The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Me on August 25, 2015, 08:15:19 pm
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A group of Charmoise rams going East from Brynwerydd to their new home with Keepers
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The rams all arrived fine :wave:
Alot of power to them! they wouldn't get out of the trailer and so had to climb in and push them out, took some doing :relief:
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Good work Keepers!
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Fabulous, I hope you ve got some left Me ! :innocent:
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Put good shape into a lamb.
(http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n623/Ideation123/Ideation123068/photo%202_zpszmzhaok9.jpg) (http://s1143.photobucket.com/user/Ideation123/media/Ideation123068/photo%202_zpszmzhaok9.jpg.html)
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although am not a fan of Charmoise, your boys look stunning. Porterlauren are those Lleyn's? and why the tails? If you don't mind me asking. Do charmoise have a nice fat layer on them Me? and do you sell them privately or through commercial/private sheep sales? Sorry for all the questions am just curious :D
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WBF - All of the ewes in the photo apart from the one who has her arse to the camera, the ewe lamb whose flank you can see to the right of her, and one other to the left of the picture, are Exlana.
All the lambs and most of the ewes here have tails. Why? Because it's one less job to do and easier, given that i'm lambing outside. From my own observations and from reading recent studies, I am pretty sure that having a long tail does no harm to a sheep, other than possibly putting folk off in market. The need to dock, to reduce issues around scouring or strike etc, are I think, a fault with the sheep, rather than the tail.
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I dock my lambs because when they're Shearlings/ewes come tupping time its easier for the ram. I lamb outside too, April/may, better for the lambs immune systems I think to lamb outside. They're beauts though. I apologize if I offended you.
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Don;t worry matey, i'm not offended in the slightest. I just think I come across badly on the internet (and quite possibly in real life to). One thing I will say, is that as I keep wool shedders, I don't really think about the tupping issue. All of the x bred lambs (wooly) are meant for killing. I do actually plan to possibly dock all of the suf-tex cross lambs next year, as I may sell some for breeding, and people like to see them docked. Also may sell better live?
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Hellybee - nope! All shearlings gone now, even "tripod" the once three now four legged ram spoken for (don't ask), a few ram lambs gone too.
WBF they are not a lean sheep, they finish easily and are more adapted for harsh treatment/slower growth in a rough place vs. Charollais adapted for fast growth in an easy place
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Aww ok, will have to wait a year or two then :)
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How much do you sell the rams for registered? And do you sell and ewes at all? I was just wondering as a friend of mine keeps them :)
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Yes we sell some females too, who is your friend?
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Well he's not so much a friend but an acquaintence who I happened to meet a couple of times when I was at a ram sale a few years ago. His sheep were really nice, but I can't remember who he was, all I remember was that his sheep were nice and the impression I got was he was a nice guy. I saw his sheep and admired them, however I wasn't in a position to buy any sheep and they were nicely priced. That's why I wondered how much you sold yours for as I might consider keeping some in the future to cross with my lleyns. Do they make a good cross with other sheep?
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They make a very good cross with other ewes
I have crossed them to
Welsh mule
Texel/mule
Shetland
Shetland cross hebridean
Charollais cross shetland
Wiltshire horn cross
All with good effect, bulk of the lambs were gone this june/july after being born in March/April, all off grass, never seen any cake, I sold them all live, the auctioneers sold them off as texel lambs or beltex lambs ::) oh well they sold very well :thumbsup:
Had people come and feel them in the pens and ask to buy or hire the ram that produced them, always a good thing, bad thing is I have turned away around 10 inquiries this year, at least I have some booked for next year already
Any left now are out of the ewe lambs that I put them to, ewe lambs breeds were welsh mule, charollais cross, shetland and welsh mountain cross, the ewe lambs lambs weigh from 36-42 kilos at the moment, the others all went off at an average of 40-42kilos
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(http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b316/Duckberry/735_zps4ovppyb2.jpg)
Photo taken in July just after shearing, a charmoise lamb and its welsh mule ewe lamb mother, lamb was sold in august weighing around 40 kilos
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Very nice that. I would have thought the auctioneers would have known about breeds of sheep though. ::)
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They don't!
