what tup for texel cross ewe lambs

[Sandpit Farm]

At the risk of banging the same drum, we lambed 65 hoggs to a Roussin this year and helped 3 to lamb.

 

[CharcoalWally]

Would all of the above apply for an outdoor 1st April lambing?
Going to be keeping some of our own Tex cross ewe lambs this year and Char tup sounds ideal but keep reading on here that Char lambs are too soft for an outdoor upland lambing. Are they really that soft or are the woollier headed types hardy enough?

I'd be careful about doing this up here @Happy . It was my switch to outdoor lambing that made me change from using the pure Charollais tup.

Charollais lambs aren't soft as such - they have as much vigour and get up and go at birth as any other breed does , more than most in fact , but they aren't as well covered at birth to suit the Scottish climate. I never used a really bare skinned tup , but if you look at a new born Char. lamb and a new born Texel lamb , you'll probably see the difference.

So if you go for it , it would be best to have some shed room to bring in any that might be feeling the cold. They certainly should lamb as easy as any other breed and give you a really good lamb that sells well.

 

[Strawberry roan]

What would you use on them, opinions please !!

I've used a chamoise on ewe lambs for the last two years, lots of get up and go and they turn into decent lambs. I've lambed them in and out and I think lambing them in is the way forward. Although they're sharp they're not good with rain I've found.

 

[IH 684]

Put them to a good conformed two horn Jacob tup, you shouldnt have too much trouble lambing and you should get a premium for the carcases

 

[neilo]

Put them to a good conformed two horn Jacob tup, you shouldnt have too much trouble lambing and you should get a premium for the carcases

A premium for the carcasses? Where the hell from?

Surely you're on a wind up.

 

[Happy]

I'd be careful about doing this up here @Happy . It was my switch to outdoor lambing that made me change from using the pure Charollais tup.

Charollais lambs aren't soft as such - they have as much vigour and get up and go at birth as any other breed does , more than most in fact , but they aren't as well covered at birth to suit the Scottish climate. I never used a really bare skinned tup , but if you look at a new born Char. lamb and a new born Texel lamb , you'll probably see the difference.

So if you go for it , it would be best to have some shed room to bring in any that might be feeling the cold. They certainly should lamb as easy as any other breed and give you a really good lamb that sells well.

 

[Happy]

Thanks @CharcoalWally. When you say you moved away from the pure Charollais tup does that mean you are using some crossbreed ones now?

Would a Char x Texel tup give better covered lambs at birth or are you just as likely to get half as wooly as a tex and the other half barer like the Char?

 

[scholland]

Then you could give it some sort aberdoodah name and say its from innovis

That's funny!

 

[taff]

Romney???worked well for us last season plenty of wool come out easily stand up fast, alright selling wise as long as they go dead or befor fleece has a chance to break

 

[Guiggs]

Thanks @CharcoalWally. When you say you moved away from the pure Charollais tup does that mean you are using some crossbreed ones now?

Would a Char x Texel tup give better covered lambs at birth or are you just as likely to get half as wooly as a tex and the other half barer like the Char?

I'm pretty certain @CharcoalWally uses Char/ Tex tups. He may use others as well!

 

[IH 684]

A premium for the carcasses? Where the hell from?

Surely you're on a wind up.

No, Texel x Jacobs have been requested by several outlets a bonus was paid the quality of the carcase was highly praised, however it was Texel tup onto two horn Jacob ewes.

 

[CharcoalWally]

Thanks @CharcoalWally. When you say you moved away from the pure Charollais tup does that mean you are using some crossbreed ones now?

Would a Char x Texel tup give better covered lambs at birth or are you just as likely to get half as wooly as a tex and the other half barer like the Char?

I'm pretty certain @CharcoalWally uses Char/ Tex tups. He may use others as well!

You're right @Guiggs , I do use a mix of Texel X Char tups and a few pure Texels. Crossing the Charollais with the Texel was to add wool at birth to the lambs @Happy . For my first season of outdoor lambing , I used the same Charollais tups as usual. Their lambs had always been lambed indoors previously.

If I'm remembering it right , it wasn't too bad weather to start with , but then we had a nasty spell halfway through. That was when the lambs sired by the pure Char. tup suffered. They really felt it cold and we ended up taking a lot of them in to sheds for their own safety. Don't remember losing any , but it created a lot of extra work you could do without.

So we brought the Texel in for the next year and the extra cover they put on the X tups off the Charolais ewes made all the difference. I don't find we get half and half - I find that most of the lambs have better cover IMO , but you will still get a certain number of the lambs that are barer. Not usually as bare as the pure Char lambs were though. On the whole I'm very happy with what I'm getting. The weather for this years lambing was dreadful , and the lambs coped really well.

 

[neilo]

No, Texel x Jacobs have been requested by several outlets a bonus was paid the quality of the carcase was highly praised, however it was Texel tup onto two horn Jacob ewes.

