What tup for Cheviot mules

[Ysgythan]

Think some of the finest lambs I've seen on my travels this year were Charolais lambs out of Cheviot and tex x gimmers. Absolute stonkers and that was in June high up in the hills above Loch Ness.

You could put any blydi tup on Texel x ewes and get a good lamb...

 

[Jim75]

You could put any blydi tup on Texel x ewes and get a good lamb...

You're bloody right you know that. Are you far away @Andy84 theres a few others who regularly top the sales with Charolais out of chev mules

 

[Al R]

Charolais is hard to beat on any ewe lambs if you have no intention on retaining females.
Beltex/charmoise would be good too but what their like as mothers I really don’t know!

The Southdown is meant to be cracking on ewe lambs but I have never seen 1.

We used to use BFL rams on ewe lambs but with half of our ewe lambs being mules the lambs were 3/4 BFL which obviously weren’t the best grades. BFL cross Cheviot would give you a cracking ewe lamb to sell in the autumn!

 

[firther]

i use a smaller headed texel on them and get good lambs, they also grow well and get to a decent size

 

[ADBuchan]

I know I’ve stated my breed choice for the OP but imo it all hinges in selecting and using the right tup within the breed of choice.

My Cheviot Mules go to a big bare beltex. I have had (not every year though) 200% scanning, with all lambs, bar ewe lambs kept, being sold finished on grass by end of November with average dw of 20.3kg.
Given the right tup, beltex sired lambs have the potential to perform very well.

Out of interest what tup does your beltex x chev mule ewe lambs go to? Keen on putting my chev mules to a beltex next and have considered keeping the right ewe lambs and putting them to a charollais tup.

 

[Jockers84]

Out of interest what tup does your beltex x chev mule ewe lambs go to? Keen on putting my chev mules to a beltex next and have considered keeping the right ewe lambs and putting them to a charollais tup.

If you go with a Beltex make sure he's big enough to hit the target. Tried this cross a few years ago with a proven tup, only had about a 15% success rate on the first cycle, was swapped and worked fine on a closer sized ewe. TBF the chm are out of park type ewes so they're big girls, lambs we did get were nice but never kept any as didn't like complicating the job. Meant we had a load of our best & biggest ewes lambing on the second cycle so cost us feeding them that little longer as well.

 

[CopperBeech]

Charolais is hard to beat on any ewe lambs if you have no intention on retaining females.
Beltex/charmoise would be good too but what their like as mothers I really don’t know!

The Southdown is meant to be cracking on ewe lambs but I have never seen 1.

We used to use BFL rams on ewe lambs but with half of our ewe lambs being mules the lambs were 3/4 BFL which obviously weren’t the best grades. BFL cross Cheviot would give you a cracking ewe lamb to sell in the autumn!

Ive got quite a few Charmoise x ewes and have found them very maternal if that helps.

 

[Al R]

Ive got quite a few Charmoise x ewes and have found them very maternal if that helps.

I’ve kept a few back this year, only 6-7 I think and mostly charmoise x exlana and they needed shearing in august as they all had blowfly strike the same day can’t remember at scanning how they did but I’ll see them again in a few weeks when their lambing

 

[ADBuchan]

If you go with a Beltex make sure he's big enough to hit the target. Tried this cross a few years ago with a proven tup, only had about a 15% success rate on the first cycle, was swapped and worked fine on a closer sized ewe. TBF the chm are out of park type ewes so they're big girls, lambs we did get were nice but never kept any as didn't like complicating the job. Meant we had a load of our best & biggest ewes lambing on the second cycle so cost us feeding them that little longer as well.

Thanks that's interesting to know. I put my chev mule gimmers to a Suffolk this past backend purley because that's , cracker of a single ewe lamb. Just been toying with the idea of putting the chev mules to a beltex or texel this year.

 

[MRT]

Ive got quite a few Charmoise x ewes and have found them very maternal if that helps.

I’ve kept a few back this year, only 6-7 I think and mostly charmoise x exlana and they needed shearing in august as they all had blowfly strike the same day can’t remember at scanning how they did but I’ll see them again in a few weeks when their lambing

I don't market them on thier maternal traits but maybe I do them a disservice, if they are doing the job thats fantastic

 

[Al R]

I don't market them on thier maternal traits but maybe I do them a disservice, if they are doing the job thats fantastic

They havnt lambed yet they’ve been ran with/as exlana’s but are notched differently

 

[CopperBeech]

I don't market them on thier maternal traits but maybe I do them a disservice, if they are doing the job thats fantastic

the down side is the are mental and they take the tup if it looks at them any time or year. Currently appear to be lambing a bunch of them in my main mob on turnips..... must have been caught by a Charmoise x rig (Fat lamb) last two weeks of august before I weaned (may born lamb). Lovely lambs though and didn’t lose any in today’s snow.

 

[CopperBeech]

They havnt lambed yet they’ve been ran with/as exlana’s but are notched differently

They make a nice shedding ewe When out back to the exlana. I’ve quite a few full shedding ewes with are bred out of terminal x exlana ewes with high index exlana tups back over them. The X bred ewes would be a mix of nz suftex x, Charmoise x, even a few nz Southdown X

 

[MRT]

the down side is the are mental and they take the tup if it looks at them any time or year. Currently appear to be lambing a bunch of them in my main mob on turnips..... must have been caught by a Charmoise x rig (Fat lamb) last two weeks of august before I weaned (may born lamb). Lovely lambs though and didn’t lose any in today’s snow.

Ok I don't market them on thier maternal traits or temperament

 

[CopperBeech]

Ok I don't market them on thier maternal traits or temperament

If you want to learn some new swear words come and spend a day messing about with the Charmoise x Dorset ewes, that perfect blend of stubbornness and Psychotic tendencies.

The dog dislikes the Charmoise x exlana as they run at her when she goes in to catch, stamp on her and run off into the distance and then come back for more

 

[Al R]

Ok I don't market them on thier maternal traits or temperament

Good, I’ve met some crazy breeds in my time but they take the cup, 1 dives at the back of a race and appears 30’ forward and then tries to kill you. And that’s at 10 weeks old

 

[shearerlad]

Out of interest what tup does your beltex x chev mule ewe lambs go to? Keen on putting my chev mules to a beltex next and have considered keeping the right ewe lambs and putting them to a charollais tup.

I don’t tup my ewe lambs. They go away for the winter.
Beltex cross Cheviot mules go back to the beltex (3/4 and 7/8 home bred tups)

 

[Dicky.A]

Meatlinc from George Fell.
Up and sucking in no time, stick to mothers like s#*t to a blanket.
I’m lambing now and turning them outside, very hardy. Excellent carcass too.