Maternal recorded rams - Northern Ireland

[Jaffa Cakes]

Does anyone know of anybody breeding functional, maternal (or dual purpose) rams in Northern Ireland? Would prefer someone making their breeding decisions based on data rather than looks.

We moved away from buying in replacements a few years ago to keeping our own. Happy with the results but want to keep making progress and avoid buying a show ram that looks good but reduces functionality.

Currently using llyens but open to suggestions. Wouldn't be keen on shedding sheep though.

 

[cowboysupper]

Does anyone know of anybody breeding functional, maternal (or dual purpose) rams in Northern Ireland? Would prefer someone making their breeding decisions based on data rather than looks.

We moved away from buying in replacements a few years ago to keeping our own. Happy with the results but want to keep making progress and avoid buying a show ram that looks good but reduces functionality.

Currently using llyens but open to suggestions. Wouldn't be keen on shedding sheep though.

Crosby Cleland, Saintfield. Lleyn and Highlander.

Hard to find recorded stock in NI. We used to record our Texels but lack of interest from commercial farmers made it difficult to make the cost add up.

 

[Jaffa Cakes]

Thanks, does Crosby record or is he just breeding a lot of maternal ewes? I had thought of buying something in GB but brexit seems to have made that complicated

 

[Tim W]

Campbell Tweed.... ultimate profit driven maternal ewes with FEC records on a large flock scale
Or we will be sending Exlana rams over in September

 

[Suffolk Serf]

Campbell Tweed.... ultimate profit driven maternal ewes with FEC records on a large flock scale
Or we will be sending Exlana rams over in September

To quote a welsh farmer that I know “I thought Campbell Tweed was a Scottish fashion label”.

 

[Andy t]

Crosby records

 

[Agrivator]

Forget about recording. Just buy your rams from a flock with a good ewe stock, and spend your time and energy looking after their progeny.

 

[Jaffa Cakes]

Forget about recording. Just buy your rams from a flock with a good ewe stock, and spend your time and energy looking after their progeny.

As long as those good ewes hsve been culled hard for the right reasons you are probably right. Any suggestions for local breeders doing this? I am not that well connected.

 

[Woolless]

Forget about recording. Just buy your rams from a flock with a good ewe stock, and spend your time and energy looking after their progeny.

You're right. Science is a waste of time

 

[TS2]

I buy recorded NZ Texels from easyram.
He arranges transport at a reasonable cost.
Hopefully this arrangement will continue post Brexit.

 

[Agrivator]

You're right. Science is a waste of time

No. Science certainly isn't a waste of time. But there is definitely an art in producing a good stock of ewes, and without a good stock of ewes, it is impossible to produce good rams.

 

[Woolless]

No. Science certainly isn't a waste of time. But there is definitely an art in producing a good stock of ewes, and without a good stock of ewes, it is impossible to produce good rams.

You are correct there. But the combination of art and science in this case is a potent one.

 

[Jmorrow]

Im based in County Tyrone and started a llyen signet recorded flock this year purchased from harper Adams and Bank farm in England, hopefully there will be a market for signet recorded rams in Northern Ireland in future.

 

[easyram1]

I buy recorded NZ Texels from easyram.
He arranges transport at a reasonable cost.
Hopefully this arrangement will continue post Brexit.

Yes we will continue to send rams to N Ireland. The Brexit changes will incurr extra charges for someone??? as we will now need vet to take blood samples for Scrapie and Brucella Ovis prior to export with only ARR/ARR being allowed into N Ireland. Total extra costs will be about £120/hd. We will also continue sending sheep to S Ireland as now as there are no rule changes for here

 

[easyram1]

Does anyone know of anybody breeding functional, maternal (or dual purpose) rams in Northern Ireland? Would prefer someone making their breeding decisions based on data rather than looks.

We moved away from buying in replacements a few years ago to keeping our own. Happy with the results but want to keep making progress and avoid buying a show ram that looks good but reduces functionality.

