Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Crossbreeding Zwartbles?  (Read 9184 times)

lesbri

  • Joined Apr 2013
Re: Crossbreeding Zwartbles?
« Reply #15 on: July 16, 2014, 08:28:16 am »
Thanks zwartbles, very helpful. Love the look of your meat lambs btw  :excited:

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Crossbreeding Zwartbles?
« Reply #16 on: July 16, 2014, 09:06:59 am »
Newbie Question:  If you cross Ewe breed 1 with Tup breed 2, will that produce the same result as Ewe breed 2 and Tup breed 1?  ???

O-level biology answer : I guess it depends what is on, or affected by what's on, the Y chromosome.

In terms of the lamb, I can't think of any obvious things off the top of my head, but in terms of the lambing, one would think about the size of the tup's shoulders and rump, and possibly head if horned or expecting singles, and about the motherliness and milkiness of the ewe.

If there are any differences, I bet they are mainly about colour. ;)

With Blue-Grey cattle, the normal cross is Whitebred Shorthorn bull on Galloway cow, but we have some which are t'other way about.  As far as I can tell they seem to be just the same. 
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Crossbreeding Zwartbles?
« Reply #17 on: July 16, 2014, 09:13:15 am »
I don't know how logistical it would be to keep them pure, so I wanted to ask what people were using to crossbreed them with.
I'd have access to rough fell, texel and beltex, and I'm sure I've read that Zwartble to Texel gives good lambs? What about them to southdown? I'm guessing primative would be a no?

I've no experience of Zwartbles (only their fleeces  :spin:) but just looking at your list of breeds there... I'm not sure what would be the point of a Rough Fell tup on a Zwartbles ewe, but the other way about could be an interesting first step in a breeding programme.

Texel and Beltex tups on Zwartbles ewes would both give marketable fat lambs, I would have thought.

Southdown x Zwartbles would give a very interesting fleece - can I book three, please?!   :excited: :spin: :knit:

The only reason to put a primitive on a Zwarty would be fleece, wouldn't it?  If you tried Shetland, that could be a very interesting fleece, as would Hebridean.  I'm assuming you mean primitive tup on Zwarty ewe.  Zwarty tup on an experienced Shetland ewe would be feasible (Shetlands have nice wide pelvises) but if the lambs are large they'll affect her tummy muscles, so it's perhaps only something you'd do once or twice per ewe.
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

nutterly_uts

  • Joined Jul 2014
  • Jersey - for now :)
Re: Crossbreeding Zwartbles?
« Reply #18 on: July 16, 2014, 01:40:49 pm »
Quote
I've no experience of Zwartbles (only their fleeces  :spin:) but just looking at your list of breeds there... I'm not sure what would be the point of a Rough Fell tup on a Zwartbles ewe, but the other way about could be an interesting first step in a breeding programme.

Texel and Beltex tups on Zwartbles ewes would both give marketable fat lambs, I would have thought.

Southdown x Zwartbles would give a very interesting fleece - can I book three, please?

My BF has Rough Fell and Texels, and my friend has Southdown, so I listed those as they are easily accessible rams :) I've not sat down and worked out the logic or decisions yet, I was just curious as to how well they crossed across breeds.
I wondered about primitive because of their size more than fleece aspects, but definitely something to think about :)

Remy

  • Joined Dec 2011
Re: Crossbreeding Zwartbles?
« Reply #19 on: July 16, 2014, 10:33:52 pm »
Hi, I crossed a Zwartbles ram with a Mule, Charollais and a Gotland (the latter was a mistake he jumped the fence!).  The ewes produced lovely lambs (all black) although they didn't fatten as quickly as my other commercial crosses (Ryeland ram) and at market were sold as stores. The Gotland babies were just like Zwartbles only smaller - I was a bit concerned about lambing with the Gotland being so much smaller but she had no problem at all.
1 horse, 2 ponies, 4 dogs, 2 Kune Kunes, a variety of sheep

 

Forum sponsors

FibreHut Energy Helpline Thomson & Morgan Time for Paws Scottish Smallholder & Grower Festival Ark Farm Livestock Movement Service

© The Accidental Smallholder Ltd 2003-2024. All rights reserved.

Design by Furness Internet

Site developed by Champion IS