All in the head...
- Thread starter Ysgythan
- Start date
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
I remember judging a class of shearling (Charollais) rams once. I was standing, observing the sheep entering the ring, as you do, where one caught my eye as the stand out winner. He was bold and strong, showing much character and screaming ‘look at me’. First impressions are rarely wrong ime, and I set about my task with rough placings already in my mind.
When I stood those rams up and walked down the line from the front, that impressive, strong headed ram stood well. I stood square in front of him and could see both his back legs between his fronts. WTF I thought, just the sort of breeding that is all wrong imo, with a wedge shaped back to front. He was bred with appearance in mind, with very little thought to actually getting live lambs out. He didn’t do well that day, much to the disgust of the proud owners.
Incidentally, I later found out he’d been bought from a flock widely considered to have a bit of Texel influence.?
In that case, a wide muzzle certainly didn’t correlate to width across the rump, although I have no doubt that some wide muzzled animals do indeed have width behind.
When I stood those rams up and walked down the line from the front, that impressive, strong headed ram stood well. I stood square in front of him and could see both his back legs between his fronts. WTF I thought, just the sort of breeding that is all wrong imo, with a wedge shaped back to front. He was bred with appearance in mind, with very little thought to actually getting live lambs out. He didn’t do well that day, much to the disgust of the proud owners.
Incidentally, I later found out he’d been bought from a flock widely considered to have a bit of Texel influence.?
In that case, a wide muzzle certainly didn’t correlate to width across the rump, although I have no doubt that some wide muzzled animals do indeed have width behind.
the problem with these rules of thumb is that they work best at random. When you had the odd peeler thrown up when you were not trying to get them they did seem to be harder fleshed and better shaped. However once it was the peeling that was important, not the handling and shape, everybody started chasing it and you got some peelers who handled no better.
- Location
- Mendips Somerset
saw this on a friends time line , and they wonder why texels have lambing issues , surely better forget the valuless head and have a far more functional sheep
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exmoorromney
Member
Think how many cabbages that head could eat though.saw this on a friends time line , and they wonder why texels have lambing issues , surely better forget the valuless head and have a far more functional sheep
- Location
- Mendips Somerset
saw a high profile texel flock some years back was stunned by the perceived quality , then saw them a few months later post shearing , the most ugly sheep i have ever seen bodies were quite small but the heads were something to behold must have had some neck muscles to hold them up , bit like when my ram got that clostridial infection in his head
saw this on a friends time line , and they wonder why texels have lambing issues , surely better forget the valuless head and have a far more functional sheep
her head hasn’t been wide enough to stop her getting in to the creep feeder...
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
It's got a great head.saw this on a friends time line , and they wonder why texels have lambing issues , surely better forget the valuless head and have a far more functional sheep
Even if your scope was fogged up, you'd still be able to hit it
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
Yes, there was a bloke holding a Texel tup with huge heid on the front of the 'Scottish Farmer'' a couple of years ago. I thought Bluetongue had made a comeback!
- Location
- Mendips Somerset
still made £176 as a cull (recently) , so prob paid that back .
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That would make two heads of our Texel rams?saw this on a friends time line , and they wonder why texels have lambing issues , surely better forget the valuless head and have a far more functional sheep
- Location
- West Wales
Obviously creep bars taken out like on a Hogg feeder or just troughs? I know someone who was up in Scotland in the last few weeks and saw hundreds of texels being fed, all ages were being fed heavily, no lambs sold fat, all were sold on as breeders. Spoke to someone in the texel breeding circles about it and they said they’d bought 2 from said farm, 1 didn’t last the tupping season and another died the next year and neither were cheap!!
oh yes, different world.
- Location
- Mendips Somerset
those sort of breeders tend to burn through customers then are gone in about 5 years ,the female clique sellers rely on these types when their buying into a breed .
- Location
- West Wales
I googled said breeder and is definitely one of the big long term ones.........
A lad working for me was telling me all the tricks for selling rams, if their undershot feed in a round trough and it evens the mouth up, feed rams on a big hill so their leg muscles look/get bigger, jab with draxxin and zactran (I’d never heard of these) 2 weeks before selling so their not lame on sale day, feed from birth, if you do stop feeding start again 6 months pre sale. There were a pile of others too... glad I’ve never been to Builth/Kelso/Stirling etc..
clod hopper
Member
- Location
- SHREWSBURY, shropshire
Be good eating that head in some city !!!!
- Location
- Mendips Somerset
thing is people still buy them , see the commercial farmers going nuts around these overfed rams , they all know they will fall to bits with big wobbly tails , ,, all hoping they buy the one thats ok .
I simply dont get it !
John Chance
Member
What a lot of horse sh1t. Would anyone in their right minds have a show winner as a commercial stock bull? No, and why would you even have any of its progeny? The emperor has no clothes.
The first two are old wives tales. It’s what’s in the trough that brings their jaw forward, that’s why the shearling men have a constant battle with the mouths going over. What’s in the trough will build more muscle than slopes. The pre-emptive jab just sounds like shocking management. I do know of plenty who feed from birth. And yes they pull a lot of stunts.
We feed them, we have to for our market. I admire the men in a big enough way to be able to and are prepared to swim against the tide.
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