Jacob sheep

Youngshepherd

Anyone have any Jacob sheep? What are they like as a breed? What are pure lambs like in terms of weight? And is 130 a lot for pbnr ewe lambs? I don't expect them to be like texel or Suffolk lambs just as long as they can get near 45kg in a 5 or 6 month space.

ganmo

Youngshepherd wrote: »

Anyone have any Jacob sheep? What are they like as a breed? What are pure lambs like in terms of weight? And is 130 a lot for pbnr ewe lambs? I don't expect them to be like texel or Suffolk lambs just as long as they can get near 45kg in a 5 or 6 month space.

From what I gather from talkin to ppl they're more a maternal breed, not sure about growth rates etc.

All crosses seem to come all black

Syrmaticus

I run a small pedigree flock of them and have always found them to be easily lambed and good mothers.

If your buying unregistered animals make sure you see their parents, there's a lot of small animals being sold as Jacobs. The meat from mine is delicious.

I won't sell a PBNR ewe lamb for any less than €150.

Youngshepherd

Do they take long to be ready for killing or what weight do you find is best?

Syrmaticus

A local butcher kills mine for the freezer, all are gone by the age of 6 months. I've had strong ram lambs more than 50 kilos at 6 months. This years were smaller but some were bottle lambs. No harm in trying a few ewes and running them with a Charolais ram.

Youngshepherd

I'd be aiming to run them pure moving away from the commercial ewe and looking for something easy cared for and hardy enough to run on commonage. Jacobs sound good anyway hardy,prolific,easy lambed, and there weight gain doesn't sound to bad either

wybrant

There is no weight in them!! Weve a few! They look nice, a novelty to break up looking at sheep with white fleeces. Good mothers but bad milkers. Youre not gonna get fat lambs away early with them thats for sure

razor8

Jacobs are just hobbie sheep and not for intensive commercial farming IMO, you'd want the run of the country to get them fat

Youngshepherd

It's only 8 ewe lambs I'm getting and a ram they've 30 acres to graze with horses

Syrmaticus

See this is what I mean when I say there is a lot of bad quality Jacobs out there, useless black and white animals, underweight with horns growing all ways. A good quality pedigree Jacob from strong lines is as good a maternal animal as any. I have a pedigree ram for sale if he's of any use to you Youngshepherd.

Youngshepherd

There pedigree ones I'm getting I'm just choosing not to have them registered to cut cost but if I decide to get them registered I can, it's a ram lamb I'm looking for I don't want to spend a lot so I'd say he's to expensive for my needs! and I'm only travelling as far as Wexford as well

Syrmaticus

I'm in Wexford anyway, but you really do get what you pay for, and a ram is going to be the father of every lamb in the flock. I have a ram lamb here as well but he might be as you say out of your price range. I wouldn't pay more than €100 for an unregistered Jacob ram, they're usually fairly useless.

Syrmaticus

Also registering females is only £4 each, but double the cost after November of the year they were born and they may need to be blood tested. Only the breeder can register them for you. There's no harm in having them registered, you know what your getting and it adds value to them if you sell them on.