Cheviots on the hill

Youngshepherd

Thinking of starting a flock of cheviots as i may have access to hill ground its mostly a brown colour,heather i presume? Anyone know how long i could keep the ewes on the hill for untill they need taking down to good grass?

Future Farmer

Youngshepherd wrote: »

Thinking of starting a flock of cheviots as i may have access to hill ground its mostly a brown colour,heather i presume? Anyone know how long i could keep the ewes on the hill for untill they need taking down to good grass?

Depends on the location of the hill - and what you mean by it - is it commanage?

March/April - September/October for commanage - I would say in general....

Youngshepherd

Yeah it's commonage we have good grass right Below the hill for ewes with lambs so running them on the hill would be handy to give the fields a break. What would an average cheviot ewe lamb or hogget go for?

ganmo

Cheviots are usually sold as hoggets
Sold around the end of sept/start of oct
Blessington is having it's pedigree sale the first sat of oct, the tue after would be a big sale too

Price changes year on year would rarely go under 200

Youngshepherd

Jesus more expensive than I thought! I'd say there worth it though so I'll give them a go,running in to far to many problems with my ewes at the moment so I'll clear all stock and buy new ewes in start fresh.

Future Farmer

Youngshepherd wrote: »

Jesus more expensive than I thought! I'd say there worth it though so I'll give them a go,running in to far to many problems with my ewes at the moment so I'll clear all stock and buy new ewes in start fresh.

What kind of ewes have you?

When dealing with commanage best have a few ewes from it, they know the best places for shelter etc!

Youngshepherd

At the moment I have mainly texel x charrollais ewes there lads that run cheviot x ewes on the hill so might try buy a few hoggs of them

Future Farmer

Youngshepherd wrote: »

At the moment I have mainly texel x charrollais ewes there lads that run cheviot x ewes on the hill so might try buy a few hoggs of them

Why keep such terminal ewes? Where are you?

Youngshepherd

Future Farmer wrote: »

Why keep such terminal ewes? Where are you?

I'm in inistioge in Kilkenny its all lowland we have but ive just found out we have access to hill ground so might as well make use of it

Future Farmer

Youngshepherd wrote: »

I'm in inistioge in Kilkenny its all lowland we have but ive just found out we have access to hill ground so might as well make use of it

Personally, I'd head out west - buy 100+ cast ewes - do them well. Put a Texel or Kerry hill ram, scan them - sell all triplets, kill all empties & the worst of the rest.

Then as the lambs are fit, keep the ewe lambs, kill the majority or the ewes and all the rams lambs.

Repeat: but buy less ewes the following year.

Then you have your young hill flock - cheap.

Youngshepherd

Wouldn't have the space to lamb 100 ewes but it's a good plan I'm only looking to have maybe 20-30 ewes I've changed my mind on the Cheviots to I might go for a mule ewe or maybe a cheviot mule if I can source some

Future Farmer

Youngshepherd wrote: »

Wouldn't have the space to lamb 100 ewes but it's a good plan I'm only looking to have maybe 20-30 ewes I've changed my mind on the Cheviots to I might go for a mule ewe or maybe a cheviot mule if I can source some

Cheaper to breed than to buy!

ganmo

Youngshepherd wrote: »

Wouldn't have the space to lamb 100 ewes but it's a good plan I'm only looking to have maybe 20-30 ewes I've changed my mind on the Cheviots to I might go for a mule ewe or maybe a cheviot mule if I can source some

The hill that you have access to, are there any sheep on it now?
Is there much grass on it or is it mainly heather?
As it stands at home we have our chev hoggets and ewes rearing singles on our fenced hill

Youngshepherd

Yeah plenty sheep on it mainly dry ewes but a few with singles there's good enough forage for a good number of ewes a lot of fresh shoots after coming up cause a few of the lads burnt the heather

Sheep breeder

Future Farmer wrote: »

Personally, I'd head out west - buy 100+ cast ewes - do them well. Put a Texel or Kerry hill ram, scan them - sell all triplets, kill all empties & the worst of the rest.

Then as the lambs are fit, keep the ewe lambs, kill the majority or the ewes and all the rams lambs.

Repeat: but buy less ewes the following year.

Then you have your young hill flock - cheap.

and dont forget to have the knackery number on speed dial, or as wise man once said get a shovel as the luck penny for to bury them.

