Beltex tups

[valtraman]

Know nowt about beltex tups my quick question is are they a lot softer than say the normal Texel ? I know there’s a lot of different variables on this like how hard have they been pushed etc etc. But just after a general answer. Hoping to use on scotch mules. Would previously put texels out 1-50 ratio.

 

[Willie adie]

We've them at home outs are pushed with food in my opinion.
Hot weather don't even try to work with them.
Lamb easily enough on our mules

 

[liammogs]

I keep them pure, all depends on the type you go for! The more modern type are a lot more mobile than the first beltex! I think you'd be looking at the same ratio to be honest, beltex are fitter than you think

 

[Bones]

Expensive we buggers

 

[neilo]

Not ‘softer’ imo, but don’t tend to last very long (how many Beltex rams do you see in the cull mart?). Easy lambing & easy finishing ime, which is why I use them on ewe lambs now.
Certainly not very fast growing though, so expect them to be later to market weights (if they get there) than those from bigger breeds, assuming the same ewes. Confirmation great of course, but you need a serious premium to make up for the kilos missing when bred to a mature ewe. From a ewe Hogg, the slow growth means they don’t drag the mothers down as much, even to the extent of being able to rear twins easily enough here.

 

[valtraman]

Thanks for reply’s

 

[Skintagain]

I find them quite hardy. I have sold a few tup lambs off too out of a few nice ewes I have and people seem to find the same. They are steady buggers so don’t reel off at tupping in my experience. My worst ones for loosing condition are charolais as they are chasing around like maniacs all the time when In with the ewes. I can leave my beltex or texels running with the ewes until lambing time with no detriment to them. It would kill the Charolais to do the same.

 

[livestock 1]

Like to die around the 3/4 shear age due to lumps on their throat and or restricted breathing. Good sharp sheep that can reach further than expected tupping wise. Small sharp lambs that suck. Not very big but weigh well and fatten easily compared to others.

 

[Nithsdale]

Stick with the Texel.

What you gain in lambing ease you'll be pee'd off with the slow growth... the premium selling fat is lost in a falling market flooded with lambs when you could have used Texel, Suffolk or Char and had the lambs away earlier making the same value as the late Beltex.

 

[Greythundercloudys]

Iv used only pure beltex tups on my mules & tex mules, l do pay a good price around 500£ for the tups and the lmbs are great at birth, a wee bit smaller than texels but great at getn up, they grow away fine, l lmb in March and some in April and sell them all stores in August, you befo get a few £more for them, as everyone has plain texels of mules. Get a couple and try them, next year you'll have a few more. Just try and buy a good one.

 

[Nithsdale]

Iv used only pure beltex tups on my mules & tex mules, l do pay a good price around 500£ for the tups and the lmbs are great at birth, a wee bit smaller than texels but great at getn up, they grow away fine, l lmb in March and some in April and sell them all stores in August, you befo get a few £more for them, as everyone has plain texels of mules. Get a couple and try them, next year you'll have a few more. Just try and buy a good one.

I hope you're hard/poor ground... because with the greatest respect, that is poor going.


I lamb in March. Suffolk and Texel lambs start leaving, fat, in June. Half my lambs will have left, fat, by the end of August...

 

[Longlowdog]

From personal experience of Texel Throat (laryngeal chondritis) in Beltex the more extreme types are more prone to it. The old style boogly eyed, dished faced, short neck type had it worst, the newer, longer and slimmer types are much less likely to exhibit it. Since I gave up chasing rosettes and concentrated on commercially viable tups it has not reared its ugly head.
There were plenty of aged tups at Carlisle and my mate confidently bought a 4 shear for natural service, however, he did not buy one of the super fat ones there on the day.
My neighbours using my tups are generally selling their lambs in the year they are born in with the exception of the inevitable in any system poor and runty lambs. I'd say weigh your lambs earlier than you think, they are dense wee devils. They will often go fat then put on another growth spurt which means timing is everything. With a high kill out potential there is no need to keep them past 40 kgs to achieve a decent carcass weight. If you creep feed them you can grow huge lambs perfect for the freezer.
Regarding heat etc, they are prone to become rather portly if kept on good grass so moving them gently is the key. If you want to do everything at 30mph with a dog up their ass they are probably not for you. If you walk your sheep from A to B they are fine. My sheep are all moved by standing at a gate and shouting 'cmon lads/lassies' and walking in front of them to where I want them.
They do well at tupping time but tend to wander round the ewes in cycles with plenty of rest in between. They are very chilled out sheep probably as they were bred as small flock and garden sheep on the continent as curios and for showing so wildness isn't in their make up. Regardless of condition very few Beltex create a fuss in the ring at the Premier sale.
Owning pedigree Beltex, scratching a few lugs and having a walk through my fat bottomed girls and watching shearlings grow is rather therapeutic for me. Selling to friends and having them come back for more is just icing on the cake.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Not being funny but dont sound like they are for me

