[SallyintNorth]

We are about to market a few sheep and would like some guidance on values.

The ad reads as follows :

Sheep for sale due to change in breeding programme

2 friendly pure Zwartbles 1-crop ewes with lambs at foot, would suit someone starting a flock.

For sale with or without this year's April-born lambs, two apiece, Zwartbles x Shetland 

Price: £??? per family, or £?? per ewe

Ringlet (homebred, to registered parents): 1 wether, 1 ewe lamb
Belinda (purchased as a registered gimmer): 2 ewe lambs

The lambs are very shapely and have grown well.  Ringlet's particularly could go to slaughter now, if required. They're a little smaller than pure Zwartbles perhaps, but not by much.

All lambs reared on grass only.

Oh, and we haven't maintained our society membership, hence careful wording regarding registered status of the 2 ewes.

[Womble]

Hi Sally,

My simple head says that the ewes are still registered, but are just owned by somebody without a flock registration. If I were to buy them from you, I could still add them to my pedigree flock, so MV considerations apart, I don't see why that would affect their value? (I take it you still have their registration certificates?)

At the Zwartbles Society auction in Stirling a few weeks ago, I picked up a 2-crop Z ewe for 80 guineas, plus two really nice gimmers and a ewe lamb for 200 guineas each. These were all very good quality MV accredited pedigree sheep. The sale was very slow though, and these values were a long way below what I've seen at other sales. Anything with obvious flaws didn't sell at all, and most of the very best stock failed to reach their reserves.

The averages of those which did sell were 112gns for flock ewes, 266 gns for gimmers and 152gns for lambs. The range for the lambs was between about £100 and £400 IIRC.

So, at a guess, I'm going to say £100 to £150 for each of the ewes, depending on their markings, plus £75 (i.e. basically meat value) for the cross-bred lambs. Your mileage may vary of course, and the simple answer is as always, 'whatever somebody will pay for them'.

Do you have any photos of the lambs?  It would be interesting to compare them with our, ahem, Zanx Loaghwarts.

[Buttermilk]

2 x 2 shear Z ewes sold at Selby mart for £102 each three weeks ago, well marked sound ewes.  I could not take them home as they lost their mv status on unloading.

[SallyintNorth]

Thanks, both.  We're not MV accredited of course, how much difference would that make, do you think?

[Buttermilk]

As I am mv acc I am prepared to pay a premium on good sheep with accreditation.  If you are not mv then paying over the odds for mv acc sheep is a personal thing - at least you know that it is one less thing that you are risking importing into your flock.

[Womble]

Hmmm, As we are MV Acc, we have no choice but to buy MV Acc animals (whether they are sold at a premium or not!). We got our registration mainly so we could sell stock at the society sales, and to other MV Accc flocks.

So, personally I don't think it should change the selling price. It just might restrict who you can sell to.

[Marches Farmer]

Does the breed society have upset prices, below which stock won't be sold at auction?  I sell my Southdowns off-farm at those prices, as it saves me the bother of taking them to market.

[Womble]

The Z sales have an upset price of £150 for males, but not for females.

[SallyintNorth]

Thanks all for your input 

We don't think we would be able to find the registration documentation for Belinda, and certainly not for Ringlet's parents.  Will that make a big difference to their values?

[Womble]

That's another "it depends on the buyer" question, Sally!  If you give Christina a call with their tag numbers, she might be able to issue you with replacement certificates?

[SallyintNorth]

Hopefully this will work...

First pic Ringlet and twins, second two pics Belinda and twins

Thanks for the advice, we are asking £250 per family, or £100 per ewe