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They certainly dont! I've had texel x hebridean lambs sold as Mule wethers, Welshmountain (for the black ones) Charolais x and One pen of light but bulky frames lambs went as "pure texel".
I asked and was told, they are sold as whatever they think will get the best price!
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They honestly go by what the lamb looks like
If its got a white face, white legs, with a leg at each corner and good conformation then its a texel lamb
If its the same but stubbier and shorter with better conformation then its a beltex lamb
(http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b316/Duckberry/726_zpspkxunkmk.jpg)
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.............. they finish easily and are more adapted for harsh treatment/slower growth in a rough place vs. Charollais adapted for fast growth in an easy place
How harsh? Not being funny at all e.g. I'm 600' up, North facing - The Irish Sea/Atlantic - on unimproved grassland, lambing outside at whatever time Easter is (work obligations).
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What ewes are you running and ram are you using now Granny? This bloke lives further in land (up near the wind mills other side of Newcastle Emlyn) he is over 1000 feet and uses them on Welsh lambing outside in April.
He uploaded the photo to the Charmoise Sheep Breeders facebook site with the words "easy lambing" which was nice. He also came back and bought a second ram. Which was nicer.
They are tough, IME beat the pants of a Charollais, Suffolk etc but don't have a thick coat at birth, they are very fast on their feet and suckling but cannot make the sun shine. They are a hill breed, but with muscles. If you need a full on hill breed to withstand your conditions use a Welsh and accept they wont sell well, your place sounds much the same as here though, my sheep are looking at Ireland when its not raining ;)
We sold 20 Lleyn (small ewes) cross Charmoise today in Cardigan and had 1.50 per kg, which given the trade (143ppk av.) and that we aren't FA I thought was pretty good.
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Granny, these are out of little Lleyn that run around the Boglands of Ceredigion for a living, I have brought them back off those poor pastures to silage aftermath to finish and they are picking up nicely. These sold this morning in Cardigan
This is also a rare photo of Taff behaving himself
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Nice strong lambs! :thumbsup:
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Yep they do look nice. Am sending my first batch of top quality Lleyn ram lambs off on monday, I just hope I get a good price for them as I have worked so hard to get a really good ram and what with building up the flock to almost excellent as well.
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Granny, these are out of little Lleyn that run around the Boglands of Ceredigion for a living, I have brought them back off those poor pastures to silage aftermath to finish and they are picking up nicely. These sold this morning in Cardigan
Sorry to be so long - I have been horribly busy. I run a Lleyn ram on a really mixed flock. I am going to be selling stores most years so need to work to something with a good look to finish off. In a good year I can finish. The best looking lambs I have this year are 25% Suffolk 75% lleyn but obviously getting that in a really small flock is a pia.
So far the sheep have been a hobby/therapy if they are going to stay after next summer they have to pay their way a lot more especially as I intend to pull my rented land back and start using it if I keep sheep at all.
I need a serious think. I'm trying to steel myself for cardigan store prices at the mo. Trouble is the temptation is to say FI I'll buy acres and try an fatten them. Arrrgghhhh!! What do you charge for a farm visit - to come and advise me I mean!!??
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What do you charge for a farm visit - to come and advise me I mean!!?? I'd be happy to help if I can (I did offer the FEC training...) always good to poke around other peoples farms and tell them how to spend their money :innocent:
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What do you charge for a farm visit - to come and advise me I mean!!?? I'd be happy to help if I can (I did offer the FEC training...) always good to poke around other peoples farms and tell them how to spend their money :innocent:
Was that you on the FF, then? How far are you from Crymych?
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Yes that was me! I am up near Aberaeron, will PM you