The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: thenovice on October 13, 2011, 09:32:01 pm
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Hi all, was wondering what peoples thoughts were about lleyn and southdown ewes. I have heard that lleyn are easy lambers and hardy and healthy, but i have also heard the same about the southdowns. Being small/medium sheep they both suit my set up. Any advice or preferences would be great please.
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It has been said before but you are investing a lot of time and money in your sheep so which do you like best?
And which will like your land the best? I can remember when we had a flock of Dorset Downs in Sussex and the work trying to keep downland sheep on land that was on the wet side for them was absolutely horrific.
I have friends and neighbours who swear Lleyns are the most intelligent, the best mothers, the easiest to care for. All I can say is that come lambing time our Black Welsh Mountains assume a somewhat shocked expression at the apparent negligence of the Lleyn mothers in the next field who appear to be almost constantly mislaying their lambs. You may gather they aren't the breed that appeals to me. Lleyns seem to be very fashionable at the moment - hence the prices are higher. If you only want a few that might not make a difference.
Much depends on what you want to do with your sheep and what you want your sheep to do for you.
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I would agree entirely with Fronhaul - it's all a matter of personal preference and what is available to you and at what price.
I have kept both and would find it difficult to choose between them. But if pressed, and every thing else was equal, I would go for Lleyns because they have slightly less tendency to get overfat and more likelihood of multiple births. But having said that, it is not really advantageous to get a lot of triplets.
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Thanks fronhaul and landroverroy, you make very valid points. As ease of lambing is one of things i want most, the lleyn sound interesting. being in the weald of kent thankfully the land i use is quite free draining, so that must help. Im not a farmer this is my hobby/food so your right, what i like best is right for me. Are southdowns easy lambers? ( i love a bit of fat!) Thanks again
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The weald of kent mr novice ? im just the other side of sevenoaks !!!!
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Yep, near cranbrook, if you know this area? Sevenoaks, very posh! :D
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Lleyns for me.
Being a 'milk breed' they have lots of milk and last year a 3 year old brought triplets and reared the 3 without any problems.
Be careful how good you do them prior to tupping. I don't flush mine at all and only start feeding hard feed about a month nefore they are due.
Very good doers and all my lot come to call.
This year I have 36 going to the rams (I held back 2 from last lambing) and they go in at the end of this month.
(http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h117/castlefarmpoultry/The%20Farm/100_1977.jpg)(http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h117/castlefarmpoultry/The%20Farm/Aprillambsandgarden046.jpg)
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The lleyn is considered to be a breed of ewe and the Southdown a breed of ram, (or terminal sire) So unless your aim is to breed pedegree stock you should use lleyn ewes who are supirior mothers in every respect (milkyness, prolificay, mothering instict, ease of lambing) and a southdown ram for better carcass quality and faster growth in your lambs. Then you have the best of both worlds and plenty of hybrid vigour.
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More good advice, thanks peoples. Im not breeding for pedigree or showing, so the lleyn sounds like my better option, and they are cheaper round here so cant argue with that! the lambs look really good too castlefarm. Thanks again
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I've only ever heard good things about lleyns, which is why I'm buying 40 of them next week to go to a Wilts ram. I'm slighty fed up with the pure Wilts lambing at 135% - it is fine when breeding purebreds was my hobby, but now I'm expanding to have sheep farming as my business, I cant afford that level of production.
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I bought another 10 ewe lambs yesterday. Pure but not registered. nice even bunch of lambs at around 40 kl.
Good tight coats and from a reliable Llyen breeder that I trust and respect.
He has another 400 for sale if anyone is interested.
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I'm slighty fed up with the pure Wilts lambing at 135% - it is fine when breeding purebreds was my hobby, but now I'm expanding to have sheep farming as my business, I cant afford that level of production.
We're commercial beef and sheep farmers and we are delighted with any ewe who produces and rears a good single lamb.
We can get most of the singles away without any intervention at all. They grow well enough to be sold off their mums - no weaning, no castrating, no meds, no cake, no need to take especial care of mum, mum is unlikely to get twin lamb disease, mastitis, etc, recovers condition quickly - and ewes who have singles will last more years. The lambs getting away sooner usually means best ppk (pence per kilo) too.
We had a batch of Lleyns and liked them very much - except they had too many twins and triplets!
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Well, I'll let you know how I get on.
I'm putting them to a Wilts ram and will be keeping offspring as replacements to put to another wilts ram (which is why I'm buying full-mouthed ewes) to create a kind of sheding 'wiltpoll'. I know a few big graziers round these parts are doing it. So I should end up with a breed that sheds, but is polled and is a better mother/raises more lambs than a Wilts Horn. I wish I could buy more, but since I'm taking on my new 35ac in winter and it has been cut for hay this year, I wouldn't want to stock at more than just over 1/acre. If I get some more winter grazing next year I can use it as my summer ground and expand like crazy....