The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Pete2 on October 21, 2018, 12:13:35 pm
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Hi
I have the chance to put my small flock of Southdown to a Coloured Ryeland Ram however the size difference has me slightly concerned, all bar one of the Ewes have lambed in the pass but one is a first timer as she absorbed her last pregnancy. Is there anyone out there who has experience of crossing in this way?
While Im here - has anyone got a Southdown ram they can hire out in November? I am situated south of Petersfield, Hants
Thanks all.
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Putting southdown ewes to a ryeland ram is absolutely fine. A ryeland is smaller than a southdown, and like the southdowns they are easy lambing so you won't have any problems, as long as you get nutrition right etc... up until lambing.
Get in contact with the breed society, they will be able to tell you of breeders in your area, most will have a ram lamb this time of year they could lend you/get rid off and then you could put it in the freezer afterwards.
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I always thought that Ryeland fully grown ewes were 10kg heavier that Southdown. I will check weights with the breed society's if they are smaller then as you say problems.
Thanks
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That should have said NO problems...……...
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I must admit, I’d thought the Southdown was supposed to be the smallest of the Downs breeds. But then, the Ryeland, though similar, isn’t a Downs breed.
While looking for info I discovered two things. Firstly, there is a lot of conflicting info out there about Southdowns. Partly because of the Babydoll (which I’m not even sure we have in this country, do we?) and partly because there seem to be big differences between the UK sheep and those in some other countries. And to make matters even more confusing, many .CO.UK websites have clearly looked up the info online, not checked that it applies to the UK sheep, and posted it anyway... ???
The other interesting thing I found was this (http://www.signetfbc.co.uk/sheepbreeder/sheep-birth-weight-analysis-by-breed/) chart from Signet, showing birth weights for various breeds. Ryeland sadly isn’t one of the breeds on it, but it’s interesting anyway, I thought.
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The other thing that’s really interesting about that chart is that my own experience, from crossing sheep, is not consistent with that chart. For instance, in our commercial flock (crossbreeds with a lot of Texel blood, but many other ingredients too) we got smaller lambs to the Charollais than to the Texel. Mind, we always found Charollais weighed more than they looked, so perhaps the lambs weighed more although were physically smaller :thinking:
I’ve heard, and my own experience bears it out, that the size of the lambs has more to do with the size of the ewe than the size of the tup, whereas the eventual size of the sheep relates pretty much equally to both parents. However, I’m usually crossing sheep with lovely wide pelvises (however small their external dimensions) so I’m not sure how much of a risk I’d want to take with a breed with a narrower pelvis.
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You are right it depends on the strain of southdown you get, but a recent genetic study by grassroots for the society showed something like 1% (or a very small number) had no French or New Zealand genetics due to imports. So it is likely your ewes are not that small, or at least as they used to be.
Still from what I've seen from ryelands whilst I've been showing is they are a lot smaller than southdowns now.
You're be absolutely fine using a ryeland even if your ewes are babydoll.
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Thanks for your in-depth replies - based on this I have made up my mind and will be going for the Ryeland.
Thanks again for your help