- Location
- East Ayrshire
So, rightly or wrongly, I've bought (well on behalf of my boss) 195 Swale ewes to replace a portion of my NCC flock.
Gathered up next to the loading banks at Kendal yesterday.
Had a grand day down south, prices up about £20 on the year but managed to get some that I liked for for an average of £125 - all 2 or 3 crop which came as a pleasant surprise to someone used to Blackfaces and Cheviots.
Some background to my decision. When I came here almost 20 years ago the hill flock was nearly all BF but they'd started crossing through to park NCC. First cross ewes were an improvement in every way on the BFs but over time scanning figures dropped and ewes aren't as maternal. We tried hill NCC for a few years without any noticeable difference apart from lambs being smaller!
The boss at the time decided to try reintroducing some BFs to cross again and see if that helped, but whether they were a different kind it certainly didn't have the desired effect so that was soon abandoned.
I "inherited" 100 Lleyn ewes when my boss restructured the estate after massive losses during the beast from the east but again they were a massive disappointment - scanned better than the Cheviots the first year but couldn't keep the flesh on them, again maybe the wrong kind of Lleyn but once bitten twice shy.
We've blood tested loads over the years and never had any adverse results. Despite that we tried bolusing for 2 years with no noticeable difference in either average condition nor scanning percentages.
So, I spun the dice again and the Swale came up. The estate were never adverse to using them sporadically in our BF flock and the retired herd from the time swore by them for maternal instinct, and grazing the hill properly which is another thing our NCCs aren't particularly good at. Also, a new neighbour has been buying old Swales for years to breed his own mules. If they're half (or even quarter) as good as he says they are then I can only win.
My intention at the moment is to eventually have 300 of them (topped up every year as required) all tupped with our existing NCC tups, keep all decent ewe lambs and in time end up with the remaining ewes (900) all being either half or 3/4 NCC.
I had intended to take more photos today but having been yarded for the best part of 48 hours they looked a lot narrower than they did yesterday so more will follow once they settle down.
I'll try and keep this going with occasional photos, as much as anything as a diary and progress tracker but not promising to be either as regular as @Gator or @Nithsdale Farmer, or as funny as @spin cycle. And there certainly won't be any selfies!
Gathered up next to the loading banks at Kendal yesterday.
Had a grand day down south, prices up about £20 on the year but managed to get some that I liked for for an average of £125 - all 2 or 3 crop which came as a pleasant surprise to someone used to Blackfaces and Cheviots.
Some background to my decision. When I came here almost 20 years ago the hill flock was nearly all BF but they'd started crossing through to park NCC. First cross ewes were an improvement in every way on the BFs but over time scanning figures dropped and ewes aren't as maternal. We tried hill NCC for a few years without any noticeable difference apart from lambs being smaller!
The boss at the time decided to try reintroducing some BFs to cross again and see if that helped, but whether they were a different kind it certainly didn't have the desired effect so that was soon abandoned.
I "inherited" 100 Lleyn ewes when my boss restructured the estate after massive losses during the beast from the east but again they were a massive disappointment - scanned better than the Cheviots the first year but couldn't keep the flesh on them, again maybe the wrong kind of Lleyn but once bitten twice shy.
We've blood tested loads over the years and never had any adverse results. Despite that we tried bolusing for 2 years with no noticeable difference in either average condition nor scanning percentages.
So, I spun the dice again and the Swale came up. The estate were never adverse to using them sporadically in our BF flock and the retired herd from the time swore by them for maternal instinct, and grazing the hill properly which is another thing our NCCs aren't particularly good at. Also, a new neighbour has been buying old Swales for years to breed his own mules. If they're half (or even quarter) as good as he says they are then I can only win.
Should also add that this post certainly didn't do any harm when making my decision.
My intention at the moment is to eventually have 300 of them (topped up every year as required) all tupped with our existing NCC tups, keep all decent ewe lambs and in time end up with the remaining ewes (900) all being either half or 3/4 NCC.
I had intended to take more photos today but having been yarded for the best part of 48 hours they looked a lot narrower than they did yesterday so more will follow once they settle down.
I'll try and keep this going with occasional photos, as much as anything as a diary and progress tracker but not promising to be either as regular as @Gator or @Nithsdale Farmer, or as funny as @spin cycle. And there certainly won't be any selfies!
and wish you all the luck in your new venture.
