Pedigree sheep breeding

JayBally

Been keeping commercial sheep for a couple of years I am a young farmer at 28 years old.

I have always been interested in breeding and showing pedigree sheep, I know a lot of people would say your mad but I am not doing it for the money doing it for the passion and the social aspect.

I am a big fan of texels so I am toying with purchasing in lamb ewes 5 hopefully so I can join the society and then buy a top top Ram next year at one of the sales retaining all ewe lambs born this year.

just wondering if anyone has any advice for me?

I have all the facilities to lamb indoors etc.

Boards.ie: Niamh

Found this in a very quiet part of the site so I have moved it to the Sheep forum where you might get some advice @JayBally - sorry it took so long to move.

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058215809/pedigree-sheep-breeding

Noted texel breeder Micheal Mc Hugh always claimed that texel breeding was not for the faint hearted and he has two sons close that are vets. Maybe there's a message there for you. Consider charolais, good demand and easier managed.

Martin J Murphy

JayBally Sheep breeding is one of the best thing you can do for your life, started in the Galway breed then the Suffolk and now the Texel breed all have great attributes and are unique in there own way, sheep keeps your money safe and land usage not Hugh investment and easier always but look at your cost base in any enterprise, I really love the Texel breed but what ever breed you go for it is very enjoyable meet loads of lovely people.

The money involved in texels is eye watering,i know lads in for north of 30K by now (one of whom sold majority his rams for factory price this year)

Between the ET,taking of eggs,and AI,its an expensive game for a breed starting to develop huge flaws and longivity of the crossbred ewe falling (and to my eyes raises ethical issues)

Suffocks are afaik alot cheaper to get into,requiring just 2 ewes iirc....but can run into the huge costs as with texels,if you wish to compete to a reasonable level.....but if its just a pasttime etc ya want...go for it

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118349734#Comment_118349734

Blue Texels are making eye watering prices in the UK atm

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118324374#Comment_118324374

Breeders have to do something about texel throat, A neighbour lost two rams from the one breeder and another lost three rams, it's just not on. A lot of the rams in the premier sale had links back to a known carrier. A neighbour phoned from that sale on my opinion of a ram, I told him his ssire was a carrier, when he questioned the owner he actually knew about it, yet expected a buyer to buy it in good faith

Martin J Murphy

JayBalli, Yes, this is not only in the Texel breed but is found in all breeds, there is a lot of research being done by the UCD and Sheep Ireland into Laryngeal chondritis to get a better fix on the cause and characteristic of the sheep that come down with this problem.

It is unfair that the Texel had its name attached to the problem, it may be at the start this was found more often in the Texel Breed than any other breed. The correct term to describe this condition is Laryngeal chondritis.

Happy Xmas to you and family and friends.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118349800#Comment_118349800

Themselves and the badger faced texels are really after taking off in prices.....its hard to see how the commerial end-user can justify some of prices being asked tbh compared to more tradional breeds

jfh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352305#Comment_118352305

Excuse my ignorance here, but is the fascination with these the same as the roan in sucklers, are they not just texel that have a gene to throw blueish color?

Lano Lynn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118351417#Comment_118351417

if texel breeders think it is unfair with it being referred to as texel throat then what is when they knowingly breed from effected sheep and expect commercial farmers to take the loss.

Their greedy pursuit of fashion over function breeding big heads short necks and flushing ewes prone to mastitis unable to lamb a single naturally is simply bad husbandry. how the ponsi scheme is still going I don't know.

and it is not the only genetic nightmare in texels , lambs born with small or no eyes is another gem no one talks about. The large head has long been a feature of the breed but fashion to shorten the face even more is resulting in severe dental problems both inscisors and molars shortening their lifespan

laryngeal chondritis is know in other stock beltex and belgian blues and similar conditions in bulldogs and some cats

what was once a great sheep breed has been ruined whether it is beyond rescuing remains to be seen.

In the 1960/70s kelso ram sales were dominated by of border leisters ,the clever breeders failed to heed their customers and kept on with the show ring fashions these days a handful of borders are sold in kelso and the breed struggles with a reputation of poor milkers with bad teeth.......

the farming press likes to print 'Dougal sells fizzle pizzle for 100,000 to zebedee' but gives feck all coverage or respect to the absolute that the most money is shelled out by commercial farmers struggling to make an income not just blowing tax dodging budgets on vanity model farms. farming journalists failure to expose this carry on and bad breeding practices is all part of the circus.

Sheep breeder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118351417#Comment_118351417

Have to disagree with you on this about the texels, have seen no other breed with these problems. Never seen a Suffolk or charollais or venden with any of the problems the texel have, and now the breeders have decided to go down the road of stripping the wool and what this adds to the breed is beyond me. The big money false price and all the ET work of keeping a couple of ewes to flush to death and multiple the faults quicker. The spotted Dutch, Badger, Blues, Black nose are all a pyramid game. The new ostrich breeds.

A good article from a reasonably succesful texel breeder in scotland outling the obvious

https://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/livestock/19508749.texels-tick-boxes-knock-bryden-nicolson/

He also highlighted the growing problem of mastitis within the breed, which he said needs to be addressed by the society, like it or not, when other breeds don’t have the same issues

Instead, he said that embryo transfer accentuates most problems within a breed and interestingly resulted in the Cheviot and Shetland sheep breeds banning all AI and ET work years ago.