[bigchicken]

Get yourself along to lanark market dates on there web page and buy a beltex tup lamb and use him on your shetlands you will get chunky wee lambs that sell well at market and he will also sell well there's no money in shetland unless you go the full hog and try to sell them as hogget butcher prepared in half or whole, a lot of work and time building up customer's etc.

[cully_c]

Is it ok to use a Beltex ram, he's not too big/heavy for a Shetland ewe?

[bigchicken]

 No I have used beltex several times and had no problems at all. I found that the lambs were very evenly sized,  like peas in a pod. Another good cross was Llyen, they sold ok too. I have seen Ryeland crosses that sold well at a rare breeds sale. All sold better than unregistered shetland. I have some blackface cross shetland this year and they are looking good growing well, would never have though of the cross before.

[Fleecewife]

A Beltex should be ok on Shetland ewes but definitely not first time lambers, especially for a first time owner.   The whole point of meat from Primitives is that it has special, slow-grown properties, which set it apart from much larger, quick grown carcases.  You do have to keep them on to 16 months, but they eat grass and hay through the winter, so are not expensive to keep, if you have the ground.  If all you want is a large carcase, then crossing with a large tup is the way.  For age, I would suggest getting a lamb is best, as he will be tasty, whereas an older tup could be a bit musty and greasy.

For getting your lambs slaughtered, Wishaw is too big and they can't really cope with just one or two.   Shotts is better, being a small outfit, and they are happy to do small numbers.  The guys there like the unusual sheep, rare breeds, and are friendly. You can take your lambs in the afternoon before, so they are starved when they go in, but they get water of course.  They are also happy for you to come back a couple of hours later to collect the skins for tanning, if you let them know in advance.     All slaughterhouses are horrible to go to, but then their job is a horrible one.

Yes, I know Larkhall, kind of.  Well, I know about where it is    We are north of Biggar, so not so far away

[cully_c]

Thank you all again for the advice. 

Do people think it perhaps wise to go for a Shetland tup for our first time (and the sheep's) and make it is as easy and straight forward as possible for our first go and then consider a Beltex (or other) for the next time to make for a better seller?

[Womble]

That sounds like a good idea!

We bought a spare tup lamb from Bloomer last year and used him on our Manx Loaghtans and were very pleased with the outcome. Unfortunately he became a bit grumpy  a month ago, so we ate him!

The plan this year is to put the Manxs to our Zwartble tup. If I'm honest, I'm a little nervous about this, but folks in the know tell me it'll be alright for second timers.

[cully_c]

So if I was to get a tup at the end of August, from the sale (for example) I would run him with my ewes until when?  Would I need to take him away from them or can he continue to run with them?

[Womble]

Unfortunately if you were to do that, you could be lambing in February, which probably isn't ideal! The usual would be to keep him separate from the ewes until early to mid November, which would then give you lambs in early to mid April. Do you have secure separate fields so you can do that?  If not, it might be easier to buy privately but collect him only when you need him.

He could stay in with them right through till lambing, but the downside of that is you won't know a definite end date for your lambing period (unless all of the ewes get pregnant and then give birth I suppose).

[cully_c]

Sorry, more questions just want to get this straight in my head before I get stuck in!

If I am buy, use, eat-ing him what age would he need to be to eat (assuming he's a Shetland)?  I ask because if I buy him in Mid-Nov, run him with the sheep for, is two weeks long enough?  His job would then be done and it's chops in his future. But if he's young I would need to keep him till the right age for slaughter. So would it be better to buy a slaughter age tup and use him so he can be sent away straight away.

I do have a paddock he could have but he'd need to be on his own, would that bother him? All I've got is a goat for a companion but she's a she so I don't think that'd work. Although she's grumpy so he'd get a good butting if he got familiar! Least he'd be nice and tender! Lol  And the paddock is part of my rotation for the sheep so I'd lose it over the winter which I d rather not.

So I could buy him early but I'd rather not keep him too long I guess.

[SallyintNorth]

A sheep's ovulation cycle is 17 days, so most people would keep the tup in for 35 days, to give him 2 cycles.

Some people say there can be a taint to the meat if the tup has been working, so would keep him for a month afterwards or two to let the hormones die down, before sending him for slaughter. 

Maybe you could find a tup lamb and a wether mate you could buy as a pair?   And send both away together, too.

[Marches Farmer]

Ram taint could take quite a while to disappear, especially if he's held anywhere near the ewes.  We leave tups in for 19 days.  Any ewes tupped in the first two days that were a bit too late in their cycle to take should come back in season.  Any barreners are culled after scanning. That way we don't get a flock with shy breeders and an extended lambing period.

[cully_c]

Does Ram taint make the meat really gross or just 'tangy'? 

But it looks like I could be keeping him for a few months regardless of his age.

OOI from what age is the Ram sexually active? Is there an optimum age?

[cully_c]

For getting your lambs slaughtered, Wishaw is too big and they can't really cope with just one or two.   Shotts is better, being a small outfit, and they are happy to do small numbers.  The guys there like the unusual sheep, rare breeds, and are friendly. You can take your lambs in the afternoon before, so they are starved when they go in, but they get water of course.  They are also happy for you to come back a couple of hours later to collect the skins for tanning, if you let them know in advance.     All slaughterhouses are horrible to go to, but then their job is a horrible one.

Is the one in Shotts The Scottish Borders Abattoir?

[Fleecewife]

Isn't that at Galashiels?  I thought it had closed down.
Shotts is at Shotts; I think it's just called Shotts abattoir 

[cully_c]

Isn't that at Galashiels?  I thought it had closed down.
Shotts is at Shotts; I think it's just called Shotts abattoir 

I just searched Google for Shotts Abattoir, it came up with  Scottish Borders Abattoir, with an address of Shotts Slaughter House, Foundry Road. Could it be they've moved, or bought the one in Shotts?

Also came up was a James Chapman Butchers, The Abattoir, Foundry Rd.  They were the only two results for abattoirs in Shotts.