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Author Topic: What breed/breeds would be suitable?  (Read 15739 times)

harmony

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #45 on: November 02, 2017, 01:35:38 pm »
Having followed your thread on sending your pigs to slaughter I would suggest you get some cross bred type lambs for your first time and nothing with any "cute" factor.

Penninehillbilly

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • West Yorks
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #46 on: November 02, 2017, 02:55:48 pm »

Buying pregnant ewes just feels too daunting to start with this year, buying cade lambs and bottle feeding could mean I get too attached to slaughter them as well as being too labour-intensive. Doing it this way will eliminate the cuteness factor, and also help me toughen up a bit more about slaughtering.

Just the breed to decide now.


Mine were female cades that I kept, one disappeared but other lambed each year since, another one this year, but reared with goats and a bit of a softy/pain, always wanting to be with me, doesn't help that the original beats newbie up if she goes near her own lamb.
I probably bottle fed too long because surplus goat milk and i enjoyed to contact / (love?) i was getting :-).
You could always look at boer goats?

Steel

  • Joined Aug 2017
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #47 on: November 02, 2017, 09:40:56 pm »

Mine were female cades that I kept, one disappeared but other lambed each year since, another one this year, but reared with goats and a bit of a softy/pain, always wanting to be with me, doesn't help that the original beats newbie up if she goes near her own lamb.
I probably bottle fed too long because surplus goat milk and i enjoyed to contact / (love?) i was getting :-).
You could always look at boer goats?

I'll be honest, I'm really not a goat person. It's definitely sheep I'm after.

I had ruled out the 'primitive' breeds but they are supposed to be good for hogget as they grow slower.

Unless anyone has taken any other breeds successfully to hogget?

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #48 on: November 02, 2017, 10:46:06 pm »
Commercial types are likely to get overfat in a second summer, I suppose. 

You could get a couple of Mule wethers, or whatever hill breed is most prevalent in your area.  (I know it’s flat where you are, but there might be some Blackies or Swales or Whitefaced Woodlands or something around.). They should make decent hogget, I’d have thought.  Or Lleyn would, they’re fairly widespread, especially on organic holdings.
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

Steel

  • Joined Aug 2017
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #49 on: November 03, 2017, 10:11:27 am »
Commercial types are likely to get overfat in a second summer, I suppose. 

You could get a couple of Mule wethers, or whatever hill breed is most prevalent in your area.  (I know it’s flat where you are, but there might be some Blackies or Swales or Whitefaced Woodlands or something around.). They should make decent hogget, I’d have thought.  Or Lleyn would, they’re fairly widespread, especially on organic holdings.

Thanks Sally. Out of those you've mentioned the Whitefaced Woodlands might the most suitable for my needs, as they are additionally classed as a vulnerable so I would be doing my bit to preserve a rare breed.

We may have a winner! I shall put some feelers out this week and report back if I find some.

EDITED TO ADD: I have just found I cannot get onto the website for the Whitefaced Woodland Sheep Society without a log-in. Tried a couple of different devices and it is the same. How bizarre. How are people supposed to find out about the breed if they cannot get onto the website?
« Last Edit: November 03, 2017, 10:43:09 am by Steel »

landroverroy

  • Joined Oct 2010
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #50 on: November 03, 2017, 11:01:31 am »
I'm being bleak again! (Can't help it  :raining: )
But - as winter's coming on, you've only got half an acre of potentially wet land and you intend to eat the animals anyway, then it doesn't really matter what you get. :thinking: So long as they're healthy, so will fatten, and are the right price then you can't really go wrong. (OK - cue the even more negative ones amongst us who will now point out everything that could go wrong  :huff: ) You have some experience of sheep, so are unlikely to do something stupid, and even if the worst case scenario happens, then it's not the end of the world.
I would personally go to the local auction store sheep sales and see see what there is that takes your fancy. For what you want, it seems a waste of time and money approaching the breed societies and paying extra for an incredibly well bred animal that you're going to eat anyway.
Rules are made:
  for the guidance of wise men
  and the obedience of fools.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #51 on: November 03, 2017, 01:55:46 pm »
I think it does help Rare Breed breeders to buy wethers.  Anything that helps the economics of putting a Rare Breed tup on a ewe of the same breed has got to help the breed, hasn’t it?
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

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #52 on: November 03, 2017, 02:09:56 pm »
I was given some fleece from a white faced woodland. I haven't used it yet but it does look rather nice with a long staple.
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

Gunestone

  • Joined Jan 2017
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #53 on: November 03, 2017, 03:05:29 pm »
What about Hebrideans?
There are a fair few breeders around, most of them will have ram lambs available, not for much money. They would be pretty light on the ground, and very tasty!! They are also pretty easy to tame, one of ours even learned to jump on command!

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #54 on: November 03, 2017, 06:45:30 pm »
I'm being bleak again! (Can't help it  :raining: )
But - as winter's coming on, you've only got half an acre of potentially wet land and you intend to eat the animals anyway, then it doesn't really matter what you get. :thinking: So long as they're healthy, so will fatten, and are the right price then you can't really go wrong. (OK - cue the even more negative ones amongst us who will now point out everything that could go wrong  :huff: ) I would personally go to the local auction store sheep sales and see see what there is that takes your fancy. For what you want, it seems a waste of time and money approaching the breed societies and paying extra for an incredibly well bred animal that you're going to eat anyway.
I agree - no point in making life more complicated than it is already.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #55 on: November 04, 2017, 07:51:38 am »
I was given some fleece from a white faced woodland. I haven't used it yet but it does look rather nice with a long staple.

Whitefaced Woodland was one of the several lovely surprises of the first Tour of British Fleece.  It’s got a lot of character (and I don’t mean that as a euphemism for being harsh!) and spins up really quickly into a lovely bouncy yarn.
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

thesuffolksmallholding

  • Joined Jan 2017
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #56 on: November 07, 2017, 09:57:36 am »
Sorry, late post on this thread, but I would really recommend the southdown for your circumstance.
They have a slow metabolism, which you will need as two ewes with a potential of 4 lambs in the spring, will soon get through 1/2 an acre and you will want to avoid buying solid feed or hay to feed them up on (expensive). You'll get a good carcass by autumn from April lambing. They are easy to lamb, docile to handle and smaller than other breeds to turn over. The meat is superior to many others, often favoured by top quality restaurants, for its sweet flavour.
Only slight downside is they can have bad feet, make sure you get some with black hooves and ensure they are solid at purchase. I have heard they are bad mothers, but never had any problems with mine.

Steel

  • Joined Aug 2017
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #57 on: December 20, 2017, 05:06:50 pm »
Thanks to all of you for being patient and giving me your considerable wisdom while I flailed around making a decision.

There are now two little bleaters grazing in my paddock, making friends with the chickens and exploring under the trees.

May I present Bleater 1 and Bleater 2, Whitefaced Woodland wethers.


Sbom

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • Staffordshire
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #58 on: December 20, 2017, 08:51:23 pm »
Love this breed!

pharnorth

  • Joined Nov 2013
  • Cambridgeshire
Re: What breed/breeds would be suitable?
« Reply #59 on: December 21, 2017, 10:45:19 am »
A real sheeps kinda sheep.  Looks like a sheep. Acts like a sheep. Tastes like a sheep.

 

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