Skintagain
Member
- Location
- Perched on the Pennines
You need to get out more
Charollais sheep
- Thread starter N.G. sheep
- Start date
- Location
- Mendips Somerset
they are ok as mothers , bit skitty first time , better to lamb them as hoggs feed well wean 100 days , make better 2t , they just keep growing on as ewes so dont to hung up on size ,
A little surprised at some of the comments, in our experience they are just as good as texels. We purchased some ewe hoggs for slaughter from a store sale as they were handy money. However, as they were shapely we brought them home, instead of sending them to kill. We never had any milk or bad mothering issues to be fair. They lasted until they were around 5/6 years old, the cull ewe price jumped one month and they were sent for slaughter, through no fault of their own.
They did produce some lovely lambs and were no bother to be fair.
They did produce some lovely lambs and were no bother to be fair.
- Location
- North Wales
Id rather lamb slow dopey Suffolk lambs than have to deal with Charollais and that's saying something. Charollais are as wild as they come and any sort of bad weather they'll turn the milk tap off so you'll end up with two pet lambs.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Running a pedigree Charollais flock, as well as a ‘very maternal’ Highlander flock lambing outdoors, I would say that obviously some Charollais ewes are reasonable mothers (I don’t keep stock sires out of any that aren’t), but even most of those are a long way behind the average Highlander on mothering.
Any breeder that tells you they are great mothers (& plenty do) either have no experience of commercial sheep, or they are lieing, imho.?
I have posted before about a field of ewes I had out in a storm. All the lambs were pure Charollais singles and of similar genetics, but some were ET lambs born of Highlander recips. It was a 5ac North facing field with high hedges all round, and the cold rain was coming in horizontally. The Highlander ewes all had their lambs carefully tucked under a hedge with them, whereas a lot of the Charollais ewes were scattered across the field standing with their backs up and their lambs freezing to death beside/under them.? No instinct to find shelter at all.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Really? I usually regret the Charollais x Females I’ve kept back every lambing time (then smile when I sell their 3/4 Charollais lambs of course), but the Charollais x lamb is an absolute dream. Easily born and searching out the teat like an Exocet, and every bit as fast as any of the hallowed NZ genetics I’ve used here.
If I had ewes in lamb to a Suffolk, I think I’d sell them in-lamb rather than go through another lambing of persuading the dopey buggers that they need to suckle the teat I’m holding them to, in order to survive!
I guess it’s a good job some have more patience, or they wouldn’t just be approaching rare breed status.?
i always think thats 1 of worse traits in a lamb, especially on a shearling when your wanting lamb to be wick
- Location
- North Wales
You cant change the goal posts Neilo. We're talking about pure Charollais and you're talking about X breds which will be a totally different kettle of fish.
It's a good job you go through the misery of keeping Charollais so others can benefit from your ram genetics.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Pure Charollais lambs are a doddle on the whole, seeking the teat almost before they’re standing.?
That’s if their mothers will let them of course. I had 2 good lambs killed in the pens this March, by their mothers pawing them to death trying to get them up, even though they were doing so perfectly well.?
Most pedigree breeders I speak to say they never lose any of course.
- Location
- Mendips Somerset
would say i loose at least 10% more lambs than the commercials , (and i dont flush ) Zwartbles i lost 1 lamb from 50 post turnout , and i think that might have been cocci , the difference loads of milk makes is enormous
No
Yes
No
Poor
Decent
Lambing in November and keeping them in until weaning.
They’re like pedigree Texels that cost a lot more the produce, you get a better commercial trade, but breeding trade adds little.
They’re like pedigree Dorsets in that they lamb early, but are totally unsuited to being born at that time.
pgk
Member
- Location
- south warwickshire
I hope the fact that our chartex hoggs were always in hedge on cold windy mornings is an indicator they take after texels on that front!
For those who don't have a full command of English, ''wick'' is Yorkshire speak for ''quick'' (lively or alive), as in the biblical ''the quick and the dead''.
Skintagain
Member
- Location
- Perched on the Pennines
Steady on sheep shagger
- Location
- Dumfries & Galloway
''Iststillwick?'' is a common question by a Yorkshire farmer, concerned about an animal that's ''nobbutmoddrit''.
It might even apply to a Barnsley miner, concerned about a sick pigeon. There must be similar expressions in Welsh!! Or even Cornish or Suffolk.
I could even give lessons on when a noun is preceded by either a ''t'' or a ''d''. In some cases, either precedent is acceptable. ''I've a lamb warming up in t'oven'' is just as correct as ''I've a lamb warming up in d'oven''
It's not as confusing as the French ''le'' and ''la''. How on earth can a French table be feminine? Or is it masculine?
It might even apply to a Barnsley miner, concerned about a sick pigeon. There must be similar expressions in Welsh!! Or even Cornish or Suffolk.
I could even give lessons on when a noun is preceded by either a ''t'' or a ''d''. In some cases, either precedent is acceptable. ''I've a lamb warming up in t'oven'' is just as correct as ''I've a lamb warming up in d'oven''
It's not as confusing as the French ''le'' and ''la''. How on earth can a French table be feminine? Or is it masculine?
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primmiemoo
Member
- Location
- Devon