Getting ewes smaller

Hoping to cross my Romneys with something else to produce a smaller ewe that can be in wintered and hopefully allow me to carry more ewes to the acre.Currently run three to the acre.These are pretty large girls some over 90 kilos.would like to brink that down to around 65Any thoughts on the breed if tup?currently use Romney no texel and Hampshire.
 

dave mountain

Member
Livestock Farmer
buelah would be similar to a lleyn, buelahs a bit smaller, a bit tougher and a bit better maternally in my experience. lleyn can be quite big nowadays so maybe too big for your aims.
 

dave mountain

Member
Livestock Farmer
Lairg type Cheviot,improve the conformation,improve the skins,improve the maternal ability makes a cracking ewe. I think in NZ it would be called a Perendale.
good sheep, they wouldnt bring the crossbred ewe size down to 65kg though would they? at least not on the 1st cross.
 

Top Tip.

Member
Location
highland
good sheep, they wouldnt bring the crossbred ewe size down to 65kg though would they? at least not on the 1st cross.
It would depend where you bought your tups of. If you went for the more extreme hill types I wouldn’t think there would be a problem achieving the 65 kg. I do think though that the size of ewe is very dependent on the ground they are running on,if the op’s ewes are 90kg running at three to the acre he is obviously working on relatively good ground.
 

dave mountain

Member
Livestock Farmer
It would depend where you bought your tups of. If you went for the more extreme hill types I wouldn’t think there would be a problem achieving the 65 kg. I do think though that the size of ewe is very dependent on the ground they are running on,if the op’s ewes are 90kg running at three to the acre he is obviously working on relatively good ground.
I guess if you find a very small type hill cheviot it could be possible, but like you say it's more down to the ground. Could put a small 60kg Cheviot ram on them and still end up with the lambs growing to 90kg if the ground is better than where the ram was born.
The only way to be certain the ewes will be tiny is to use a welshy
 
It would depend where you bought your tups of. If you went for the more extreme hill types I wouldn’t think there would be a problem achieving the 65 kg. I do think though that the size of ewe is very dependent on the ground they are running on,if the op’s ewes are 90kg running at three to the acre he is obviously working on relatively good ground.
Took on the farm four years ago with bought in ewes.Those born here would be a little smaller than their mothers ,perhaps75 to 80 kilos.My other reason for seeking to cross the Romney’s is because I’m led to believe Romney’s do not do well inwintered.In fact in would seem to defeat the purpose of carrying the breed if inwintered,I’ve no desire to change breeds totally but keeping that sheep off the land here in a Scottish winter seems a good idea!
 

Top Tip.

Member
Location
highland
I guess if you find a very small type hill cheviot it could be possible, but like you say it's more down to the ground. Could put a small 60kg Cheviot ram on them and still end up with the lambs growing to 90kg if the ground is better than where the ram was born.
The only way to be certain the ewes will be tiny is to use a welshy
Now you really need to wash your mouth 😂😂
 

Frank-the-Wool

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Romneys hate being put in a shed.
Just continue to run them tight and slightly increase your stocking rate and they will get smaller.
We run many Romneys and the average weight at this time of the year would be circa 70kg, go much smaller and the old saying of "you can't get rats out of mice comes to mind."

The Romney will fall to around 50kg when milking and in drought summers down here, but they soon bounce back when weaned.
Just use the twin ewe lambs for replacements that will also keep up the prolificacy and possibly reduce your size a little.
Your main problem is that you grow too much good grass for them!!
 

Macsky

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Highland
Just a suggestion but how about try a (suitable type) of Lleyn Ram .
Or you could use the hill Cheviot, do everything required, and have a ewe that is pleasing to the eye as well!
A66E6939-4844-4118-8813-3296060A328F.jpeg

😍 Makes all the difference on a horrendous winters day I find.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Hoping to cross my Romneys with something else to produce a smaller ewe that can be in wintered and hopefully allow me to carry more ewes to the acre.Currently run three to the acre.These are pretty large girls some over 90 kilos.would like to brink that down to around 65Any thoughts on the breed if tup?currently use Romney no texel and Hampshire.

I may be going to regret this 🤐, but would a EasyDam do that job, whilst maintaining/improving prolificacy @easyram1 ? I know a carefully selected Highlander would.

Lambing as hoggs and keeping them (Highlanders & their crosses) tighter/leaner keeps mature weights down here. It would lose a bit of that excessive wool off the Romney’s too, whilst maintaining their mothering traits.👍
 

Tim W

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Wiltshire
Hoping to cross my Romneys with something else to produce a smaller ewe that can be in wintered and hopefully allow me to carry more ewes to the acre.Currently run three to the acre.These are pretty large girls some over 90 kilos.would like to brink that down to around 65Any thoughts on the breed if tup?currently use Romney no texel and Hampshire.
1) genetically smaller ewes can be selected for with the new incoming maternal ebvs for mature size from Signet----populations with a good back history of recording mature size will be able to help the most
2) physically smaller ewes are achieved by keeping them meaner
 

Bald n Grumpy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Why not shop around for a different strain/line of Romney . not got a lot of experience with Romneys but I believe there are size variations within the breed
 

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