Crossing over to the dark side!

[Al R]

3/4 and 7/8th Exlana ewe lamb twins and triplets, the odd triplet was a yearling which had reared last year too.. the main problem with them today was that they were to white that it was a struggle to look at them.

 

[Devil's advocate]

I like the idea of shedding from a mastitis/pneomonia point of view, a gradual change subject to the weather.

But to tempt me we need shedding versions of our regular breeds.

 

[gwi1890]

I like the idea of shedding from a mastitis/pneomonia point of view, a gradual change subject to the weather.

But to tempt me we need shedding versions of our regular breeds.

out of interest what would these regular breeds be?

 

[Tim W]

I like the idea of shedding from a mastitis/pneomonia point of view, a gradual change subject to the weather.

But to tempt me we need shedding versions of our regular breeds.

Wont be too hard to do

 

[Bury the Trash]

I think you would find that they were relativly short naturally

Google Image Result for http://www.plutoniummuffins.com/wp-content/uploads/Mouflon-Cyprus-300x187.jpg

The 'Urial' and other ' original ' sheep looks similar I think imright in saying .

Could be , as a guess that they got longer with breeding or domestication and / or it mightve been thought a good thing to yield more wool ?

Was actually fat, it seems they favoured the longer tailed ones when sheep were first Being domesticated , for the fat in / the tail to eat ....but theres been no overall / concerted effort since to reshorten them,

Just goes to show how things like that , don't get improved , (generally ) when it would be such a useful and welfare friendly, thing .
...course they would still have balls

 

[Tim W]

ust goes to show how things like that , don't get improved , (generally ) when it would be such a useful and welfare friendly, thing .

Short tails---easy to measure, high heritability & therefore easy to do

But ---farmers are too short sighted to see that it's a positive thing & breeders (in general) too scared to lead the way

We are making some progress with Exlana tails and i've started down the same road with the terminals ---it can be done if you want to do it

 

[MJT]

Wont be too hard to do

A shedding texel is something I’m mulling over finding / experimenting with to add into the Inverdale ram breeding flock…..Even if to start with it’s just that they lose belly wool and wool off the backend before shearing itl keep them a lot cleaner .

 

[CopperBeech]

The Dark Knights Reply in chorus ---''Do they have to mutilate lambs?''

If we can refer to ourselves at the dark knights I shall sign up for life

 

[CopperBeech]

A shedding texel is something I’m mulling over finding / experimenting with to add into the Inverdale ram breeding flock…..Even if to start with it’s just that they lose belly wool and wool off the backend before shearing itl keep them a lot cleaner .

My shedders have New Zealand Suffolk abs texel blood in them along with other selected genetics

 

[neilo]

A shedding texel is something I’m mulling over finding / experimenting with to add into the Inverdale ram breeding flock…..Even if to start with it’s just that they lose belly wool and wool off the backend before shearing itl keep them a lot cleaner .

iirc @Woolless has shedders with a good chunk of Texel blood in. A good place to start?

 

[MJT]

iirc @Woolless has shedders with a good chunk of Texel blood in. A good place to start?

Already messaged .

 

[TexelBen]

A shedding texel is something I’m mulling over finding / experimenting with to add into the Inverdale ram breeding flock…..Even if to start with it’s just that they lose belly wool and wool off the backend before shearing itl keep them a lot cleaner .

I'm working on a similar vein, some natural sheddiness and short tails in one line of texels is looking good so far

 

[yellowbelly]

iirc @Woolless has shedders with a good chunk of Texel blood in. A good place to start?

If I was 20 years younger I think I would be heading up north to see him - a bit late in my career to be starting breeding the wool off our commercials now though, I fear

 

[unlacedgecko]

A shedding texel is something I’m mulling over finding / experimenting with to add into the Inverdale ram breeding flock…..Even if to start with it’s just that they lose belly wool and wool off the backend before shearing itl keep them a lot cleaner .

My inverdale from you had a clean belly and breech.

Another 2 years I should have fully shedding inverdale double myomax tups.

 

[gatepost]

A shedding texel is something I’m mulling over finding / experimenting with to add into the Inverdale ram breeding flock…..Even if to start with it’s just that they lose belly wool and wool off the backend before shearing itl keep them a lot cleaner .

I've got one here, bare when I bought him as a lamb, and bare again by half way through May, top 1% of breed. so just wondering if I should be encouraging the trait, have some ped ewes that we don't shear as well.

 

[Ysgythan]

So do we, but I’m not selling any, OK…

 

[CopperBeech]

Crap photos but there’s some shape and length in the exlana.

 

[neilo]

Crap photos but there’s some shape and length in the exlana. View attachment 968368View attachment 968369

I’ll give them their due in that they appear to have length, but to say they have much shape would be a bit of a stretch imo.

Some of that apparent length is also down to the optical illusion created from being narrow, particularly through the shoulder and over the rump (which of course should help lambing ease).

 

[CopperBeech]

I get my kill sheets back and I kill a lot of pure exlana lambs. When I started with shedders, it was Rs and quite a few Os and the odd U. Now I don’t get any Os at all, it’s all R and U grades with a smattering of Es.

I know nothing will ever match up to your highlanders and putting a Charolais over them. You’ve worked hard to ‘prove’ that (I’m sure you’ll disagree).

But I’m happy enough with my exlana. As much as they were so very very terrible for you. I guess it must be in the farming then

 

[neilo]

I get my kill sheets back and I kill a lot of pure exlana lambs. When I started with shedders, it was Rs and quite a few Os and the odd U. Now I don’t get any Os at all, it’s all R and U grades with a smattering of Es.

I know nothing will ever match up to your highlanders and putting a Charolais over them. You’ve worked hard to ‘prove’ that (I’m sure you’ll disagree).

But I’m happy enough with my exlana. As much as they were so very very terrible for you. I guess it must be in the farming then

Maybe you have a different idea of what constitutes a good carcass, but in my book, ‘not getting any O grades’ is setting the bar pretty low.

I apologise if I appear to have offended you for daring to say my Exlanas have been a disappointment. I invested a good bit in them, as you know, and clearly had high hopes for them, particularly their maternal ability.
I would question the management too, as everyone else enthuses about them so much, but they have been managed exactly the same as my other forage fed, outdoor lambing, white faced, medium sized sheep, yet have fallen behind at every hurdle so far. I am as perplexed as anyone as to why that should be the case, but was thanking my lucky stars in April, that I didn’t have a whole flock of them!