The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Small Farmer on April 28, 2012, 07:15:56 pm
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We weighed our lambs today - they vary from 5-8 weeks old. The heaviest by far was the single produced by a commercial cross ewe which we got when we were finding out about sheep. "Lambo" at 5 weeks weighed in at 26kg, over 10kg more than the smallest and well ahead of the next.
I've just learned the difference between commercial and rare breeds.
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Commercial crosses have a 'hybrid vigour' which means that lambs for the slaughter market are a product of selectively crossing certain breeds such as a ram with good carcass and growth rate with a ewe known for it's reproductive qualities. My crosses have always been really good sized lambs, even the triplets.
However it is nice having purebreds as well! I've got three purebred rams and it will be interesting to experiment with different crosses this year; I have purebred ewes and also crossbreds.
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I put my two texel X's to my Portland Ram this year. they're growing like anything and are as big as their half, pure-bred, brothers and siters even though they are at least 6 weeks younger!