TexX ewes - which Tup to use?

Man_in_black

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Livestock Farmer
Welcome to my world!!

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Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
So... I have had my first draw of Suffolk lambs away this week.

My man said at the Highland I was booked in for a Wed morning kill (this was on Friday afternoon, and nobody had been through the lambs :banghead:).
24 lambs drawn ranging from 37-42kg (with 1 weighing 44kg)

KO avg 18.2 @ 465p/kg.

An awful lot of lambs kicking on around the 35-36kg. All handling nice. I contemplated letting them all go, too - then doubted my weigh crate and chickened out :oops:


The new ground these have been on has slowed the job down a bit, I'm sure of it... due to it being old grass and weeds. I had wanted/expected 30-35 lambs to be ready. They are back at home, for now, on better grass and I expect another draw in a week-10days.
 
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glensman

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North Antrim
So... I have had my first draw of Suffolk lambs away this week.

My man said at the Highland I was booked in for a Wed morning kill (this was on Friday afternoon, and nobody had been through the lambs :banghead:).
24 lambs drawn ranging from 37-42kg (with 1 weighing 44kg)

KO avg 18.2 @ 465p/kg.

An awful lot of lambs kicking on around the 35-36kg. All handling nice. I contemplated letting them all go, too - then doubted my weigh crate and chickened out :oops:


The new ground these have been on has slowed the job down a bit, I'm sure of it... due to it being old grass and weeds. I had wanted/expected 30-35 lambs to be ready. They are back at home, for now, on better grass and I expect another draw in a week-10days.
What do you think of your Suffolk lambs for fleshing over the loin in comparison to the texel/lleyns?
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
What do you think of your Suffolk lambs for fleshing over the loin in comparison to the texel/lleyns?

The fact the ewes are TexX ewes, they are not too bad! Much better than they would be out of Mules or some other breeds.

I will breed my own TexX ewes from now on, too, and I'm pretty confident I can improve performance across the board - the poorest lambs are the ones showing their BFL ancestry...
 

glensman

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North Antrim
The fact the ewes are TexX ewes, they are not too bad! Much better than they would be out of Mules or some other breeds.

I will breed my own TexX ewes from now on, too, and I'm pretty confident I can improve performance across the board - the poorest lambs are the ones showing their BFL ancestry...
It would have been interesting to have a bunch of your lleyn ewes crossed with the same suffolks for a direct comparison. I'm guessing there will a bit of variation in quality in your bought in texel/mules (skins and fleshing especially) you'll see it easier now they are rearing lambs, this is pretty much unavoidable in bought in sheep.
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
It would have been interesting to have a bunch of your lleyn ewes crossed with the same suffolks for a direct comparison. I'm guessing there will a bit of variation in quality in your bought in texel/mules (skins and fleshing especially) you'll see it easier now they are rearing lambs, this is pretty much unavoidable in bought in sheep.

Wee bit of variation in the ewes, yes. Not too much, though - but like you say its unavoidable and pretty much inevitable.

Iv only lost 2 TexX ewes IIRC so far, but i know of atleast another 2 with bad bags. Im also putting the group upto 100 ewes, from 70, so there will be 30-40 Lleyn ewes going to the Suffolks this autumn. I will have plenty for comparisons next year (y)
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
2nd draw of 20 Suffolk fat lambs has been taken... but no home for them yet. Don't have time to pursue getting them away this week.

Iv been through one of the inbye groups of Texel lambs - the younger half - a lot around 39-40kg, but not much over. They've been dosed and had pour-on (Vectocert, Downland version of Crovect).
Hopefully get through the other Tex lambs on Thurs or Fri - there's a few big ones running about.

But, time is lacking this week as we get on with silage. My office for the week - the baling tractor:
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A change is as good as a rest, so they say... but part of me would prefer to still be shearing sheep :oops:
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Had a last minute call on Wednesday with a spot available to get lambs away on Thursday, for a Friday kill...

So fetched the Suffolks in, and 30 went.
They avg. 20kg and came to £88, meaning a 440ppkg. Very pleased with that - as I did not expect them to weigh quite so well.

I am liking the Suffolks, they look very well. We are short in copper which will affect them, and there are a few are raw to the touch... just not quite as easy fleshing as what I'm used to. Maybe the tups to blame for that, but I will use them another year.
Although they are home, probably needing a vit dose and maybe wormed. I'm still blaming the shot/rank grass on the new ground for holding them up a bit. Good filler for the ewes, but not milking or fattening grass for the lambs... But, I had to put something onto those fields and the other mobs would have just been too big.
 

Ysgythan

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Ammanford
Had a last minute call on Wednesday with a spot available to get lambs away on Thursday, for a Friday kill...

So fetched the Suffolks in, and 30 went.
They avg. 20kg and came to £88, meaning a 440ppkg. Very pleased with that - as I did not expect them to weigh quite so well.

I am liking the Suffolks, they look very well. We are short in copper which will affect them, and there are a few are raw to the touch... just not quite as easy fleshing as what I'm used to. Maybe the tups to blame for that, but I will use them another year.
Although they are home, probably needing a vit dose and maybe wormed. I'm still blaming the shot/rank grass on the new ground for holding them up a bit. Good filler for the ewes, but not milking or fattening grass for the lambs... But, I had to put something onto those fields and the other mobs would have just been too big.

Animax know who their tareget audience is anyway. Worked well on our Suffolk x Mule gimmers

IMG_7265.JPG
 
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Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Have you had a chance to work out kill out % compared to your tex n lleyns? Good price for lambs, is that through vivers ?
Viva les Suffolks (y)

No... I don't take note of indivi live weights to do a proper KO calculation. You just get a feel for their avg weight on the scales as you are drawing then. I reckoned yesterday's would have came back 19, maybe 19.5kg. So they've killed out better than I expected.

Yes, Vivers (y) although yesterday's were done to fill a Scotbeef order, seeing as it's all one company these days. Vast majority of my lambs go to Vivers. Very, very good company to work with.
 

glensman

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North Antrim
I am liking the Suffolks, they look very well. We are short in copper which will affect them, and there are a few are raw to the touch... just not quite as easy fleshing as what I'm used to. Maybe the tups to blame for that, but I will use them another yea
The texel/mule ewes might be playing their part in that as much as the Suffolk tups.
 

canam1

Member
Had a last minute call on Wednesday with a spot available to get lambs away on Thursday, for a Friday kill...

So fetched the Suffolks in, and 30 went.
They avg. 20kg and came to £88, meaning a 440ppkg. Very pleased with that - as I did not expect them to weigh quite so well.

I am liking the Suffolks, they look very well. We are short in copper which will affect them, and there are a few are raw to the touch... just not quite as easy fleshing as what I'm used to. Maybe the tups to blame for that, but I will use them another year.
Although they are home, probably needing a vit dose and maybe wormed. I'm still blaming the shot/rank grass on the new ground for holding them up a bit. Good filler for the ewes, but not milking or fattening grass for the lambs... But, I had to put something onto those fields and the other mobs would have just been too big.

What weights were these live?
 

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