TexX ewes - which Tup to use?

yellowbelly

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
N.Lincs
Have tried Beltex, Beltex x Texel and Texel on half and three-quarter bred Texel ewes and as has been said before, find that the lambs are very smart but just take too long to get that last bit of finish and last 3or 4 kgs on.
Hope to have remedied the problem this year - just turned out a Charolais (sourced from that well known breeder with a 3 legged tup on his avatar:D)
I appreciate you are a lot further north and a lot further above see level than us - just find a nice sheltered field for them to lamb in:rolleyes:
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
They do something for me too.:eek::nailbiting: Maybe my memory of the dosey, shitty arsed, plain things is still too recent.

I shall refrain from posting the obvious answer, as I might be accused of being a:) biased and b:) predictable.:whistle:

Would a Lleyn make sense though, and keep some stronger/improved ewes to go into the maternal flock. Everyone else with Lleyns is doing it, they can't all be daft.


I was waiting on your suggestion... it's the perfect opportunity for you to send up that trial Tup, Neil ? ;)


I actually would consider a Char on them - apart for the Beltex, they will be the easiest lambing Terminal around, and Jesus do they grow!! They just don't like the cold, wet Scottish spring. I don't know anyone (local) who uses them lambing outside.

If only I had a nice shed to lamb in...
 
ascontent_syd1_1.xx.fbcdn.net_v_t1.0_9_14199424_20885748713671ccb1e8400fbda9bde3f2fa2e48313465.jpg


You'll have to rush to get there!!!!
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
whats your issue with texels? good lambs with good growth rates?

Depends what you compare them to.;)

I had a farmer in the Lake District come for a ram last year, doing a trial on various ewe & ram breeds. He bought one from me, the highest index Suffolk from a well known Aberdeenshire flock, the highest index Texel from a top ranked Signet flock in the NE and the second highest index Primera from Innovis.
March lambing indoors, mostly from various Mules and no creep, he rang me after he'd had his first draw. All of those had killed out over 50% (av 52% IIRC) and all bar a couple had been E & U grade. From his first draw of 15, there were 12 Charollais and 3 Suffolks, with most of the next weight range being the same 2 crosses.
He's been and bought 3 more Charollais already.(y)
 
Why don't you use a normal texel tup on them? No doubt you would get issues if you used one of them square shaped monster headed texels you see at shows. I wouldn't have thought you would get any more issues with a normal texel tup as you would using a Suffolk,lleyn,beltex etc.
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Just for something different, if you want fast growing and are afraid of the charley, what about a Hampshire? Shouldn't be too wooly out of a Tex x mule.
What do you reckon @exmoor dave ?


Biggest bother with a Hampy - same as the Oxford suggested earlier. There's limited numbers sold up here, I would have to go to the society sale at Carlisle which seems to be a hobby farmer paradise :unsure: Huge over fed pets, pampered to within an inch of their lives.

Iv not been convinced of anything, yet ;)
 
Biggest bother with a Hampy - same as the Oxford suggested earlier. There's limited numbers sold up here, I would have to go to the society sale at Carlisle which seems to be a hobby farmer paradise :unsure: Huge over fed pets, pampered to within an inch of their lives.

Iv not been convinced of anything, yet ;)
You can get sensible Hampshire Down tups, (I have four) but you've got to know where to look, I agree.
 
Depends what you compare them to.;)

I had a farmer in the Lake District come for a ram last year, doing a trial on various ewe & ram breeds. He bought one from me, the highest index Suffolk from a well known Aberdeenshire flock, the highest index Texel from a top ranked Signet flock in the NE and the second highest index Primera from Innovis.
March lambing indoors, mostly from various Mules and no creep, he rang me after he'd had his first draw. All of those had killed out over 50% (av 52% IIRC) and all bar a couple had been E & U grade. From his first draw of 15, there were 12 Charollais and 3 Suffolks, with most of the next weight range being the same 2 crosses.
He's been and bought 3 more Charollais already.(y)
Looking forward to the Ram Compare trial results @neilo?
 

llamedos

New Member
If anyone knows how to highlight, to the OP, my thread on the same matter a few weeks back.....

To summarise: the Charollais was recommended to me, or possibly a Beltex.

But...On Friday I'm hoping to go against the grain and view some high index Suffolks. If they look the part, and the figures suggest they are, then I may yet revert to my original plan = Suffolk surprise for the ladies.

TSS
https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/tip-for-tex-x-ewes.133576/ @Nithsdale Farmer
 

cowboysupper

Member
Mixed Farmer
I like the Charollais on Texel ewes both pure and xbred, but that's in an indoor lambing situation. From the point of view of producing fat lambs, the lambs really are excellent.

Surely the selection of tup in this instance depends on what you want to do with the finished lamb? If keeping or selling ewe lambs for breeding surely Lleyn or Suffolk is the best option?
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,293
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top