The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Treud na Mara on October 16, 2014, 09:45:56 pm
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Anyone have an idea of ballpark figures for 2 or 3 year old Ryelands, registered and unregistered, ewes and tups ?
Much appreciated.
Cheers.
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How long is a piece of string? (Sorry!)
A lot depends on the pedigree (and whites and coloureds will go for different prices). Easiest is to check out preloved to get a ball park figure. At the bottom end (at least round here in West Wales if you take them to market nobody will care what breed they are and they will go for £40 or so - so anything up from there is possible. We have a few whites we are trying to sell and are dropping the price to get some interest. My guess would be that a (registered) shearling might be available for £150 from an unknown breeder (even if it comes from a good bloodline) whereas a top breeder might manage twice that figure. Prices will drop £10-15 per year as the ewe gets older. We almost managed to sell 5 ewes (ranging from 2-8 years old) for an average of £90 but the buyer dropped out at the last moment (grrrr!). Coloired yearlings were going at the Llandovery sale last month for 100-150 guineas (and they were nothing special. A good coloured yearling ewe could easily be twice that.
At the end of the day process can be wildly variable. At Llandovery for example, registrable (i.e. not yet registered) ram lambs were going for 100 guineas or more (and could be completely impotent) whereas towards the end of the Ryeland group we managed to get a 3 year old proven ram with full pedigree paperwork and competition wins in major shows for 100 guineas - nobody else bid! I was more than happy with that
Unregistered will be less. Having said that, Ryelands are seriously competitive (in breeding terms) round here, so in your area they could be very different.
Does that help or add to the confusion?
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Does the Society have upset prices? (Prices below which bids at a Society auction won't be accepted.) I charge the upset price for my Southdowns when sold off the farm - could probably get much more but then the buyer doesn't feel exploited and it saves me taking them to the auction. I only sell stock suitable for breeding and charge registering them at cost - some folks don't care if it's registered, though.
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The upset price for Ryelands at the two breed sales this year was 100 guineas
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Thanks for all your help. I am struggling to sell 3 ewes and 3 tups (2 registered). I didn't want to take them down to Inverurie because of the distance. I have decided on one last try using the Facebook group Livestock for sale Scotland, and failing that Dingwall Mart's rare breed sale on 8th November.
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Most animals I see advertised are over valued. I value (except tup) all head on current meat prices.