charlais sheep

roosky

are charlais sheep the only way forward
easy lambing, lively and suck quick, finish well, kill out well, and are docile......im kinda annoyed i bought a texel ram rather than a second charlais ???



opinions please and advice on what ram breeds is best for my suffolk cross ewes and ewe lambs???



thanks

hedgecutting eddie

roosky wrote: »

are charlais sheep the only way forward
easy lambing, lively and suck quick, finish well, kill out well, and are docile......im kinda annoyed i bought a texel ram rather than a second charlais ???



opinions please and advice on what ram breeds is best for my suffolk cross ewes and ewe lambs???



thanks

suffolk cross ewes cross with texel and keep ewe lambs shear them next august and cross them to a charolais ,never never never put a texel to a ewe lamb

5live

I used a charollais ram once (and once only:mad:). I found the lambs very soft. First shower after turn out and they were sheltering by the ditch. After a few days rain i was going around with a bag collecting dead lambs. Maybe it was the year but the vendeen belclare and dorset lambs thrived. Or maybe it was just the ram i bought:(

Texels are hard lambing but i think the beltex is easier lambed (according to a friend that used them). The vendeen is hardy and easy lambing and fierce tasty for the freezer;) but growth rates are average.

It all depends what you are breeding towards as to what you should use really

snowman707

roosky wrote: »

are charlais sheep the only way forward
easy lambing, lively and suck quick, finish well, kill out well, and are docile......im kinda annoyed i bought a texel ram rather than a second charlais ???



opinions please and advice on what ram breeds is best for my suffolk cross ewes and ewe lambs???


thanks

No , but whatever ram you choose get a good one ,

5live wrote: »

I used a charollais ram once (and once only:mad:). I found the lambs very soft. First shower after turn out and they were sheltering by the ditch. After a few days rain i was going around with a bag collecting dead lambs. Maybe it was the year but the vendeen belclare and dorset lambs thrived. Or maybe it was just the ram i bought:(

Texels are hard lambing but i think the beltex is easier lambed (according to a friend that used them). The vendeen is hardy and easy lambing and fierce tasty for the freezer;) but growth rates are average.

It all depends what you are breeding towards as to what you should use really

we like the vendeen as well and as you say they are our choice for the freezer as well,

we tend to go for the a charollais with the whitish head as opposed to the pink we think the lambs have a bit more hair (wool?) when born,

the downside is that the lambs tend to follow the dam's characteristics in appearance and often lose the ch look, doesn't really bother us as we sell to factory or abattoir

we creep the early lambs and can't see much difference in ch vn or texel performances but thought in the late lambs the ch done better on grass only , as you said it could be just down to the ram

Cran

used no other terminal sire for 20 years except charollais, think they are best all rounder, easy lambed, lambs up quick and gone, find them hardy, grow like stink, easy to get to high weights if needed, good kill out %, clean and good resistance to worms.
They are nuts though and never keep them as ewes

yessam

Charolais are are a great all round sheep breed. Hardy, easy lambing, kill out, etc.

The only down side i have noticed is that the ewe lambs are not really wanted in marts like other breeds.

roosky

thanks for advice....mixed as it may be....just from what i have done with tha ch ram has worked very well....i put him with 30 hoggets and got 51 lambs only loosing one triplet....maybe they are a bit softer but mine were brought in at night for 1st few nights !!!