Starting with the right stock to start with makes a huge difference. The reason I've had to cull so hard and have so many b flock ewes is because when I came home to farm in 2008 the only selection criteria had been size and nothing else. If a ewe had teeth and was likely to live to rear a lamb she would be kept another year. There were good ewes there but finding them has been a long old slog. Not helped by less than honest ram breedersI didn't keep them all, I had some to sell in some years. I did that for 7 years. This may be because I started with decent animals to begin with (you'll have to ask about TimW and others about that.... ). The commercial flock had 400 ewes, I wouldn't have expected to cull more than 50 in any given year, which left me with the best to retain in the nucleus flock (although older animals were often demoted to the commercial flock to give me the newest genetics in the commercial flock).
Worked for me - total flock size 500, nucleus 100 - lamb @ 180%, rear 160 + leaving approx. 80 ewe lambs to choose from (assume the 150% in your post to be on the safe side, that still leaves 75).
That gave me sufficient replacements to be pretty ruthless with both the flocks (although on the other hand, I wouldn't cull anything that hadn't offended me, so I did have some very old ewes, but I felt longevity was worth breeding for).
Starting with the right stock to start with makes a huge difference. The reason I've had to cull so hard and have so many b flock ewes is because when I came home to farm in 2008 the only selection criteria had been size and nothing else. If a ewe had teeth and was likely to live to rear a lamb she would be kept another year. There were good ewes there but finding them has been a long old slog. Not helped by less than honest ram breeders
But I had to start with what I had and we are getting there now.
Edit: Don't judge my dad too harshly for breeding crappy sheep. Most sheep farmers do what he did and have no selection criteria at all. You would be surprised how many just pick on size. He ran a flying flock for a long time and don't think really understood breeding or the smoke and mirrors that made the rams he bought look good. I think he hadn't realised how bad things had gotten with the ewes. A bit like boiling frogs where it gets gradually worse and worse and you don't realise. If he'd bought those poorer ewes I doubt he wouldn't have bought any more.
Well you must never have had a barren ewe or anything die!
With these figures I wonder why you aren’t still farming...
Lots of my land got taken back in hand when BREXIT became a thing. I did have deaths and barreners went at scanning, but I wouldn't figure in 75 ewes dying in any one year.....
I had some pretty old ewes, but they seemed to do fine - you know where they were, sheep seem to thrive up there.I’m sure but I’ve yet to find a way of stopping ewes aging
Lots of my land got taken back in hand when BREXIT became a thing. I did have deaths and barreners went at scanning, but I wouldn't figure in 75 ewes dying in any one year.....
Which leaves 35, assuming I did only have 75 contenders (in reality, I often had more ewe lambs than that, but I guess that was mostly luck).3% barren 3% die that’s 30 already!
Ok, if you did that for 7 years, did you start with all young ewes?I didn't keep them all, I had some to sell in some years. I did that for 7 years. This may be because I started with decent animals to begin with (you'll have to ask about TimW and others about that.... ). The commercial flock had 400 ewes, I wouldn't have expected to cull more than 50 in any given year, which left me with the best to retain in the nucleus flock (although older animals were often demoted to the commercial flock to give me the newest genetics in the commercial flock).
To add: Not many of my home bred replacement lambs didn't make the commercial flock for lambing offences etc, but maybe if I was breeding up from something else or trying to correct a badly performing flock then maybe it would have been different. I did always try to buy sheep from poorer ground than I had, which admittedly wasn't hard in Hampshire...
No, I bought a reasonable age profile, although quite heavily weighted towards old ewes - in that first year I kept a lot of replacements, which, I suppose meant I had quite a good cohort of reasonably young ewes.Ok, if you did that for 7 years, did you start with all young ewes?
What the shedding community lacks/needs is a decent terminal shedding breed or maybe a few years time to get exlana just a bit more muscular than some allready are.
This would make the transition to shedders so much easier and less expensive.
Transition towards a single breed (dual purpose) would also be something I'd be interested in from a management perspective.
What the shedding community lacks/needs is a decent terminal shedding breed or maybe a few years time to get exlana just a bit more muscular than some allready are.
This would make the transition to shedders so much easier and less expensive.
Transition towards a single breed (dual purpose) would also be something I'd be interested in from a management perspective.
You would never guess there was any shedding genetics in my Hampshire x lambs.I like this as an idea, but whilst live markets select on things other than actual carcase quality, a cross with a wooled breed produces fat lambs that do well in the sale ring.
Any photos?You would never guess there was any shedding genetics in my Hampshire x lambs.
I like this as an idea, but whilst live markets select on things other than actual carcase quality, a cross with a wooled breed produces fat lambs that do well in the sale ring.
Any photos?
I like the idea of doing away with wool, but to describing pure Exlanas (or unadulterated Lleyn for that matter) as having anything other than mediocre carcass quality would surely be a stretch?