The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Hillview Farm on September 28, 2013, 12:41:30 pm
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As the title says, Is there a market for cross bred ram lambs to use for breeding or do people overlook them?
I'm considering to keep my ram lambs entire this following year, for quicker growth but I was thinking if I have too may ram lambs (i'm selling my lambs dead) would I be able to sell them as breeding stock if they are good enough
Personally I'd overlook them unless I was in desperate need. Views??
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There is a limited market for xbred ram lambs and always has been, but they have to be top class suf x tx / char x tx/ beltex x tx or similar all saleable
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Depends on the cross all the terminal sires X with each other are good rams for small holders as sometimes there cheaper than a pure bred and give great lambs
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I had 8 Hampshire Down x Suffolk ram lambs and 1 HD x charollais that all went for breeding this year. All to smallholders locally except a chap who purchased 2 for his flock of 800 Finn sheep and another chap who purchased 2 for his flock of 100 Jacobs - they went further afield about 100 miles away.
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I use a SufTex as my terminal sire, so yes.
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Lovely thanks for your replies! The lambs will be 3/4 Suffolk- suffolk with a 1/4 of texel etc
This being of course if they are up to the mark!
And Zak I've seen your lambs for sale on other websites and I WANT THEM! But your too far :(
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Steve, Just out of interest what colour faces do SufTex's have? Are they black faced?
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They are nice looking sheep, their faces are a sort of grey-ish Brown, sometimes speckled.
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Hi,I keep Suffolk X Texel and there faces can vary from black through to pure white,but most are as above spekaly grayish brown.
I have been shopping about for a ram recently,and there are plenty of Suffolk X ramb lambs out there to choose from they go for about £50,where as a good Suffolk X weather can fetch £60+ round these parts.
I decided in the end to buy a pure Texal from good stock.
Graham.
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Steve, Just out of interest what colour faces do SufTex's have? Are they black faced?
They are speckly faced. Their lambs seem to have speckled or black faces.
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Ahh that would explain the breeding of a ewe lamb I bought. I bought 3 generations (grandmother, mother and daughter)
Granny is scotch half bred cross Suffolk, she was put to a texel so the daughter has a speckled face then her lamb which i'm not sure what ram was used who is the mini match of her mother, I thought it was a Suffolk