Whilst I'm still struggling to believe that cross might attract a realistic premium for anything other than a small scale outlet somewhere, the OP was asking about crosses on Texel X ewe lambs. Using your '2 horned Jacob' over them would only be 1/4 Texel, very different to a Texel over a Jacob.

I'm not questioning whether they would be easy lambing, as I have no experience of them (or likely to).

 

[Keepers]

Put them to a good conformed two horn Jacob tup, you shouldnt have too much trouble lambing and you should get a premium for the carcases

I thought the premium came from supplying well shaped carcasses, hence the use of terminal sires?
Have not yet heard of the Jacob premium, where is the premium listed? and through which outlets?
Are you sure they weren't giving a premium on the carcass shape from the texel?

 

[IH 684]

I thought the premium came from supplying well shaped carcasses, hence the use of terminal sires?
Have not yet heard of the Jacob premium, where is the premium listed? and through which outlets?
Are you sure they weren't giving a premium on the carcass shape from the texel?

Jacobs produce the best tasting lamb/hoggett which has been proven time and time again. However Jacobs bred pure cannot compete in the commercial sector, however cross them with a Texel tup and you get nearly the best of both worlds, which includes easy lambing, hardy, minimal input, but then get the quick growing and stocky shape from the Texel, but still retains part of the taste. Independent abatoirs who supply the restaurant trade will snap your hands off and pay well for jacob/texel crosses. The modern Jacob is fast becoming the new mule.

 

[IH 684]

Whilst I'm still struggling to believe that cross might attract a realistic premium for anything other than a small scale outlet somewhere, the OP was asking about crosses on Texel X ewe lambs. Using your '2 horned Jacob' over them would only be 1/4 Texel, very different to a Texel over a Jacob.

I'm not questioning whether they would be easy lambing, as I have no experience of them (or likely to).

Sorry fella I misread the original post. A little experiment. If you have a couple of spare acres buy half a dozen well bred Jacob ewes cross them with a Texel. I am confident in saying that your net profit will be higher for your lambs than any of your commercials, sell them as boxed lamb and you will be inundated with repeat orders.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Sorry fella I misread the original post. A little experiment. If you have a couple of spare acres buy half a dozen well bred Jacob ewes cross them with a Texel. I am confident in saying that your net profit will be higher for your lambs than any of your commercials, sell them as boxed lamb and you will be inundated with repeat orders.

But is that extra profit just from the separate enterprise of selling boxed lamb, or the wonders of the Jacob sheep?
As to being inundated with repeat orders, I've sold standard commercial lambs direct and customers constantly come back saying it's the best lamb they've ever had.
If you take into account the extra time / running around I'm not sure how much extra profit there is in doing boxed lamb. Tempted to do more this year however as if supermarket prices haven't dropped there's potentially more margin in it.

 

[Keepers]

Sorry fella I misread the original post. A little experiment. If you have a couple of spare acres buy half a dozen well bred Jacob ewes cross them with a Texel. I am confident in saying that your net profit will be higher for your lambs than any of your commercials, sell them as boxed lamb and you will be inundated with repeat orders.

I too have sold boxed lamb before and was inundated with repeat orders, so that wasn't a problem, it also too was called the best lamb ever tasted
I didn't have a single one say no thankyou not again...
However, after pricing up the time spent dropping them off, fuel, picking them up, fuel, storing in freezers and delivering some, plus paying butcher and slaughter, I make more money selling them into a market or selling dead than I do selling as boxed lamb
The closest abattoir to me doing private kills was charging £24 for slaughter and £20 for butchery, that's ontop of the time and labor doing it all, the abattoir has now closed and the nearest one doing private kills is 60 miles away, just not viable

 

[AvonValleyFarmer]

I too have sold boxed lamb before and was inundated with repeat orders, so that wasn't a problem, it also too was called the best lamb ever tasted
I didn't have a single one say no thankyou not again...
However, after pricing up the time spent dropping them off, fuel, picking them up, fuel, storing in freezers and delivering some, plus paying butcher and slaughter, I make more money selling them into a market or selling dead than I do selling as boxed lamb
The closest abattoir to me doing private kills was charging £24 for slaughter and £20 for butchery, that's ontop of the time and labor doing it all, the abattoir has now closed and the nearest one doing private kills is 60 miles away, just not viable

Crikey that's extortionate! Is that the going rate for most people? It costs me £20 for kill and butcher. Sorry a bit off topic

 

[Keepers]

Crikey that's extortionate! Is that the going rate for most people? It costs me £20 for kill and butcher. Sorry a bit off topic

That was the rate yes it did not used to be, it used to be £17 to kill, £1 per kilo to butcher, the place put the prices up last year as they said it was no longer viable to do private kill, but would keep doing it for people but on a higher rate, they then closed completely this April