Terminals for shedders

[CopperBeech]

we don't get wool from shedders on fences, only the wool from woolled sheep does that here.
shedders 'wool'. such as it is falls on the ground and disappears , good organic feed for the soil and bits for the birds to line their nests with.

No you are wrong.

The guys who don’t keep them said so

 

[Nithsdale]

I've never gotten the mess comments...


Fields can look hellish when wool ewes lose their bellies before shearing (and it doesn't hang about long before it's all gone!)








When I say hellish - I just mean clumps.of wool everywhere. It doesn't bother me or make me want to go tidy up the place

 

[Bones]

It was 112 last year. Well, until the end of lambing, then I was down to 47…

I’m confident it can’t just be my failings as I bought a bunch of Aberfield x Romney ewe lambs last back end (not that I’m in any way a fan of Aberfields or the Innovis marketing machine).
They are currently showing those shedders up in every conceivable way, apart from having wool.

But yes, back to your terminal sire thread…

This can happen, I remember buying in 40 north country cheviots at a cheviot sale, big promotion talk of living on white grass at 2000ft above sea level,, Total fuxking rubbish, no milk, not a maternal bone in there body, had to pull the lambs out of most of them ,half the ewes had to be put in in an adoption grate to take there own lambs, But I'm sure the Ncc are great sheep ,but not the crap I got,, so it can happen,

 

[d-wales]

I've never gotten the mess comments...


Fields can look hellish when wool ewes lose their bellies before shearing (and it doesn't hang about long before it's all gone!)








When I say hellish - I just mean clumps.of wool everywhere. It doesn't bother me or make me want to go tidy up the place

I had 50 easycares twins lambing in a 8 acre field last year.

They were the sort that shed their wool in clumps.

The field was a little bit messy for about a week at the end April when everything seemed to be shedding at the same time and within about a week it had all disappeared, I assume the birds took it away.

 

[BELOWAVERAGE]

Let’s be honest about my attitude for a second shall we ? I started a genuine thread asking some questions about terminal use over wool shedding sheep. And then got the standard neilo input of how sh*t and how lacking in maternal ability exlana ewes are as a breed and how awful it would be having those genetics in your flock because they literally will not rear a lamb. And then Aspiring peasant and you jumped in to try and stick the boot in to which is interesting as neither of you have ever kept shedding sheep or exlana so I’m not sure quite what your input on the thread is ? Seeing as the thread wasn’t about their maternal ability or whether they are better or worse than other breeds ...... I can only assume the input from all three parties was just to run the breed down for some reason ? Not really sure. Aye my tone can be a bit off but to be fair I hate the school yard style stuff where someone gives you some sh*t and then their wee hand maidens pop up out the wood work to jump into the slagging match. This was a genuine thread about terminal sire use in the name of market research and you cannot mention wool shedders on here without hearing the same sound bite on every thread

Yes me and neilo know each other and have met several times, I’ve bought his Charolais rams and we usually have a natter in Welshpool each year at the sales. I like neilo and I don’t really ever want to get into a ‘nasty’ argument about it all..... but it does perplex me a bit as I’ve seen several thousand exlana ewes over the last few years and there are probably 10-20 folk on here farming them, who are all pretty honest sorts. I just find it a bit unusual that neilo is having such a uniquely bad experience with them on the maternal front. When no one else appears to have had the same experiance ?

And neilo shouldn’t have to go to see some decent exlana in action ....... he can just look over the hedge and the 500 next door of which the owner is chuffed to bits with on the maternal front

With regard to the 1800, I wouldn’t presume to put other people information up and speak for them. If they wish to comment they will I’m sure.

And yes after lambing a core group of my ewes will be heading to Shropshire. We are also keeping all wintering ground down here and a house here.

