[Pasture Farm]

Its not the hampshires that have problems lambing?  my post read that i use a Hampshire as a terminal sire on my Lleyns thats where the problem was!!!!  Please read my post again

[ZaktheLad]

Pasture Farm - I don't have Hampshire Down ewes either, but have for the first time ever used a Hampshire Down as terminal sire on my Charollais x ewes - hence my worry that like your ewes, mine will have lambing issues with the lambs forehead being too large to pass unassisted.  However, I have been reassured by Feldars post and hope that as my ewes are larger in size than a Lleyn that the majority will be fine and lamb unassisted.  I expect to assist a ewe lamb or first timer but had visions of me having to assist each and every one of my ewes this year!  Apologies if I have misread your original post though 

[Marches Farmer]

HDs have foreheads no bigger than the Southdown and I've only ever had to assist one of the Badger Face that we put to a SD ram - she had an exceptionally large single, for some unknown reason,  but the following years they were all standard size.

[feldar]

Pasture Farm i wasn't getting at you , it's just i couldn't understand you had such problems cause my Llanwenogs can't be any bigger than a Lleyn and they spit lambs out to our Hamp tup no problem.
The Hamp forehead is no bigger than any other just looks it with wool on it and it surely can't be any bigger than a Suffolk tup! Everyone has problems occasionally and i'm sorry you did i just feel perhaps you were being a bit harsh towards Hampshires, but then i am a bit crazy about them they are my favourite breed so forgive me if i defend them to the grave.
No hard feelings i hope

[SallyintNorth]

I've no direct experience of Hampshire tups, although I know that a neighbouring smallholder uses one on their Llanwenogs too.

I posted to say that the external measurements of the ewe are only a part of the picture - pelvic width is very important, and as I understand it, Soays, Shetlands and Castlemilk Moorit have a wider pelvis than most commercial white sheep, which is one of the reasons why they seem to be able to lamb to a Texel no bother when some of their much larger cousins - Texels themselves, Mules, etc - can have problems.

Same thing applies to Jersey cattle - she's one of the smallest breeds but her pelvis is the widest, hence she can produce a double-muscled beef cross calf with ease, when some of her much larger Holstein cousins can struggle.

Another factor I've been observing in sheep is how much the mother puts into the growing lambs.  I think the primitives and hill sheep are possibly better at not 'overcooking' their lambs, whereas some Mules will drain every atom of their being into producing mammoth lambs that they then are too **ackered to rear   

[langfauld easycare]

i have been farming in my own right for about 8 years now started with ten ewes ! now have about 200 .i have been down a few differnt routes but  am now building up a flock of easycares .not everyones cup of tea but they suit my system well .anything that i dont want gets put to mainly the charollais tup for meat . i tryed lleyn which did ok but had to much wool .the hill i rent has horrendous flys so they didnt suit i also found the big lamb crops only came when the ewes were abit older .we have some pedigree charollais and a few pedigree beltex .i try to breed all my own tups and replacement ewes.


on the tup question everything used to lamb to the beltex  or texel we were assisting about one in every 3 ewes i swaped to the charollais and i had to help 4 out of the full flock it was great.  care has to be taken on tup choice as the lambs can be a bit soft if its bad weather.
 the pure beltex are a nightmare .


it is hard picking the right breed as every breed has good and bad points depends on your area and land type how much time and effort you want to put in aswell .
 

[Pasture Farm]

Feldar....no offence taken  I comment based purely on my own experiences and on last year alone i had to assist the majority of our Lleyns   and the Llanwenogs....which incidentally we no longer have........the suffolks to the Hampshire we had no problem with......the pure Lleyns we had no problem with
 
The previous year we had practically no issue with the lleyn x hampshire
 
This year the hamp has two pure girls and the suffolks.... the rest went to the Lleyn and here comes lambing....... ....i'll keep you posted