Youngshepherd

Don't suppose anyone knows if you can get decent mule,cheviot,or borris hoggets in tullow mart for around 130-150 euro and when's the best time to buy?

weatherbyfoxer

if you can find half decent mule or borris hoggs for under 150 id be very surprised i would be thinking in 150-200 bracket...

trying to up my flock here at the minute and the only viable options is ewe lambs at around €100 or buy some hornys and run blue leisters rams to get replacments..kill ewes and ramb lambs and keep the mule ewe lambs

Youngshepherd

The only problem I have with ewe lambs is I'm looking to have something to breed from this year I'm buying a ram lamb so would they be more likely to go in lamb to him then a proven ram?

rangler1

Youngshepherd wrote: »

The only problem I have with ewe lambs is I'm looking to have something to breed from this year I'm buying a ram lamb so would they be more likely to go in lamb to him then a proven ram?

You'd be better with mature ewes with a ram lamb, also if it's for your project, ewe lambs won't perform as well as mature ewes so it wouldn't be a fair comparison

Youngshepherd

The ram lamb will be covering my stock but I won't be testing on mine its other farmers stock I'll be testing on and there all mature ewes,Maybe ye can help me out lads I've only thirteen sheep this year 7 texel x hoggs 4 cull ewes 2 breeding ewes and 10 lambs so 23 in total I reckon I have about 2000 euro worth of sheep. I'm looking to sell them all this year and buy in fresh stock so I'll start with 10 hoggs I'm looking to spend 1500 so I've a little profit to show for my work what kind of hoggs would ye go for? I like the cheviot and borris and was considering mule but I don't think I'll get any for 150.

weatherbyfoxer

10 hoggs @ 150=1500.producing 15 weaned lambs @ 100 euro each=1500 now pay for a few bags of meal 6 weeks pre lambing and a bit of dose and whatever else....eouldnt be a runner in my opionion

What sbout buying hornys?..they can be picked up cheap

Future Farmer

Sheep breeder wrote: »

and dont forget to have the knackery number on speed dial, or as wise man once said get a shovel as the luck penny for to bury them.

Still alot cheaper than buying hoggets - plus they'd be proven maternal ewes else they wouldn't still be around.....

Youngshepherd

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

10 hoggs @ 150=1500.producing 15 weaned lambs @ 100 euro each=1500 now pay for a few bags of meal 6 weeks pre lambing and a bit of dose and whatever else....eouldnt be a runner in my opionion

What sbout buying hornys?..they can be picked up cheap

I limit each ewe to one bag of meal per ewe so that's 100 euro In total if ewes had singles id have pet lambs to put on them that would cost me 15 euro each so there would be a little profit in it and I wouldn't mind a little cost for the first year, I don't think lambs off hornys would sell well here and I dont like the look of them

weatherbyfoxer

Not a huge fan of hornys myself but if good ones crossed with a good texel ram the lambs are fine plus the hornys will suit your commanage too

When i got into sheep 6 years ago i went to blessington and bought 50 speckled face hoggs avraging €145 sold 80 lambs off them the following summer for €100 each...

Youngshepherd

Suppose the Lanark kind don't look a bad ewe also saw some nice Suffolks off a mule ewe they had a nice speckle face I suppose all I can do is have a look in the mart and if I see something I like ill bid on it, is it a check your paid with on the day if you sell something?

wybrant

Go out and buy nice strong 3,4 yo hornys. Put a texal ram on them. Lamb them in march. Keep the ewe lambs from them for you're lowland flock. Come this time next year kill ram lambs and ewes if you wanted. Youll keep them cheap on the hill for the winter cos thats where they belong. Improve you're lowland flock with the replacements and get close to what you paid for them if you want to kill the ewes this time next year.

galwayhillbilly

I started my flock with 10 hornys and a few pet lambs a few years ago, I have 40 mostly crossbreds now charollais x and Suffolk x. I always had a problem getting rid of the wethers but that is because I always sold as stores and the lads around here always looked down their noses at the x breds in the mart, you always ended up selling to a dealer who probably would have paid more if he had a farmer to bid against him.
I always have to sell something in july/ august because of kids going back to school money is always tight at that time of year, you wont have this worry. Get them to finish weight and sell direct to the factory or butcher, they won't be pointing at the buts of horns or the long wool and having a snigger for themselves. they only care about the KO weight and better still a dealer wont have profited from the local snobbery.

