[crobertson]

Could I ask we are attending our first sale this weekend and are basically looking for some tips. We have downloaded the catalogue and have seen a few we will be interested in but how does it work ? They are advertised in pens so are all sheep in that pen sold together ? E.g a pen of 4 charrolais would all 4 be sold together or could we just by one ?

Any tips would be much appreciated !

[shep53]

Rams are always sold individually  .        GET THEIR IN PLENTY OF TIME then you can go round and look at all the sheep and then sit and listen to the auctioneer right from the start of the sale as they can be difficult to understand and you need to know how big the bids can be  , for instance they may go up in £10 /£20 or more likely £25    jumps and then normally above  £500      in £50 jumps .       The rams you really like you probably can't afford so I go round before the sale and mark in the catalogue any rams I really don't like  to not buy and then if I fail to buy my first second or third choice the any ram will do  except for the marked ones .  Try to talk to the sellers but don't take everything they say as gospel.     Have a rough budget and stick to it as you can get auction fever .    Look direct at the auctioneer and wave your catalogue if you are bidding .      PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION to the rams feet as he needs to be mobile to work               Go to the office when you arrive and register your details  including CPH number       

[crobertson]

Thank you very much for the advice, even a few basic tips make newbies feel slightly more confident.

That is also a really good idea about marking ones we definitely don't want. We have marked what we are interested in looking at but as you say likelihood is we won't get them so at least knowing what are definite no's leaves us some 'any ram will do' option.