Tup for breeding ewes

joe35

Hi all I've 30 mayo blackface sheep and I was looking for comments on what ram to run with them for replacement sheep . I was thinking Blueface Leicester but the father is saying to go for a Belclare. He said he had a leicester and that they are a very weak breed and ram lambs are hard to fatten. Comments???? Thanks

case5130

What about a Texan .. Breed some hiltex

Willfarman

Another vote for Texal here. Or suffolk.

joe35

would they be as prolific as the belclare or leicester.

Willfarman

Not as prolific but both your ram lambs and your ewe lambs are worth money. What did your father use before?

IH784man

joe35 wrote: »

Hi all I've 30 mayo blackface sheep and I was looking for comments on what ram to run with them for replacement sheep . I was thinking Blueface Leicester but the father is saying to go for a Belclare. He said he had a leicester and that they are a very weak breed and ram lambs are hard to fatten. Comments???? Thanks

are they going on a hill or lowland

joe35

We've a fairly varied farm. A lot of out farms and we farm about 400 ewes of mixed breed. We'd keep a fairly good ewe but i'm trying to increase prolificy into the flock without reducing lamb quality too much. we always nave a varied ewe type in the flock, cheviot, suffolk, texel, lleyn, mayo, dorset horned, even a few hampshire down. I've 30 horned ewes now myself and i'm gonna be breeding replacement for the main flock. At least thats the plan anyway. We've about 30 acres on the mountain, some poor quality low land and some good quality. So low land sheep might even spend time on the hills, This is were the father said the leicester was a poor ewe, they never trieved on the hills

Willfarman

I hate the sight of the Leicester sheep. Light narrow soft rabbity looking yokes! I love suffolk cross Horny ewes. Super mothers. Milky and great cross with charolais.

wybrant

If you have good strong horny ewes like a swale or lanark then get a blue leicester. They breed super mules. But youve mayo hornys which are not in their league so i would use a texal to put a bit of size into them. hiltex are good replacement also. Both should scan 1.9 and rear them. Im a big fan of belclare but not on a horny sheep.

MayoAreMagic

It is all mayo ewes in my area, and anyone running a different breed ram on them is running a texel. They make a nice lamb, although generally I wouldn't run them on anything under 2 years old.

With the belclare you would probably end up with ewes that are only really fit to rear one good lamb, having twins. For a lot of people, that is just hassle they don't want.

There actually can be a bit of variation in the mayo ewe, generally depending on what part they originated from. Some of them can actually be a little softer, and can have been reared on nothing but good grass all their lives. They would produce bigger lambs but they take a bit more minding, and generally wouldn't do as well if they had to go onto a mountain etc.
The other type are smaller, longer lasting, a more hardy type of sheep, with more emphasis put on teeth and ability to rear a lamb unassisted. Both have their uses, it just depends on what you are after.

IH784man

Tbh I would think you'd be better selling the mayos and buying a few good Cheviots or something similar.

joe35

all valid points so thanks for same, i'll keep ye posted with my decisions. I'm thinking of going with the leicester and get a few mules. Thanks again

buffalobilly

well did u go with leicester and how
did it go

sheepfarmer92

joe35 wrote: »

Hi all I've 30 mayo blackface sheep and I was looking for comments on what ram to run with them for replacement sheep . I was thinking Blueface Leicester but the father is saying to go for a Belclare. He said he had a leicester and that they are a very weak breed and ram lambs are hard to fatten. Comments???? Thanks

Hes not wrong, lambs can be a bit soft off the blue Leicester, if i were u id seriously consider using a north country cheviot ram, wev been using thwm for last 3 years jow and very happy with the ewe they breed, ram lams are a lot easier finished too

DJ98

sheepfarmer92 wrote: »

Hes not wrong, lambs can be a bit soft off the blue Leicester, if i were u id seriously consider using a north country cheviot ram, wev been using thwm for last 3 years jow and very happy with the ewe they breed, ram lams are a lot easier finished too

Have you got any pictures of them?

sheepfarmer92

DJ98 wrote: »

Have you got any pictures of them?

Il try get some for u this evening

sheepfarmer92

DJ98 wrote: »

Have you got any pictures of them?

Heres a few pictures