 

[Longlowdog]

The breed has changed a lot since they came over. They aren't for everyone but they can do a lot for a lot of folk. A good number of folk who laughed at them 10 years ago have changed their tune. Premiums at marts and schemes such as those offered by Dunbia are changing folks opinions if they are open to change.

 

[MJT]

The breeds got a bad name , not helped by a lot of the big breeder/feeders. You can go to Carlisle and see tups with massive heads bent legs and hideously obese but selling for thousands. I think it’s a breed that needs a big kick up the arse to be honest. They have a hell of a lot of potential and if tested correctly they’re very functional sheep . My pedigree ewes spend all their lives with the rest of the commercial flock, only being separated for a week or so at lambing and tupping. From furthest fields to sheep sheds is a mile and a half, over the years the ewes that have poorer lung capacity and can’t manage the trip have culled themselves out.

I’ve had bugger all luck buying tups from sales, whether this is due to me not molly coddling them or whatever I don’t know but in my opinion this shouldn’t be needed.....

Sell all rams as lambs, straight off grass expecting them to work and not melt away . A

 

[hubbahubba]

The breed has changed a lot since they came over. They aren't for everyone but they can do a lot for a lot of folk. A good number of folk who laughed at them 10 years ago have changed their tune. Premiums at marts and schemes such as those offered by Dunbia are changing folks opinions if they are open to change.

What schemes are dunbia offering for beltex's? As far as i was aware there not too bothered about e grade lambs on the standard grid anyway.

 

[Longlowdog]

I'm not in it but I was speaking to a guy at Carlisle with 150 pure Beltex and the same of Dutchies and he sells to Dunbia who pay a premium for Beltex sired lambs.

 

[liammogs]

I'm not in it but I was speaking to a guy at Carlisle with 150 pure Beltex and the same of Dutchies and he sells to Dunbia who pay a premium for Beltex sired lambs.

Wasn't this something aswell to do with a young farmers scheme aswell? About a year ago not sure if it's still going, but it was definitely going at one time!

As for the breed, I run 30 ewes pure/pedigree, as many others have said they have come a long way from where they were even more so the last 5/10 years, Iv gone to keep a larger type of beltex ewe these days! A more functional ewe to sell all my tups as lambs instead of yearlings, as many have said you find a person keeping the breed with a similar mind set you'll get a tup that will tick all the boxes!.......8 ram lambs entered for the Builth NSA if you want to try a experiment!

 

[Woolless]

The breeds got a bad name , not helped by a lot of the big breeder/feeders. You can go to Carlisle and see tups with massive heads bent legs and hideously obese but selling for thousands. I think it’s a breed that needs a big kick up the arse to be honest. They have a hell of a lot of potential and if tested correctly they’re very functional sheep . My pedigree ewes spend all their lives with the rest of the commercial flock, only being separated for a week or so at lambing and tupping. From furthest fields to sheep sheds is a mile and a half, over the years the ewes that have poorer lung capacity and can’t manage the trip have culled themselves out.

I’ve had bugger all luck buying tups from sales, whether this is due to me not molly coddling them or whatever I don’t know but in my opinion this shouldn’t be needed.....

Sell all rams as lambs, straight off grass expecting them to work and not melt away . A

Good luck to you. Saw them in the classifieds

 

[CharcoalWally]

The breed has changed a lot since they came over. They aren't for everyone but they can do a lot for a lot of folk. A good number of folk who laughed at them 10 years ago have changed their tune. Premiums at marts and schemes such as those offered by Dunbia are changing folks opinions if they are open to change.

Can't speak for other parts of the country, but if the Beltex breed carry on making the progress up here in Scotland that they've made over the last five years or so, then they're going to kick the big breeds right where it hurts.