Why are cast ewes so expensive?

[jendan]

I heard today from a chap that puts a lot of lambs into Farmers Fresh in Kenilworth that a lot of the lambs go to Italy and they don't want so many.

That will be why the price has gone through the roof then.?

 

[Skintagain]

Lowland blackies, one place has a Blackie tup that weighs 158kg.
In flocks the average ewe weighs 75% of the heaviest ewe, so a flock averaging 65Kg will have ewes over 85kg. Most Mule flocks would average 75-80kg so the biggest ewes in those flocks will do over 100kg.
I think most people have no idea just how heavy their ewes are.

I was weighing lambs either last year or year before and a dry ewe ran into weigh that had lost its lamb a month beforehand, weighed 125kg. Charly x mule. Sent it off to market the lazy bugger thought balls to shearing the bloody thing. Would be big side for my flock however not extreme but I was quite surprised at what she weighed!

 

[NZDan]

That's some maintenance requirement for a 42kg fat lamb

An 80kg ewe flock will be weaning lambs averaging 35kg at 13 weeks. At that weight you could kill 50% of lambs prime off mum at over 16kg Cw.

 

[DrDunc]

The "buyers" have always got a story like that.Its nearly always twaddle!

True aye, usually accompanied by some bollox excuse like people are being made too stay at home to slow the spread of a new killer super virus ?

 

[andybk]

I was weighing lambs either last year or year before and a dry ewe ran into weigh that had lost its lamb a month beforehand, weighed 125kg. Charly x mule. Sent it off to market the lazy bugger thought balls to shearing the bloody thing. Would be big side for my flock however not extreme but I was quite surprised at what she weighed!

charollais weigh , its not about size like with a lot of other breeds but they still have very high growth rates also have a high ko% off mum , lambs weights still surprise even me even 40 years on ,

 

[Skintagain]

charollais weigh , its not about size like with a lot of other breeds but they still have very high growth rates also have a high ko% off mum , lambs weights still surprise even me even 40 years on ,

They haven't much fluff to get wet and trick you either. There's some woolly texels about that cover some sins. I once bought a texel ram when I left school and it threw cotton buds - been very cautious since and try and buy ram lambs now then kill them in may if they throw poor lambs. Charly don't do that ever so I buy shearlings or rams lambs.