs too hard, have sent them on tack this year so would like to be able to report 2023 shearlings are doing 180%
Mine don’t scan too bad. About 190% this year. The old guard of around 200 broken mouth ewes were frightening
194 I think we scanned and think there were 45 triplets, 1 quad, 100 twins and 43 singles and 6 empties, but two probably shouldn’t have gone to the tup and I expect at least two are in lamb late.
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
Ps we sell ewe lambs through the Exlana group so get your orders in 
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
This is very true but there is also a lot of shite, much of which is pushed by the ‘society’ which is a f**king joke
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
The society has been very slow to encourage any recording. They just want to keep pushing this low maintenance angle, which is fine, but you've got to try and do a bit more than that if you're selling tups IMO or the breed will be left behind.This is very true but there is also a lot of shite, much of which is pushed by the ‘society’ which is a f**king joke
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
They do make me chuckle. Bought a load of ewe lambs and ewes at a society sale for someone else a few years ago, told one of the society members we were going to use exlana rams over them. The reply was “why on earth would you want to use one of those mongrels over pure easy cares”
and the usual why record, you shouldn’t record, it’s not an easy care thing to do.