If you do buy them flush them on good grass for at least a month as you will improve your lambing percentage.
If you are buying broken mouthed hornys make sure they are coming off the hill and that they haven't had their spin a lowland farm already,

You can go for full mouthed you will pay a little bit more but if you keep them for more than one season they can get a bit soft on the good grass. When you are culling bring them to a mart where they are used to horny sheep not your local one.
There is an area in Waterford well know for its hill sheep might be closer for you than coming out west

Green farmer

[QUOTE=galwayhillbilly
If you are buying broken mouthed hornys make sure they are coming off the hill and that they haven't had their spin a lowland farm already,
You can go for full mouthed you will pay a little bit more but if you keep them for more than one season they can get a bit soft on the good grass. When you are culling bring them to a mart where they are used to horny sheep not your local [/QUOTE]


Often pondered picking up a trailer load of them and putting to one of my texel rams as I like the hilltex ewe.How well would they fit into a lowland setup. I've 3ft fencing that keeps in the ewes. Would this be ok for them ? Or would they be wilder ? Would they adapt to the paddock fields ok after being out in the hills ? What type of hill sheep would ye recommend ?

MayoAreMagic

Green farmer wrote: »

Often pondered picking up a trailer load of them and putting to one of my texel rams as I like the hilltex ewe.How well would they fit into a lowland setup. I've 3ft fencing that keeps in the ewes. Would this be ok for them ? Or would they be wilder ? Would they adapt to the paddock fields ok after being out in the hills ? What type of hill sheep would ye recommend ?

That would be fine green farmer. A lot of them are used to paddocks as they are, as many farmers out my way keep their twins off the hills for a while at the start to give them a chance. Otherwise the foxes just pick them off. As long as they weren't getting spooked by a dog or something they would be fine.

If you were buying them though you would need to be weary, some guys have the land to run suffolks but keep hornys, mainly for the shows etc. The key is not to buy big bullies of fat ewes, go for healthy looking ones. Id always look to buy off the farm rather than at the sales also. Gangs at the sales are generally picked out from a long way off, whereas a gang on something like donedeal for instance are often literally after coming off the hill that day.

galwayhillbilly

You probably would get way with 3 ft fencing, does it have a line of barbed wire along the top? They tend to bully their way through a hedge or climb a stone wall they don't like doing a clear jump,

What I have done any time I get in a batch of any sheep is I put them into my most secure field for a fortnight and I feed them twice a day get them nice and spoilt and tame and then let them out onto the bigger fields I might give them a few nuts every few days then just to keep them manageable. No harm for them to mix with a few lowland ewes it can help quieten them down. handling them can be tough compared to an nice quiet suffolk

I am down to 4 hornys at the moment 2 with full mouths who I will keep for another year and I am thinking of getting in 4 or 5 more again this year.


As for the type I am not sure, I try to go for big long bodied sheep, they say the small ones are hardier but I like a big sheep, you possibly have a better chance of twins with the bigger ewe. Also you want to minimise the chances of small size being passed on to your x bred replacement. This is why I think you are better buying direct from a farmer or from a dealer as you just go in and pick the ones you want, in a mart you have to take the good and the bad from the batch. You can just ring maam cross and they will buy them for you and arrange delivery but there is a whole heap of trust involved in a transaction like that and I don't know anyone who has done it.

MayoAreMagic

Just for balance greenfarmer, Id say that I wouldn't go for an overly long mountain ewe. I find the longer they are, the harder they are to fatten. Id much sooner go for a good deep-bodied ewe with a strong bone and a good kidney - the better the kidney the less likely you will have lambing issues with the texel ram. Length doesn't always mean weight. If you look at how the Lanark ewe has been bred, they aren't long at all and yet they weigh well.

galwayhillbilly

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

Just for balance greenfarmer, Id say that I wouldn't go for an overly long mountain ewe. I find the longer they are, the harder they are to fatten. Id much sooner go for a good deep-bodied ewe with a strong bone and a good kidney - the better the kidney the less likely you will have lambing issues with the texel ram. Length doesn't always mean weight. If you look at how the Lanark ewe has been bred, they aren't long at all and yet they weigh well.

To be fair greenfarmer MayoAreMagic probably has a lot more knowledge than me, I am only doing this a few years, the Mayo lads started breeding mules and Greyfaces years ago and were probably the first to cotton on to the Hilltex breed, it is still hard for me to convince any of my neighbours that there is any merit in a crossbred ewe. Suffolks and Texels is all they want to know about and at the mart the Suffolk will always out price any lamb with a grey or white face no matter what the weight