Zwartbles

[Henarar]

 

[Henarar]

We ended up with a Zwartble tup to use this time as our Dorset was coming back on his own lambs I was wondering how others had got on with them
Not a very good photo but the black lambs are zwarts and the white ones are Dorsets

 

[spin cycle]

ewe lambs might make good dairy ewes

 

[Henarar]

ewe lambs might make good dairy ewes

Get @farmerclare pulling tits

 

[Henarar]

 

[spin cycle]

Get @farmerclare pulling tits

TBH i thought she'd 'pulled' one already.......you walked straight into that

 

[andybk]

kill them off their mothers , dont let males go store keep creep in front of them , sold some grass only char x zwarts today and they made the same as pure chars (yellows) , cross ewe lambs will be good mothers ,

 

[Bury the Trash]

Not sure orange is the best colour to mark them with

 

[gone up the hill]

kill them off their mothers , dont let males go store keep creep in front of them , sold some grass only char x zwarts today and they made the same as pure chars (yellows) , cross ewe lambs will be good mothers ,

Fine for deadweight but not sure about liveweight.

Myself I would rather have a white faced Dartmoor

 

[andybk]

Fine for deadweight but not sure about liveweight.

Myself I would rather have a white faced Dartmoor

char cross hoggs , made the same as pure chars today , havnt been near any creep .
They are milk machines (our original plan was a hardier BFL on hill ewes, back to texels ) all those expensive texel and charollais tups are singles transplanted into zwarts , (thats where a lot of MV pures end up ) i have sold loads to texel breeders the last 5 or 6 years , key is VERY blocky tups on them commercially, zwart rams are carp except for female production on most breeds , particularly mule types

 

[Henarar]

kill them off their mothers , dont let males go store keep creep in front of them , sold some grass only char x zwarts today and they made the same as pure chars (yellows) , cross ewe lambs will be good mothers ,

I don't think they would be fit to kill at weaning we do creep but not that heavy
they do seem to be born easy and quite small but they are growing well, we will hopefully keep some as replacements

here is the tup he is pedigree,

 

[andybk]

I don't think they would be fit to kill at weaning we do creep but not that heavy
they do seem to be born easy and quite small but they are growing well, we will hopefully keep some as replacements

here is the tup he is pedigree,
View attachment 780874

looks a good sort , the north are breeding shorter coated long barrel types with long legs that are a bit raw without the feed ,they are a bit like holsteins , a lot down here are friesian types with a bit more shape , use some good creep and they will be fit at weaning or not far off , dont store males ! you would prob be better putting dorsets on zwartbles , than the way you did it .

 

[Henarar]

he is an Appledore tup, north Devon, we borrowed him to start with but have now bought him now.
yes I can see it would have been better the other way but you have to get the Zwart x ewes to start with

 

[andybk]

he is an Appledore tup, north Devon, we borrowed him to start with but have now bought him now.
yes I can see it would have been better the other way but you have to get the Zwart x ewes to start with

plenty about at commercial money now , southwest breeders are all pretty good , we trained them well lol . north and south breeders are like oil and water ,

 

[Henarar]

he wasn't big money, the former owner had the same as us he was coming back on his own

 

[M-J-G]

A friend has some, love to have 3 lambs, milk well and can fire out a 7kg lamb without even laying down.

Tup lambs are lean not particularly sought after, feet aren't great, some ewes udders don't last that well and ewes eat like horses.

They are crossing them now to breed away from such types.

 

[neilo]

Myself I would rather have a white faced Dartmoor

Personally, i’d rather Have a fluffhead.

I have yet to hear anyone, other than anyone breeding/selling them, have a good word to say about Zwartbles or their crosses. They are the Holstein of the sheep world, and will no doubt do OK if treated as such.

Good luck with them though.

 

[z.man]

looks a good sort , the north are breeding shorter coated long barrel types with long legs that are a bit raw without the feed ,they are a bit like holsteins , a lot down here are friesian types with a bit more shape , use some good creep and they will be fit at weaning or not far off , dont store males ! you would prob be better putting dorsets on zwartbles , than the way you did it .

Not all getting bred like that in the north
I cannot understand why anyone wants to breed a sheep that is becoming so far removed from having any real use, the north of England/ south of Scotland breeders and their pals are hell bent on moving the breed in their direction.
Got some wethers to go this week born start of the year, will report how bad the breed is when they are gone I’m feeling confident we will do ok

 

[z.man]

char cross hoggs , made the same as pure chars today , havnt been near any creep .
They are milk machines (our original plan was a hardier BFL on hill ewes, back to texels ) all those expensive texel and charollais tups are singles transplanted into zwarts , (thats where a lot of MV pures end up ) i have sold loads to texel breeders the last 5 or 6 years , key is VERY blocky tups on them commercially, zwart rams are carp except for female production on most breeds , particularly mule types

Ran a Z ram at the end of tupping 2017 tidied up well and although the lambs looked pretty ordinary they hung up pretty well
would think that of all the breeds that a Z yup may work with a Dorset would be high up on my list

 

[hendrebc]

Big framey sheep with loads of milk would be ideal instead of a blueface Leicester on hill ewes to make a mule would it not?