Does the hill shepherd get a fair share of the pie?

[yellowbelly]

We’ve had herdwick draft ewes in the past, grand sheep. Put too the texel and kept plenty of ewe lambs back. The last bunch I had wouldn’t stop anywhere, they were that busy rambling they wasted their lambs too nothing. When I shut them up too settle them they just stopped eating. That was the final straw, they all went on the fat and I never bothered replacing them.

Maybe we've just been lucky with ours then but we run them on a big area of lowland moor so they can rake about where ever they like.
It's pretty much like where they've come from - only 1000' lower, hardly ever snows and doesn't rain half as much. I guess they just think they've died and gone to heaven

 

[Tim W]

Can you explain why you think this?

I keep hearing that subsidy is essential to hill farmers?
Subsidy is going ( and any future payments are likely to exclude current stocking rates)
Hill /moorland is where mules are bred?
So mule production must surely fall?

 

[Stw88]

I keep hearing that subsidy is essential to hill farmers?
Subsidy is going ( and any future payments are likely to exclude current stocking rates)
Hill /moorland is where mules are bred?
So mule production must surely fall?

A good proportion of mules are bred no where near a hill or moorland any more! Hence why Swales are now scanning upto 200%. not many swales left on the moor through winter now all away on keep and tupped on lowland dairy ground. This is one of the main reasons the mule has become less popular, far to prolific. It’s now coming from both sides as the leicters are very prone to triplets. Big estates running multiple thousands of ewes don’t want 30% of them triplets and all the work that goes with them.

 

[Woolless]

A good proportion of mules are bred no where near a hill or moorland any more! Hence why Swales are now scanning upto 200%. not many swales left on the moor through winter now all away on keep and tupped on lowland dairy ground. This is one of the main reasons the mule has become less popular, far to prolific. It’s now coming from both sides as the leicters are very prone to triplets. Big estates running multiple thousands of ewes don’t want 30% of them triplets and all the work that goes with them.

Yes, I've been shocked at some of the high scanning percentages quoted on here for Swales. Surely the BFL is meant to put that into the mule? Swale breeders would be far better breeding a bit more body into their sheep. Hats off again to the few Swale flock masters that are performance recording their sheep, rather than arsing about with tweezers.

On this topic, did anyone see the Blackface gimmer that sold for 14,000gns the other week? The horns were absolutely ridiculous, real legging rippers!

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Yes, I've been shocked at some of the high scanning percentages quoted on here for Swales. Surely the BFL is meant to put that into the mule? Swale breeders would be far better breeding a bit more body into their sheep. Hats off again to the few Swale flock masters that are performance recording their sheep, rather than arsing about with tweezers.

On this topic, did anyone see the Blackface gimmer that sold for 14,000gns the other week? The horns were absolutely ridiculous, real legging rippers!

I thought that... bloody horrible looking horns!!

 

[Tim W]

I thought that... bloody horrible looking horns!!

Be useful when wolves get introduced

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Be useful when wolves get introduced

Fair point... I hadn’t thought of that!!

 

[Top Tip.]

Be useful when wolves get introduced

Forward thinking blackie breeders

 

[Nithsdale]

Be useful when wolves get introduced

Are you mad? Too pretty to use in combat!!


Plus, these expensive Blackies see more of the inside of a shed than any hill

 

[LTH]

The texel cross mule make good sheep we sell quite a few gimmer lambs from ours, they milk as well usually with less lambs if that’s what you want, but you still need a good mule ewe to breed them as the 3/4 texels aren’t as good. Two tups lambs at the bottom have been out all winter on grass with no need for concentrates fat as pigs what the breed should focus on more

 

[LTH]

Are you mad? Too pretty to use in combat!!


Plus, these expensive Blackies see more of the inside of a shed than any hill

What sheep do you run?

 

[Nithsdale]

What sheep do you run?

Used to be Blackies and breed Mules.

Put Lleyns over the Blackies then bred towards 'pure'. Running the same ground, the wool is worth more, the lambs are worth more and I get more lambs...

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Are you mad? Too pretty to use in combat!!


Plus, these expensive Blackies see more of the inside of a shed than any hill

I’ve a couple of blackie tup lambs down here with pretty cruel horns on them. I’ll sell you them very reasonable for stock protection...

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Are you mad? Too pretty to use in combat!!


Plus, these expensive Blackies see more of the inside of a shed than any hill

The thought of trying too get a ruck of sheep like that through a race without snapping a ruck of horns off puts me off altogether!
Although the chances of anything bred like that arriving here are pretty remote. Be a few more generations before that breeding hits £40 wether lambs??

 

[LTH]

Used to be Blackies and breed Mules.

Put Lleyns over the Blackies then bred towards 'pure'. Running the same ground, the wool is worth more, the lambs are worth more and I get more lambs...

We used to have some lleyns, I guess it’s what works for everyone, Cheviot would be my next go too

 

[Nithsdale]

I’ve a couple of blackie tup lambs down here with pretty cruel horns on them. I’ll sell you them very reasonable for stock protection...

To be fair to them, I know proper Blackies to have killed foxes at lambing time protecting their lambs. The hills which have kept away from Mule breeding, and kept away from the magic circle at Lanark or Stirling still have good Blackies. But they're few and far between

 

[Nithsdale]

We used to have some lleyns, I guess it’s what works for everyone, Cheviot would be my next go too

I do have 1 chev tup to see what I think. The cross ewe is ok but think I'm preferring 1/4 chev blood in the flock. The beauty is I'm not locked into any breed or type, just use the tups I fancy and can take my ewes in any direction.. but once I breed or find a tup I like I tend to use him extensively.

You'd be disappointed with the lambing % of a Cheviot compared to your Swale

 

[unlacedgecko]

I do have 1 chev tup to see what I think. The cross ewe is ok but think I'm preferring 1/4 chev blood in the flock. The beauty is I'm not locked into any breed or type, just use the tups I fancy and can take my ewes in any direction.. but once I breed or find a tup I like I tend to use him extensively.

You'd be disappointed with the lambing % of a Cheviot compared to your Swale

I think this is the future. Breeds are an artificial construct and böllocks. Shape your sheep any way you want with desirable traits and characteristics from any source.

 

[hally]

We used to have some lleyns, I guess it’s what works for everyone, Cheviot would be my next go too

We have gone Cheviot to breed our texel ewes as sick of the narrow n/e mules and too many lambs. So far impressed we used to have to run our mules separate to the texels as they need a lot more feed but the Cheviot/mules just mix in no bother. One fault and I don’t know if it’s the fault of the breed or the breeder we use but we have 4 prolapse harnesses on at the moment all Cheviots when we run 5 times more texels and no harnesses on at all ( but a couple of deaths with total prolapses which is the norm here).

 

[LTH]

We have gone Cheviot to breed our texel ewes as sick of the narrow n/e mules and too many lambs. So far impressed we used to have to run our mules separate to the texels as they need a lot more feed but the Cheviot/mules just mix in no bother. One fault and I don’t know if it’s the fault of the breed or the breeder we use but we have 4 prolapse harnesses on at the moment all Cheviots when we run 5 times more texels and no harnesses on at all ( but a couple of deaths with total prolapses which is the norm here).

Our mules aren’t narrow, a bit wooly maybe but all lambs go dead weight apart from the best texel gimmers, half of it is the Leicester. Traditional Leicesters have great carcasses in most cases and so do a lot of crossing types but there’s a lot of narrow crossing type tups about just because they get a black and white head!