- Location
- Fife
Read an interesting article in Beef magazine on-line (about cow profitability indices) that cow herds with more than 200 cows only make up 3% of the National herd in the USA based on the 2017 census. Quite surprised by that. Always imagined big numbers on prairies.
There’s big guys with thousands here. Most hover between 100-200 I’d say. For a few years they might go up to 4 or 500 but tend to drop back down because of work load.Read an interesting article in Beef magazine on-line (about cow profitability indices) that cow herds with more than 200 cows only make up 3% of the National herd in the USA based on the 2017 census. Quite surprised by that. Always imagined big numbers on prairies.
Been a long while since I have read a @Doc post and not clicked like, but..Managing 30k or more head is all about the mob not the individual.
You have to manage time and resources ....
It’s a more ‘natural’ system enabling more natural selection pressure ....
less able to feck it up due to scale.
So what exactly are "hill" sheep Pete do they have shorter legs on one side , and if so, what happens when they turn around . And isn't it a rip off at the butchers if you buy the short legs of lambDefinitely, no shortage of extremely functional and prolific sheep, everywhere.
Your choice really depends on how well you can feed them over the year, in that respect you certainly have the diversity to be able to source the right genetics.
I have hill type sheep here, try to feed them consistently and they look after me - it really isn't rocket science despite the claims - it is what issues you see and how you address them, that is the problematic part, in my experience.... bandaids become recurring, often habitual expenditure
So your 'non run of the mill' breed of choice is not really limited, just buy from the right people for the right reasons, is my advice.
Steer clear of animals from a "better" (i.e. worse?) farm system than your own, as per my above posts re. selection pressure, as your taxpayer is still "flushing the ewes" if you catch my drift?
hit the nail on the head .A sheep that hasn't been wrecked by removal/alteration of selection pressure, I guess?
Not hard to bugger up the sheep job with continual intervention, old man used to source rams from "a big fat joker" with the comment "he would never catch a sheep to lamb one"
(Unless you want to buy yourself a fulltime job running a nursing home for sh!t sheep, which is fair enough)
However I would look at buying a ram from @Tim W regardless of his body shape as he gets it
Its all about relative costs, a sheep used to be worth more than a mans monthly salary, so employing someone to watch them 24/7 was cosy effective. They even did it that way in oz till the shepherd all ran off to dig for gold.I don't know how sheep survived prior to shepherds having to lamb them 24/7 . . .
Yep. But there's always 2 last rowshit the nail on the head .
i used to have a saying cull the last two rows of cow and breed from the first two rows
and his shedders are sold as part of a sheep improvement group.A sheep that hasn't been wrecked by removal/alteration of selection pressure, I guess?
Not hard to bugger up the sheep job with continual intervention, old man used to source rams from "a big fat joker" with the comment "he would never catch a sheep to lamb one"
(Unless you want to buy yourself a fulltime job running a nursing home for sh!t sheep, which is fair enough)
However I would look at buying a ram from @Tim W regardless of his body shape as he gets it
they still do, one mentioned it the other day, this Country shouldve not joined , and instead focussed on the Common Wealth he said.Uk agriculture is probably facing the same sort of uncertainty that nz and oz faced in 73 when we joined the eec, did u lot not moan and winge then?
Not negative about the job, if people wish to create a need to work than that's their business, but if their well-intended toil is going to create me an ongoing task then I will certainly avoid their stock like the plague.and his shedders are sold as part of a sheep improvement group.
others are also good at it.
dont be too negative about the job.
i meant that you see too much wrong with the job.here.Not negative about the job, if people wish to create a need to work than that's their business, but if their well-intended toil is going to create me an ongoing task then I will certainly avoid their stock like the plague.
Once lamb returns to a more realistic value it will sort many of them out anyway!
A sheep that hasn't been wrecked by removal/alteration of selection pressure, I guess?
Not hard to bugger up the sheep job with continual intervention, old man used to source rams from "a big fat joker" with the comment "he would never catch a sheep to lamb one"
(Unless you want to buy yourself a fulltime job running a nursing home for sh!t sheep, which is fair enough)
However I would look at buying a ram from @Tim W regardless of his body shape as he gets it
Possibly whoever was right in saying so?they still do, one mentioned it the other day, this Country shouldve not joined , and instead focussed on the Common Wealth he said.
I'll have you speaking Canadian before you know it!I thought 'Slough' was just a place in Berks. .....................
Yet another new word meaning learnt