I didn't realise this thread was a mule vs composite/rest of the world thread
I have welsh mules, I breed Charmoise sheep and I have a few exlanas and my own crossbreds that I have bred
The mules are milky, motherly, easy to handle, cheap to pick up, last a few years and then easy to sell as culls, they do the job for the farmers who like them
The reason why they are not the do all and end all for me is that the ones I have suffer from poor feet, I would love to breed this out of the mule flock but I cannot, simply because I will cull a mule, then go and buy a mule and its a gamble whether it has the same problems again or more different problems.
However I rent all of my land, and the landlords have kindly let me know that they do not want wooly fences or bits of wool lying around, hence the search is on for a wooly breed that fits in
In the mean time the majority of the people who come and buy my tups know what a mule is, they know what she produces and they know what a good lamb out of a mule looks like vs a bad lamb out of a mule
Most people who look at a breed that they do not know very well, cannot relate with how that lamb is/could be, so if I want to sell my quality grass fed tups and people want to look at lambs by them, they need a ewe breed they can relate to
So whilst I am breeding my own crossbred, using strict criteria and culling things, I need a small group of mules to run along side, running on a less strict culling routine, so three notches and out, rather than one with my charmoise, each time I have to pick up a bad foot its a notch, prolapse/bad udder/bad mother/reject lamb is straight out
The mules milked fantastically, they did well off a haylage diet whilst lambing, have not had any limp since the winter (tough wood) and the lambs were away from June, yes I know of mule breeders who select for a pretty face (mule showing I think has a part to play) but if they can do the job required by the person who bought them and that person is happy with them, who are we to tell them to change breed?
Also if you go for the mules out of white welsh mountain ewes they dont come out with markings, so are never bred for a pretty face, my ones out of beaulahs are shocking, pretty faces r us, dont mind us about the bad feet...
I do not like the fact that I cannot select for individual recorded traits when having mules, but if I buy them in as ewe lambs at £80, breed for two years and then sell for £110, and they produce cracking lambs on a low input system which help to sell my rams then I can't really complain (much)
However the OP asked what a mule was, not why I had any and please also compare to other breeds that I may have and that other people may keep, so I kept it simple
P.S There are some pens of lovely welsh mules going at Cirencester sheep fair on the 14th