Currently using llyens but open to suggestions. Wouldn't be keen on shedding sheep though.

Although we are based in Shropshire we send plenty of rams over to the North and the South of Ireland each year. Our sheep are pure NZ genetics. Maternal/Dual Purpose Texels are very popular with Lleyn owners. Just scanned our own flock with over 300 NZ Texel ewes scanning at 196% on basis of ewes put to tup (2% barren). We also are selling our new EasyDam maternal composite details of which are on our website at www.easyrams.co.uk These are a medium sized NZ Romney/Texel/East Friesian composite that again are being used in a number of lleyn flocks. All sheep are recorded with SIL in NZ and Signet in UK

 

[johnspeehs]

Yes we will continue to send rams to N Ireland. The Brexit changes will incurr extra charges for someone??? as we will now need vet to take blood samples for Scrapie and Brucella Ovis prior to export with only ARR/ARR being allowed into N Ireland. Total extra costs will be about £120/hd. We will also continue sending sheep to S Ireland as now as there are no rule changes for here

So does that mean you can go to ROI direct from The mainland but you can't go through NI to get there?

 

[neilo]

So does that mean you can go to ROI direct from The mainland but you can't go through NI to get there?

I think export from GB to NI is now the same as it always has been (and still is?) from GB to Eire. It would be daft if it wasn’t relatively straightforward to move sheep (legally) from North to South.

Who knows, everything might well change again by the summer too.

 

[johnspeehs]

Maybe, but there are quite a few thousand bf ewe lambs bought buy NI farmers in Scotland that can't get across the water. Unless things change the traditional tup trading between NI and the mainland will be a thing of the past.

 

[neilo]

Maybe, but there are quite a few thousand bf ewe lambs bought buy NI farmers in Scotland that can't get across the water. Unless things change the traditional tup trading between NI and the mainland will be a thing of the past.

Those bf ewe lambs now need to be of the same health status as animals travelling to Eire, in order to get into NI.

Unless they are from Mv accredited and Scrapie Monitored flocks, they will need to be tested negative for Mv (as was the case previously, hence staying in Scotland until they were old enough to test, at 12 months) in addition to being tested with a scrapie resistant genotype of ARR/ARR. For exports that test has to be carried out by a vet, and tested through SAC, so around £50/animal, and highly unlikely a big proportion would be ARR/ARR either.

Uncastrated males also need to have a negative brucellosis ovis test within 30 days of their shipment (c.£50?), as well as having been on their holding of origin for 60 days. So yes, unless things change, any sheep trading between UK and NI will need to be planned in advance, not bought on a whim at a sale and shipped over.
Sheep can currently come over from NI for sale on the mainland apparently, but they can’t return home if unsold.

But hey, we’ve taken back control.

 

[johnspeehs]

Those bf ewe lambs now need to be of the same health status as animals travelling to Eire, in order to get into NI.

Unless they are from Mv accredited and Scrapie Monitored flocks, they will need to be tested negative for Mv (as was the case previously, hence staying in Scotland until they were old enough to test, at 12 months) in addition to being tested with a scrapie resistant genotype of ARR/ARR. For exports that test has to be carried out by a vet, and tested through SAC, so around £50/animal, and highly unlikely a big proportion would be ARR/ARR either.

Uncastrated males also need to have a negative brucellosis ovis test within 30 days of their shipment (c.£50?), as well as having been on their holding of origin for 60 days. So yes, unless things change, any sheep trading between UK and NI will need to be planned in advance, not bought on a whim at a sale and shipped over.
Sheep can currently come over from NI for sale on the mainland apparently, but they can’t return home if unsold.

But hey, we’ve taken back control.

Well when I can't even get a pair of wellies or a pair of leggings from my usual English firms it just shows the madness that brexit has caused for NI, heard from a reliable source today that a load of feed buckets arrived in Cairnryan bound for here, the paperwork for the buckets was all correct but not for the pallets they were sitting on, think it took a bit of sorting, fecking bonkers.