Thinking of getting a beltex...am I mad

[neilo]

I’ve only had 2 lambing seasons with my few so far, but I can honestly say that I’ve not found them particularly difficult to lamb. I have avoided the ranger, plainer types too (which you would think would be easier) as I don’t see the point of a Beltex without an extreme carcass, that's just a poor Texel surely?

Having taken advice of several breeders, mine are just run with my Charollais on roots & mud all winter, then separate 2-3 weeks pre-lambing and house on clean straw, a Lifeline bucket, and a small handful (literally) of ewe rolls each thrown in the straw each day for the last week or so. They are all bolused mid-pregnancy (with the rest) to cover on-farm deficiencies. Lambs have all come out at around 4kg and ewes haven’t been overfat, and the ewes have all been great maternally and milked for a lot longer than the Charollais do.

@Beltexnewbie , if you’re used to pedigree Suffolks, you might want to mount a tractor weight on your lamb weigher for later on, or you might be disappointed with the growth rates.....

 

[Beltexnewbie]

I’ve only had 2 lambing seasons with my few so far, but I can honestly say that I’ve not found them particularly difficult to lamb. I have avoided the ranger, plainer types too (which you would think would be easier) as I don’t see the point of a Beltex without an extreme carcass, that's just a poor Texel surely?

Having taken advice of several breeders, mine are just run with my Charollais on roots & mud all winter, then separate 2-3 weeks pre-lambing and house on clean straw, a Lifeline bucket, and a small handful (literally) of ewe rolls each thrown in the straw each day for the last week or so. They are all bolused mid-pregnancy (with the rest) to cover on-farm deficiencies. Lambs have all come out at around 4kg and ewes haven’t been overfat, and the ewes have all been great maternally and milked for a lot longer than the Charollais do.

@Beltexnewbie , if you’re used to pedigree Suffolks, you might want to mount a tractor weight on your lamb weigher for later on, or you might be disappointed with the growth rates.....

Okay great to have some reassurance! Yes what I’ve bought is all Beltex!! I have been told the lambs will be small but will grow on depending on what they’re fed etc. Either way they can’t be much worse than the Suffolk’s!!!!

 

[neilo]

Okay great to have some reassurance! Yes what I’ve bought is all Beltex!! I have been told the lambs will be small but will grow on depending on what they’re fed etc. Either way they can’t be much worse than the Suffolk’s!!!!

Yes, they’ll grow well enough if you feed them hard (if that’s your thing). I note that most of the ‘top’ breeders seem very proud to show pictures of their lambs on Facebook, mostly ET born, always pictured at a trough, and housed with feeders all winter. Tbh, they need to make some top money to cover their costs!

When you see a good comparison of their growth rate is only when you run them alongside other breeds (your Suffolk’s?) on the exact same system.

A higher KO% (mine were 7% higher, on average, than some of the top muscle Charollais CT scanned alongside them) goes part way to making up some of the slow growth, but even so...

 

[Longlowdog]

But even so....Neilo you are dipping your toes in the water! I doubt you'd persevere if you didn't see something in them or they didn't turn a penny.

 

[neilo]

But even so....Neilo you are dipping your toes in the water! I doubt you'd persevere if you didn't see something in them or they didn't turn a penny.

Lol. They certainly haven’t turned a penny yet, but then i’ve Been ‘investing’ in getting foundations laid.

They’ve Been an itch i’ve needed to scratch for some years, so doing so just now. The jury is very definitely still out though.....

 

[liammogs]

As all have said feed little concetrates to singles, plenty of hay and water and buckets! I run around 30 ewes, there good ewes tend to be good mother's that's all you need is luck......and look out you'll be up to 30+ ewes in no time

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

Lambed 33 of them for the first time last year. Longlowdog was very helpful when I PM'd him. Did as others have said, must scan them, as singles need no concentrate before lambing. Had to get vet help for one set of twins that were badly presented but that was mainly because I was struggling with a shoulder injury and the wife had gone off somewhere! Otherwise she could have lambed it. Ours are non-pedigree run alongside the commercials. Will be lambing about 60 7/8th's to pures this time. I do enjoy selling the lambs!

