Starting Pedigree Sheep

[Lazy Bones]

Hi Folks, I would greatly appreciate any advice, I have decided to start a small pedigree flock, I have lots of experience with commercial sheep, lambing etc. I am not trying to make money from selling rams to farmers or breeders, it's more of trying to produce a nice animal that I could possibly take to a show or at least could appreciate in the field and hopefully break even financially . I am debating should I buy say 12 to 15 and hope to maybe identify a few breeders among them or put the same resources into 4 or 5 and try ET on 1 or 2. Or is there any other route I could or should go, thanks for reading.

 

[Bones]

Plenty of choices out there, pick a breed that you like and go with it, keep breeding to build up numbers and sell your rams to pay your Bill's, can't go wrong

 

[Lazy Bones]

Plenty of choices out there, pick a breed that you like and go with it, keep breeding to build up numbers and sell your rams to pay your Bill's, can't go wrong

Thanks for your advice, would you suggest starting with ewe lambs or yearling ewes

 

[Bones]

Thanks for your advice, would you suggest starting with ewe lambs or yearling ewes

Ewe lambs will probably be more expensive than yearlings , what part of the country are you in ? What sells there,

 

[neilo]

ET is a fantastic way, albeit not cheap, of multiplying good female lines up. Whether it’s worth depends what the best females are to buy. In a breed where anything half decent is much over £500, ET can work out cheaper than buying such females. If you can buy them for £200, then far less so.

Of course the hard bit is identifying which are the best female lines to multiply up. Price and/or fashion aren’t necessarily good guides, and you can spend a lot of money multiplying up cull ewes.

 

[Lazy Bones]

Good points made, ET may be viable for me at that reasoning.

 

[dogandstick]

If going the ET route, you need to be absolutely certain you’re using a proven breeder. Not always easy to pick them out in a sale.

 

[Lazy Bones]

If going the ET route, you need to be absolutely certain you’re using a proven breeder. Not always easy to pick them out in a sale.

Point taken, pedigree and apperence not enough to take a chance on.

 

[Bones]

Had you a breed in mind

 

[JP1]

Had you a breed in mind

Now you've started it

 

[Bones]

Now you've started it

is there any such thing as a pedigree easycare sheep

 

[Lazy Bones]

Had you a breed in mind

Texel or Charollais but most likely the Charollais

 

[Bones]

Texel or Charollais but most likely the Charollais

Easier lambed , you could always go texel x cross charollais

 

[Hannah bauxwell]

Belltex easy lamb and a great sheep, good commercial sheep

 

[andybk]

Of course the hard bit is identifying which are the best female lines to multiply up. Price and/or fashion aren’t necessarily good guides, and you can spend a lot of money multiplying up cull ewes.

agreed , see plenty of fantastic show type ewes in the breed , yet the owners of such ewes often use mainly ET to produce rams , one of the first things i learnt when recording was often your best ewe was that structurally sound , poor thin one in the corner , that gave everything to her twin / trip lambs to get up to weight , and got in-lamb first cycle next time she saw the ram ,
no doubt that fantastic shaped ewe will provide excellent terminal traits , but she at least needs to rear her own lambs and look after them to some degree if only for the future of the breed .

 

[clod hopper]

Texel or Charollais but most likely the Charollais

To get to the top of a show ring you'll need deep pockets with those two breeds! Very deep pockets!!?

 

[Lazy Bones]

Unfortunately the pockets are no longer deep, I won't be going to the autumn sales but will buy some privately, I will start the learning process.

 

[Bones]

Unfortunately the pockets are no longer deep, I won't be going to the autumn sales but will buy some privately, I will start the learning process.

Might be worth considering cross bread Rams, you wouldn't have to have as deep as pockets,

 

[clod hopper]

Best of luck for you,
Why not try a British breed your money will go further and a sheep with a bit of character ?

 

[Longlowdog]

Smart ewes with great pedigrees are no guarantee. The ewe in my avatar was 3,500gns bred an average tup lamb by a great sire then died before she'd had her coat off twice. Some of the 300gns ewes I bought at the same sale have paid for themselves 6 times over in tup sales and left ewes in my flock. What I look out for now are folk that did the same as me. Bought in to the breed with high hopes, bought great stock from renowned breeders and get bugger all for great stock because they don't have 'The Name' when they come to sell.
Showing is a different ball park. You might get a rosette from an honest judge, and there are a few about in the local circuit but you will have a bunch to learn about trimming breeds that are shown untrimmed and nearly as much to learn about sheep shown trimmed. Then feeding is an art form in itself.
However after you get to the stage of your own ewes with 5 generation home bred pedigrees you will have immense pleasure viewing what you have developed over the gate on a nice evening and by then you'll have sorted out your own buyers as well.