You see your actually one step ahead of me there, because he does actually keep Exlana's, when he did the breed slagging piece with me he'd never even kept any, but now thanks to @yellowbelly there's living proof what good little ewes Herdwicks are. Don't jump to conclusions on what sheep I have and haven't kept, I've had easycares, they looked no different to Exlana's and like I said not for me, I've also been to what used to be an immaculate farm where I used to work, the stock fencing where the sheep rubbed was an eyesore. Brilliant that Shropshire has come off, very pleased for you, call in if you've ten minutes to kill anytime.

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

And then Aspiring peasant and you jumped in to try and stick the boot in to which is interesting as neither of you have ever kept shedding sheep or exlana so I’m not sure quite what your input on the thread is ?

All I did was ask questions,

I'm confused I thought these were the magic sheep of the future

OK this was tongue in cheek, but when you look at the comments made about mules or beltexes it was fairly mild.

I then posted about your condescending attitude, and on reading it back realized it was wrong ( probably due to spending to long in the lambing shed the night before) and apologised.

I then posted :

Genuine question, if you can sell lambs for that much off maternal lines why bother with terminal sires?

How can that be taken as running down the breed?

Because of the tone of comments coming by now, I asked another question

Why are you people promoting these sheep so touchy if anybody asks questions? And why do you feel the need to belittle alternative systems ?

Is that belittling Exlanas?

Does unshepherded lambing meet welfare requirements in this country?

I think this was a fair question because the idea that you can keep 1000's of ewes and leave them entirely to their own devices, gives people reading the thread the idea that they can run sheep so easily and still look after them properly.

The rest of what I said was pretty general..



If I may go back to the start of the thread and as was mentioned by someone else the purpose of the thread was to ascertain likely demand for terminal shedders. I find wool a nuisance and something that has to be managed. I find Beltex and Texel ewes much easier to manage from a wool point of view because a lot of them are peelers and don't need dagging etc. If any body produced a Beltex/Texel that was as good in it's carcass qualities as ordinary ones then I think it would open up a new and potentially larger market, but it would need a different mind set.

 

[BELOWAVERAGE]

Let’s be honest about my attitude for a second shall we ? I started a genuine thread asking some questions about terminal use over wool shedding sheep. And then got the standard neilo input of how sh*t and how lacking in maternal ability exlana ewes are as a breed and how awful it would be having those genetics in your flock because they literally will not rear a lamb. And then Aspiring peasant and you jumped in to try and stick the boot in to which is interesting as neither of you have ever kept shedding sheep or exlana so I’m not sure quite what your input on the thread is ? Seeing as the thread wasn’t about their maternal ability or whether they are better or worse than other breeds ...... I can only assume the input from all three parties was just to run the breed down for some reason ? Not really sure. Aye my tone can be a bit off but to be fair I hate the school yard style stuff where someone gives you some sh*t and then their wee hand maidens pop up out the wood work to jump into the slagging match. This was a genuine thread about terminal sire use in the name of market research and you cannot mention wool shedders on here without hearing the same sound bite on every thread

Yes me and neilo know each other and have met several times, I’ve bought his Charolais rams and we usually have a natter in Welshpool each year at the sales. I like neilo and I don’t really ever want to get into a ‘nasty’ argument about it all..... but it does perplex me a bit as I’ve seen several thousand exlana ewes over the last few years and there are probably 10-20 folk on here farming them, who are all pretty honest sorts. I just find it a bit unusual that neilo is having such a uniquely bad experience with them on the maternal front. When no one else appears to have had the same experiance ?

And neilo shouldn’t have to go to see some decent exlana in action ....... he can just look over the hedge and the 500 next door of which the owner is chuffed to bits with on the maternal front

With regard to the 1800, I wouldn’t presume to put other people information up and speak for them. If they wish to comment they will I’m sure.

And yes after lambing a core group of my ewes will be heading to Shropshire. We are also keeping all wintering ground down here and a house here.

As @neilo is only going to be just up the road in future, perhaps you could take him on as an apprentice, you never know

 

[Bury the Trash]

How about, Stopping the stirring (and boring) posting ,instead go and say, or even better go and do something useful, productive or maybe even inspirational .