 

[Longlowdog]

Thanks you are very kind. I don't subscribe to the secret keeping pedigree ideology that you must hoard your knowledge and secure it against it spreading to new comers. Pedigree sheep keepers do well to listen to commercial shepherds and vice versa. I've made plenty of costly mistakes and would rather see someone avoid them than laugh at them.

 

[andybk]

Thanks you are very kind. I don't subscribe to the secret keeping pedigree ideology that you must hoard your knowledge and secure it against it spreading to new comers. Pedigree sheep keepers do well to listen to commercial shepherds and vice versa. I've made plenty of costly mistakes and would rather see someone avoid them than laugh at them.

pretty sure its not so much secrets , more embarrassment telling commercial farmers how a lot of these premium sale rams are actually reared ,rather than how many do it , but yes i agree with your post , and is exactly what this forum is all about

 

[SteveHants]

Lol. They certainly haven’t turned a penny yet, but then i’ve Been ‘investing’ in getting foundations laid.

They’ve Been an itch i’ve needed to scratch for some years, so doing so just now. The jury is very definitely still out though.....

Beltex x Char for commercial lamb production on a pure ewe to maximise heterosis?

 

[neilo]

Beltex x Char for commercial lamb production on a pure ewe to maximise heterosis?

You would get the same (theoretical) gain from maximised heterosis by using a pure ram over a crossbred ewe, but with the added advantage of better fecundity in the ewe from hybrid vigour. There's a reason that crossbred ewes and purebred terminal rams have been the 'norm' for so long.

I know Beltex x Charollais rams have their followers, but most people tell me you get some lambs like Charollais, some like beltex, and some like the crossbred sire. All good prime lambs no doubt, but certainly not consistent.

 

[SteveHants]

You would get the same (theoretical) gain from maximised heterosis by using a pure ram over a crossbred ewe, but with the added advantage of better fecundity in the ewe from hybrid vigour. There's a reason that crossbred ewes and purebred terminal rams have been the 'norm' for so long.

I know Beltex x Charollais rams have their followers, but most people tell me you get some lambs like Charollais, some like beltex, and some like the crossbred sire. All good prime lambs no doubt, but certainly not consistent.

Possibly, depending on what went into the ewe. I'd much rather produce a pure ewe using genetics to improve that flock than run two ewe flocks and a flock of crosses for lamb production. The breeding of my maternal flock would be too important to leave to other breeders. If a ram underperformed one year its easier to bin it than to cull out a load of your ewe flock.

Pity though because SufTex always threw pretty consistent lambs.

 

[neilo]

I can't understand why anyone would think them ugly.

One of this year's ewe lambs:

 

[liammogs]

@neilo tupped?

 

[neilo]

@neilo tupped?

Only by a raddled teaser.

 

[liammogs]

Only by a raddled teaser.

Tupping ewe lambs or not? Braver man than me haha

 

[neilo]

Tupping ewe lambs or not? Braver man than me haha

Not the Beltexes, no. The teasers are there, and raddled, to mark any of the Charollais ewe lambs that return from the ram, the Beltexes having been put back with them after the tup came out. Each Charollais that’s marked will save 50p on a scan.....

 

[yellowbelly]

Each Charollais that’s marked will save 50p on a scan.....

Number 47 in @neilo's 'Top money saving tips' and 100% accurate - the teaser, unlike some scanners, won't miss any

 

[shearerlad]

My favourite in the bunch of possible future stock tups. By a son of Langlands Bruiser

 

[Longlowdog]

Some of my genetics being used by a local and pretty successful Millennium Blue breeder. My Beltex genes in the dam and lamb sired by an unrelated tup I bred.