[feldar]

I have to agree with you SteveHants we don't feed our shearling rams at all. We feed our ram lambs and show some of them but gradually decrease the feed at the end of the show season and then don't feed them cake at all just grass through to the following spring. we give lick buckets but couldn't afford to feeding the rams as well all winter.
We don't show our shearlings much mainly because they are not fat enough for the show ring, i can't stand these big fat gutty things you see in the show ring. We like to buy our breeding rams off farm early in the year when they are in their natural enviroment though we do like to see them sorn to look for faults.
Our homebred rams go on to a large estate and they need to live and breed without supplimentary feeding and we also don't want them to melt when they reach their new home.

[shep53]

Edited to add:
I have, however, just purchased some SufTex rams as my terminal sires. I got them from from a feller called Peter Baber runs them on grass, and they have good ebvs - they are 'wedge shaped' and quite fine boned, totally not what you would expect from a show ram, but they are good. I believe 'Easyrams' also have good rep for these (NZ Texel, Suffolk and SufTex). I almost bought meatlinc, but swerved at the last minute because peter seems to have such a good reputation.

          Interesting  STEVEHANTS  , i have the next generation, SUFTEX  T on order from ' Easyrams ' to go onto shearlings .  Meatlincs would have done the same , only their lambs are better sold finished rather than as stores