 

[Gulli]

How about, Stopping the stirring (and boring) posting ,instead go and say, or even better go and do something useful, productive or maybe even inspirational .

Don't be daft, it's the internet it's no place for inspiration

 

[neilo]

Just for you @CopperBeech , a pure Exlana ewe with triplets (which started out as quins) by a Texel ram. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

On your original question, would it not be sensible to keep as many sales options open as possible for any terminal X lambs? I don’t really see much advantage in shedding terminals (apart from for the ram breeder), as surely most lambs would be gone before they were shedding anyway?

 

[Gulli]

Just for you @CopperBeech , a pure Exlana ewe with triplets (which started out as quins) by a Texel ram. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

View attachment 1029743

On your original question, would it not be sensible to keep as many sales options open as possible for any terminal X lambs? I don’t really see much advantage in shedding terminals (apart from for the ram breeder), as surely most lambs would be gone before they were shedding anyway?

If you're all shedders producing fat lambs then you're still stuck with a ram to shear.

Shearing a ram when you've got plenty of ewes to warm up on is easy enough. Clipping one mental Charollais a year is very unfun let me tell you

I'd buy one but that's the only reason why

 

[SteveHants]

What age are the would the ones at foot be in that?

3-4 weeks I think. Although it was taken in 2014, I think so memory might be hazy

 

[steveR]

With regard to wool all over fences, this is the sort of coat I’d like them to all have year round ...... so not much wool to leave on a fence. They are meant to be a hair sheep, not a Wooly sheep that loses its wool each year.

True...

However, I think it is amusing that the wool/hair on pig netting fences from some rubbing, is a good way to make the fence more visible to stock running at it...!

 

[neilo]

If you're all shedders producing fat lambs then you're still stuck with a ram to shear.

Shearing a ram when you've got plenty of ewes to warm up on is easy enough. Clipping one mental Charollais a year is very unfun let me tell you

I'd buy one but that's the only reason why

Use a halter to tie him to a gate, take 1 blow down the centre of his back then just peel it off down either side. No point in wrestling with the bugger for the sake of keeping a fleece in one piece.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

If you're all shedders producing fat lambs then you're still stuck with a ram to shear.

Shearing a ram when you've got plenty of ewes to warm up on is easy enough. Clipping one mental Charollais a year is very unfun let me tell you

I'd buy one but that's the only reason why

I'd rather shear just a few rams, even if they are Charlies, than have to shear all the ewes just to get warmed up to shear the rams!

 

[Gulli]

I'd rather shear just a few rams, even if they are Charlies, than have to shear all the ewes just to get warmed up to shear the rams!

It would be alright if it was a few rams. shearing one sheep a year is a pain in the backside, and the rest of my body tbh.

A shedding terminal would suit my system

 

[Nithsdale]

I shear the tups to warm up for the ewes

Once you've spent an afternoon doing 15 tups, doing 700 ewes seems pretty straightforward

 

[Nithsdale]

Use a halter to tie him to a gate, take 1 blow down the centre of his back then just peel it off down either side. No point in wrestling with the bugger for the sake of keeping a fleece in one piece.

Jesus, no!!!

Dad got smart one year and did this. Tup had belly wool so he just pushed the handpiece underneath... circumcised the tup didn't he

 

[M-J-G]

Use a halter to tie him to a gate, take 1 blow down the centre of his back then just peel it off down either side. No point in wrestling with the bugger for the sake of keeping a fleece in one piece.

Just sell him before clipping and buy a new one that's already clipped.

I know a lad who buys a bull every year.
He only runs a bull while he's working, then sells him on, doesn't have to bother about wintering him

 

[Estate fencing.]

I shear the tups to warm up for the ewes

Once you've spent an afternoon doing 15 tups, doing 700 ewes seems pretty straightforward

What do you do, tups before breakfast then straight on and get all the ewes done?