[Fieldfare]

Hi all- I have far too much grass during spring/summer/autumn so I'm thinking of adding some ewes to my flock of Castlemilk moorits of another breed that will make some faster growing meat lambs (ideally to 'harvest' around October/November of the birth year so I can cut down over winter). Has anyone got any idea of what would work well with a Castlemilk moorit ram to produce fast growing lamb?    and possibly with a view to carrying out the reverse cross at times? I was thinking Jacobs? or commercial ewes? Or am I asking the impossible?
 

[SallyintNorth]

I would be surprised if anything that's 50% Castlemilk Moorit would be ready to kill in 5-6 months.

It's unusual to put a ewe to a tup that's a lot smaller than herself...  I'm not sure a Texel ewe would even let a Castlemilk Moorit tup mount her.  If you want to try commercials it'd maybe be best to be Dutch Texel or Beltex - much smaller than regular Texels, and so muscley that hopefully the offpring would have some value as meat lambs.  Or what about Southdown, the offspring of that cross would be useful for their fleece as well as for their carcase.  Or Lleyns - the females would be nice breeders to retain, the males would make nice hogget the following year.  (Sorry, I really don't think any Castlemilk first cross will finish in one season.)

You could try Jacobs, Southdowns or Shetlands, and sell the offspring in the store in the summer - other smallholders may like to have them for lawn-mowing and a fleece and super-tasty lamb / hogget next year.  And Shetland x Castlemilks make lovely ewes, you could either retain them in the flock or sell them as breeders to other smallholders and small farmers. 

You could try marketing purebred Castlemilk Moorit wether lambs as stores for crafty smallholders who would take a fleece off them the following year and then enjoy some lovely rare breed hogget meat.

Not being much help, I suspect.  Sorry!

[Brucklay]

We crossed our Castlemilk Moorit with 2 shetland ewes last autumn - I've sold the 2 x ewe lambs they are going to be breed from and the ram lamb we will keep till he's ready to go - but I think he is growing surprisingly well although that is just with the 'picking up test' not actual weighing but I don't think it'll be long before I can't lift him.


Should I still be aiming for that 40kg total weight?

[SallyintNorth]

I'm just about to send off two of my 2010-born CM wethers.  The larger of the two weighs 36kg.  I think one of the remaining pair will be a little heavier, but I doubt any of them have reached 40kgs. 

Must be that hybrid vigour, Brucklay!

[Brucklay]

Possibly Sally - or I'm just getting weaker - will try and get him weighed  just to give me an idea

[colliewoman]

  And Shetland x Castlemilks make lovely ewes, you could either retain them in the flock or sell them as breeders to other smallholders and small farmers. 

 
They really do, I adore mine and they are the most delightful creatures ever
 
I put my CM Shetland ewe lambs to a Shetland tup last December and the lambs would be suitable for the home freezer this Autumn/winter. They have grown like weeds! they are all at least 80% of their final size. I don't think they would do so well at market as they would have to compete with the big boys but if I was to be wanting meat they would be going in a couple of months. As it is I am keeping all of the for fleece
Unless the wethers get pushy or aggressive, then I'll eat them but as I haven't let anyone 'play' with them they should retain their respectful attitude

[Dougal]

If just looking for grass cutters in the short term or for a few months each summer have you thought about just buying a handful of commercial store lambs in the late summer to fatten on your excess grass? Or even a few ewes with lamb at foot in the spring and then selling everything in the autumn to leave you enough grass for the winter?
With the moorits would it be worthwhile keeping all the wether lambs through the first winter and well into their second summer before slaughter? Make for a slightly bigger carcass with a little more fat and flavour? That would give you more mouths in the summer but they wouldn't take too much keeping in their first winter?
Just a few ideas, maybe spark an idea of your own.

[jaykay]

I think Shetlands would make a good cross too. Certainly they grow fast, if not as fast as commercial lambs but might well be worth sending directly to the butcher in Jan/Feb. Or at 18 months as 'hogget'. I think you get a better deal on anything unusual by selling meat directly rather than selling lambs/hoggs at the mart.

Or if you want true commercial lambs, what's kept around you? Could you buy a different breed of ewe, kept locally, and then send them to be tupped at a neighbour's farm by their 'same breed' tup?

[Brucklay]

Well out of interest for anyone out there - I have one entire CM Shetland x, one entire CM and one wether CM - I should have weighted them at birth to be totally scientific but I will do a weigh in soon and over the next few months, just out of interest. We got our ram as a ram lamb and looked a bit weedy at 5 months but did the job by lambing time he looked a lot more ram like so he was growing all winter - as a beginner with this breed it'll be interesting to see what they can do.


PS I mean grow not the 'I can evade being penned'!!