How do I breed my own wool shedders?

[neilo]

There's a new/old kind of farming emerging in the market now that are moving away from feed lot Angus and woolly breeds and moving towards grass finished. They are finding the hair breeds of sheep performing much better than their woolly counterparts on a grass based system, so they are changing with the growing market. They are also finding the Angus to be too large of a cow to keep well on a grass based method and are moving to breeds that are more capable of finishing on grass and breeding back consistently on the same, with no grain input at all.

There are plenty of woolly (or as we call them, conventional) sheep breeds that will perform very well on a grass based system. That is down to selection pressure on forage based systems, and not whether they've been bred for wool or not.

 

[dw123]

Any figures for k/o percentages and weights?

Admittedly I do not! Working there was more like a farm park than working farm so the meat stock was a bit 'hooray Henry' (so to speak) as it wasn't a source of income. If i do try this again, I will put some together and report them back!

 

[ImLost]

Admittedly I do not! Working there was more like a farm park than working farm so the meat stock was a bit 'hooray Henry' (so to speak) as it wasn't a source of income. If i do try this again, I will put some together and report them back!

Fair enough, I'll let you off! ?

 

[LandcruiserLad]

First year breeding the wool off my lleyns done
Exlanas and Easycares, both performed well.

I think we should call them meat sheep as opposed to wool sheep

Im keeping a large number of ewe lambs,
-pushing the genetics through ..
Do most folk tup ewe lambs if they are a good size? Back to a woolshedder?

Tim, my recent Exlana purchase has a pink nose. I’ve learnt not to judge a book by its cover. Is there any difference in your experience? Tradition would suggest they are softer.

I’m pleased with how it’s going.
Anybody got any spare tups to sell? I could be on the light side.
Cheers

 

[Tim W]

First year breeding the wool off my lleyns done
Exlanas and Easycares, both performed well.

I think we should call them meat sheep as opposed to wool sheep

Im keeping a large number of ewe lambs,
-pushing the genetics through ..
Do most folk tup ewe lambs if they are a good size? Back to a woolshedder?

Tim, my recent Exlana purchase has a pink nose. I’ve learnt not to judge a book by its cover. Is there any difference in your experience? Tradition would suggest they are softer.

Meat sheep they are
I tup ewe lambs over 36kg (65% of 4th ewe mature size) with success
Pink nose? I have never associated this with anything other than a pink nose but always willing to be proved wrong

I think tradition is one of the biggest hurdles to progress in farming

 

[pgk]

Meat sheep they are
I tup ewe lambs over 36kg (65% of 4th ewe mature size) with success
Pink nose? I have never associated this with anything other than a pink nose but always willing to be proved wrong

I think tradition is one of the biggest hurdles to progress in farming

But a black nose looks so much better

 

[Tim W]

But a black nose looks so much better

If it's important to someone to have a blacknose ram & they mention it when ordering they will get what they want
Otherwise i don't pay attention to things like that
What about this one then---brown patches on the coat?

 

[pgk]

If it's important to someone to have a blacknose ram & they mention it when ordering they will get what they want
Otherwise i don't pay attention to things like that
What about this one then---brown patches on the coat?
View attachment 915813

Be extra for each brown patch

 

[NZDan]

If it's important to someone to have a blacknose ram & they mention it when ordering they will get what they want
Otherwise i don't pay attention to things like that
What about this one then---brown patches on the coat?
View attachment 915813

You need to step up with that color..........
In my flock there seems to be a positive correlation between color and index, the average index of red/tan lambs is always a decent bit higher than the white lambs. The SA Meatmasters are almost exclusively colored now even though 15 years ago they were a mixture of White and Colored

 

[neilo]

But a black nose looks so much better

Only if accompanied by tear drop eyes surely?

 

[LandcruiserLad]

If it's important to someone to have a blacknose ram & they mention it when ordering they will get what they want
Otherwise i don't pay attention to things like that
What about this one then---brown patches on the coat?
View attachment 915813

only 1 out of the 4 I’ve bought has a pink nose. I couldn’t tell when I bought it online.

I take your point.. it sounds pathetic to mention it. I’ll tell you next spring if it’s bald head makes a difference
I have a neighbour now trying to produce coloured easycare lambs..

“this time next year Rodders...”

 

[LandcruiserLad]

You need to step up with that color..........
In my flock there seems to be a positive correlation between color and index, the average index of red/tan lambs is always a decent bit higher than the white lambs. The SA Meatmasters are almost exclusively colored now even though 15 years ago they were a mixture of White and ColoredView attachment 915815

What do the lambs have round their necks? Tracking device?

 

[unlacedgecko]

What do the lambs have round their necks? Tracking device?

Afterbirth at a guess

 

[unlacedgecko]

only 1 out of the 4 I’ve bought has a pink nose. I couldn’t tell when I bought it online.

I take your point.. it sounds pathetic to mention it. I’ll tell you next spring if it’s bald head makes a difference
I have a neighbour now trying to produce coloured easycare lambs..

“this time next year Rodders...”

I’ve got several F1 Shetland easycare in pretty colours.

 

[LandcruiserLad]

i was / am going to tup my ewe lambs with shetlands for an easy lambing.
however im tempted to put the best to a woolshedder.
id then hopefully have my first full woolshedders (2nd generation from Lleyn)

my lambs from ewe lambs are normally slightly disappointing though in all honesty
dunno if it’s worth it.

 

[LandcruiserLad]

Don’t think I’m ready to breed for colour on top of everything else yet

 

[unlacedgecko]

i was / am going to tup my ewe lambs with shetlands for an easy lambing.
however im tempted to put the best to a woolshedder.
id then hopefully have my first full woolshedders (2nd generation from Lleyn)

my lambs from ewe lambs are normally slightly disappointing though in all honesty
dunno if it’s worth it.

imo no it’s not. Tup ewe lambs with same as flock ewes. No point missing out on a year of genetic gain.

 

[NZDan]

What do the lambs have round their necks? Tracking device?

Nothing around their necks??

 

[NZDan]

What do the lambs have round their necks? Tracking device?

Ahhh you mean the black line? It's a spray mark, I give all the lambs a spray across there shoulders when I tag them, nowt worse than spending time running around trying to catch a set of triplets only to find they are already tagged. I use black on Twins and Orange on Triplets, quads get Black and red and each set of quads has seperate mark.
Looks like we've had a good lambing with them this year, currently have 209% at foot, ewes mated to live lambs tagged/recorded.

 

[LandcruiserLad]

Ahhh you mean the black line? It's a spray mark, I give all the lambs a spray across there shoulders when I tag them, nowt worse than spending time running around trying to catch a set of triplets only to find they are already tagged. I use black on Twins and Orange on Triplets, quads get Black and red and each set of quads has seperate mark.
Looks like we've had a good lambing with them this year, currently have 209% at foot, ewes mated to live lambs tagged/recorded.

Ahh I see, I thought your lambs were so valuable that you'd hung something round their necks haha
Nice looking lambs. What exactly is the breed?