What can I expect from these beltex lambs?

[neilo]

So the ewes were scanned today,
32 twins
15 single
14 trips
1 quad
1 empty!
He's sold his cleaning up lambs last week at £91.80,
170 lambs to Dunbia 15 r grade, the rest E and U.
No reason to suspect he's yanking my chain so... what's not to like about beltex??

The thing not to like is the low growth rate, and the fact that they stall at 36-38kg generally. The only way to get round that is to keep bigger ewes, as your man has done, but they obviously cost more to keep.

If you’re prepared to do the work looking after the brokers well, I’d suggest you’d struggle to do badly out of them at £100, but obviously an even better prospect if you can get them for less.

If you keep the ewes well enough, those outfits would look smashing at a few weeks old, giving you another opportunity to cash in then if the couples trade is on fire.

 

[Guiggs]

Thanks @neilo , that's what I wanted to hear
Can you ask your crystal ball what those outfits might be worth?

 

[andybk]

@flockeye white faced liars ?

 

[neilo]

Thanks @neilo , that's what I wanted to hear
Can you ask your crystal ball what those outfits might be worth?

I suspect that will depend on how much you are willing to throw at them through the winter. To get a decent price for broken mouthed ewes with lambs at foot, you will need them to look like they aren’t broken mouthed ewes I reckon.

 

[Guiggs]

I suspect that will depend on how much you are willing to throw at them through the winter. To get a decent price for broken mouthed ewes with lambs at foot, you will need them to look like they aren’t broken mouthed ewes I reckon.

Dentures???
Bugger that!

 

[neilo]

Dentures???
Bugger that!

Whatever happened to that idea? It was going to be the ‘next big thing’ back 25 years ago.

To sell well as couples, or indeed to rear them well if you keep them, those brokers will need to be reasonably fit at lambing. Liquid feed.

 

[andybk]

had numerous phone calls yesterday about a sheep out on the road (not mine thank god ) , well eventually caught it texel x mule with a tooth missing , was surprised how light it was , considering it was big and good shaped ,no more weight than our old zwarts obvs not representative i know , but cull £70 , and lambs £80 each at the moment , when are yours lambing @Guiggs ?

 

[Guiggs]

had numerous phone calls yesterday about a sheep out on the road (not mine thank god ) , well eventually caught it texel x mule with a tooth missing , was surprised how light it was , considering it was big and good shaped ,no more weight than our old zwarts obvs not representative i know , but cull £70 , and lambs £80 each at the moment , when are yours lambing @Guiggs ?

They are due the third week in February!

 

[Guiggs]

Whatever happened to that idea? It was going to be the ‘next big thing’ back 25 years ago.

To sell well as couples, or indeed to rear them well if you keep them, those brokers will need to be reasonably fit at lambing. Liquid feed.

Any idea what that stuff costs?
Can't find it locally so will try further afield tomorrow!

 

[andybk]

They are due the third week in February!

£75 for ewe , £85 per lamb , think i would creep the lambs get them away and save the ewes condition a bit

 

[Guiggs]

£75 for ewe , £85 per lamb , think i would creep the lambs get them away and save the ewes condition a bit

Hmmm....
It comes down to what the margins are.
I'm thinking wean and get the ewes gone by early July then get lambs gone September regardless of weather they are fat or store, save grass to do it again if it pays!

 

[neilo]

Any idea what that stuff costs?
Can't find it locally so will try further afield tomorrow!

I used to use the Denis Brinicombe (FSL Bells before that) product. The last lot I had was in 2013 and was about 48ppl IIRC. There’s cheaper about, but urea content means it’s self limiting (rather than drinking molasses for sweeties), so you don’t use so much. Intake will vary according to what else is available, so a self balancing diet.

 

[neilo]

Hmmm....
It comes down to what the margins are.
I'm thinking wean and get the ewes gone by early July then get lambs gone September regardless of weather they are fat or store, save grass to do it again if it pays!

It would surely be a bad job if you had any Feb born lambs left by September, especially out of big ewes. If you’re going to keep them to finish, i’d Certainly consider creeping lambs born in Feb from brokers. Get them gone in May/June before the price drops.

 

[Guiggs]

It would surely be a bad job if you had any Feb born lambs left by September, especially out of big ewes. If you’re going to keep them to finish, i’d Certainly consider creeping lambs born in Feb from brokers. Get them gone in May/June before the price drops.

Yeah you're right... was thinking about my late born lleyns, gotta be worth creep to have the whole lot gone early summer!

 

[andybk]

Dont think i would bother with the trips either , milk powder will hammer margins , Keep ewes in good nick will pay for a bag of creep for each ewes offspring if you can get them away quickly as neil said above , A broker reared trips sold autumn with non crept lambs wont make much , lambs will be more like £60 each

 

[Guiggs]

Anything that ends up cade is being sold as soon as it's sucking properly, they're an expensive pain in the arse that never seems to do for me!

 

[neilo]

Yeah you're right... was thinking about my late born lleyns, gotta be worth creep to have the whole lot gone early summer!

If you’ve got them on creep you also have the option to get the ewes weaned and gone after 8 weeks (early May?) too if the price is still there. Could be worth another £10-20/ewe in itself some years.

 

[ISCO]

Brimnicombe quoted 53p/litre for 1000 litres recently.

 

[Guiggs]

Got a quote today, depends on what particular feed you want but:
44p- 64p per litre.

 

[Guiggs]

prices of liquid feed!