Lambman wrote: » Shearing usually pays for itself.... I don't belive they can be more resistant than any other breed till flystrike? Any flystrike i ever had is in lambs and wudnt the easycare lambs have as much wool on them at this stage as any other breed? If u want a sheep till live on rough grazing buy mules and tip with blue Lester ram and you'll return 1.8 + lambs and lamb outside and every bit as easy finished.... foot problems can occur in any breed but can be controlled by selective breeding... if you have a good setup with good fields and wire then it's up till you what u keep everyone has there own way a working and does what suits them or what they like.... 1.4 would be a poor return on a lowland flock and I'm sure any off the terminal breeds will be faster till factory than an easycare lamb.
Lambman wrote: » There not for me but as I said above everyman has there preferences... I've no foot problems here either or flystrike but maybe that's because we look after them properly as you said with dosing etc.... but if a man were till be left a farm with no idea about farming and wanted till buy a few sheep and read ur above post hed think this is gonna be easy I buy 100 easycare sheep they lamb themselves have great feet live in poor ground all I have till do is gather and sell my 140 lambs every year.... do u think it would work? I don't all sheep need looking after.
Green farmer wrote: » Good to see a discussion on the easy care. Anyone know how they compare to the llyen ? Thinking about I'm trying out the easy care here on mixed lowland. How do they finish in comparison to terminal sires ?
Green farmer wrote: » Good to see a discussion on the easy care.
Lambman wrote: » Nice lamb shooter123 what % do they kill out at?
123shooter wrote: » It may be a slow hard slog as with 99 views of the thread only 2 sheep farmers offer their views so far.
ganmo wrote: » To be brutally honest the pro side had so much marketing speak and con arguments wasn't any better...so I just lets yas at it. By the way wool did make money for the previous 2 years
Username John wrote: » I'll contribute, just as you said not many were (Altho I don't lamb sheep no more) From what I read on this thread - easycare are very good, in that they dont need shearing. I see this as a big plus, as having to shear is a faff... Maybe some years you make a little, other years lose a little... But if given a choice, would prefer to skip it... However... To me, this is the only real pro. The other items you mention around feet, I think as Lambman said, thats down to breeding, culling, management within your own flock. We used to have mainly Suffolks, and whilst they were known for bad feet - all ours were very good, cos we culled heard to rid ourselves of the lame ones... Maybe a con for easycare, is growth rates vs lambs a terminal ram? So maybe lads would prefer to spend 1 day a year shearing, to be rid of lambs maybe a few weeks earlier? I dunno... I think they definitely have their place. But I dont think they are for everyone either, but who knows... Another point is the scan rate - now, I know this could be increased by crossing with a maternal breed, but it seems is something the easycare brings... Speaking of crossing, tell me - how hereditary is the wool shedding? If a lad got an easycare ram, and put with a Suffolk cross ewe (I say Suffolk, as a lot of the national flock have Suffolk in them) Would the resulting lambs shed their wool? Or would you need breed again off an easycare ram, for it to come through?
sheepfarmer92 wrote: » Have some easycares here and are crossing them onto our 12 to 1300 ewes to breed replacements from, only been experimenting with them the last few years as a sire for ewe lambs, will start to cross them in a big way this year as looking to buy 10 easycare rams to add to the 8 we already have, ALL sheep need some attention, some more than others, i would say the fact that the easycare lambs have a higher weight gain than our texel mules, have better feet and flesh just as easily are more of an advantage, also we can fully close the flock, before we were buying in some ewes every few years to breed more replacements, the no wool thing is just a bonus, there is f**k all money in producing wool, you take the labour and time involved along with the odd ewe getting cast it all adds up, i do believe they could still get flystrike just not as easily as wooly sheep Just too add, we plan to keep using some texels as terminal on the bottom end off the ewes and breed the best to the easycare
stantheman1979 wrote: » Run a flock of belclare/lleyn/romney ewes. Scan 1.9. Sell 60% of my lambs at 14 weeks off grass. Land is all fenced with sheep wire/barb as we've cattle also. Sheep are shorn in Feb and need to be done to go onto the slats they would be indoors anyway so no real hassle. No real foot problems as I've culled hard and sheep get foot bathed when ever they're in the yard. Ive a few hornys/halfbreds and very very rarely had to take one outta a fence!! I've worked hard last 10 yrs to get to this stage why in the name of god would I change to these sheep you're promoting
123shooter wrote: » I agree all sheep need attention. Are you keeping any Easycare as PB ?
123shooter wrote: » Please don't shoot. I am not promoting honestly. Me not being bought up as a sheep farmer fail to see the benefits of other sheep breeds unless you have a market for them and the facilities to keep and benefit from them. As I said I kept horny's and find these a lot better. But I admit I have never kept other breeds except the odd xcross with my hornys.
Username John wrote: » The biggest benefit is other sheep grow faster...
Ard_MC wrote: » U run them on commonage shooter? Like heather and bog hills? Can they beat the hornys in that environment? Cant see them workin on commonage as wool shedding means mark shedding i guess?!!
stantheman1979 wrote: » Fail to see what you're promoting. I can't see the benefit of a ewe that scans 1.4 and produces a lamb with a 17kg carcass or a store. Is it easy care or a Wiltshire horn/Welsh u have I'm confused
123shooter wrote: » I see......But with the extra costs and extra work are you better off or not? There must be a reason why somebody went to so much trouble?
Username John wrote: » But it's one days extra work (shearing) vs having lambs around for an extra few weeks maybe... Maybe an extra dose for the easy care lambs cow they are that bit longer, plus minding em for another few weeks... plus potentially less money for the east are lambs as the season goes on the price drops... As I said - am sure there is a place for them, depending on your system. But I don't think they suit everyone...
