[Padge]

I have one of this years Tup lambs still with us a "Rouge de L'ouest" cross He was not ringed due to one of his testicles not dropping. He was due for meat but is a superb looking animal,

My question is would anyone consider keeping him as a terminal sire to put across my pure LLeyns? Currently i use a Hampshire as my terminal with great results.
 Would the fact that one of his testicles is still up in his cavity somewhere make any difference to his performance?

[humphreymctush]

Hampshire X  lleyn sounds like a fantastic combination for lamb production. But having said that we all like to experiment. In answer to your question...No I wouldnt, on the basis that if it aint broke dont fix it.

[robert waddell]

i would second the previous poster      maybe biased i have hampshires

[Hazelwood Flock]

It depends how well descended his other testicle is, if it is too hot he will not be fertile. Probably best to eat him now rather than let him work and become tainted, also if he is infertile it will push your lambing back by another 3 weeks.

[Padge]

Thanks all

The Lleyn Hampshire X is indeed good   and it's not our intention to alter it   buuuut    there again as you mentioned the urge to experiment kicked in    probably against better judgement

[SteveHants]

I was with you until you mentioned that he was a rig.

At the end of the day, they are your sheep and you want them to turn out how you want them  -so if you have an animal you like, why not breed from it? I can remember when I first got my Wilts, speaking to a farmer who whispered in conspiratorial tones about how they produced excellent lambs when put to a Texel, but to keep quiet because one wasn't 'supposed' to do that. I have always been a fan of a wide genepool myself and am going one stage further, and am trying to produce a composite breed from a Wilts x Lleyn - as are a few others I know. I would have just gone for the easy care breed, but I've never met anyone who likes them, ever - and that in itself is enough to put me off. I know its a long way round of doing things, but I hope to end up with a type of sheep that would suit smallholders and extensive low density grazing on slightly poorer pastures (very few mountainsides round here to worry about) - as oddly these two groups of people, from opposite ends of the scale seem to require similar things in a sheep.

I hope the rig works and you end up with some nice lambs.

[Dougal]

Worry not about your rig working. If ever a runt of a rig manages to get in with your breding ewes three weeks before the tups are due to go out the little sod will usually tup about 40 of them in one night! He will always be useful for a chaser or to keep as a cheap spare should one of your main tups stop working due to injury/bad feet/death/any-other-excuse!
One note of caution, I have heard that ewe lambs kept from a rig are more prone to have rig lambs themselves but given the breeding of your rig and the system you appear to want to work the chances of any of the lambs being kept is pretty remote.