How's lambing going?

Cran · 08-04-2014 10:03PM

eire23 wrote: »

Was in the same situation as well sea, all the terminal sires here were suffolk up to buying the charolais. If they thrive as well as the suffolks we will be laughing!

Convinced the father to move to Charollais over 20 years ago. After years of Suffolk and the disappointment in where they went and where going as a breed at start of 90s, change was needed. Tried Texel first, found to many lambing problems outside and finally got him to buy a Charollais. Move on over 20 years yet to find a terminal that works as well lambing out and grows as well. (must say have no experience of Vendeen).

Lambing Lleyns here for two years to breed replacements, easy lambed too and quick up as crosses. I personally don't like pure Lleyns lambing out, find them difficult.....horses for courses though it's whatever breed suits your system

tomwaterford · 08-04-2014 10:06PM

Username John wrote: »

I only had the first two Lleyns this morning. And it was a Lleyn ram, not ewes.
We'll see how they grow...

Hmmm, that's not good after 3 weeks. And we wouldn't have much shelter either...

could be different types of charolais with extra wool...just heard horror stories of lads going around with fertilizer bags gathering dead lambs.....admitelly that was an exceptional wet year and they had no choice but to let them out anyway due to lack of room
and never brought them in and rain showers came on over night and wreaked havoc

Green farmer · 09-04-2014 10:04AM

tomwaterford wrote: »

could be different types of charolais with extra wool...just heard horror stories of lads going around with fertilizer bags gathering dead lambs.....admitelly that was an exceptional wet year and they had no choice but to let them out anyway due to lack of room
and never brought them in and rain showers came on over night and wreaked havoc

I have Charlaois and texel ram. The Charolais is easier lambed then the texel, but the texel is better covered in hair and that bit hardier. swings and roundabouts really. A lot depends on the mother really, what genes she has passed on.

tomwaterford · 09-04-2014 12:34PM

Green farmer wrote: »

I have Charlaois and texel ram. The Charolais is easier lambed then the texel, but the texel is better covered in hair and that bit hardier. swings and roundabouts really. A lot depends on the mother really, what genes she has passed on.

they are a mighty cross off texel ewes IMO
just the shortage of wool is a killer...esp if you have weeks of rain and cold it will effect charolais lambs more:)

Conmaicne Mara · 09-04-2014 08:20PM

28 out of 30 lambed, 40 lambs alive and kicking. Unfortunately it doesn't look like I'll make my 150% target as one of my ewes had a big single instead of twins. Oh well, next time, room to improve, currently at 143% I think. No losses so far, touch wood.

truedoom · 09-04-2014 08:26PM

It's going absolutley rubbish for me. Not a single lamb.

...granted i don't have any sheep, or a farm...and i live in a city.

Probably where i'm going wrong =/

paddysdream · 09-04-2014 08:35PM

truedoom wrote: »

It's going absolutley rubbish for me. Not a single lamb.

...granted i don't have any sheep, or a farm...and i live in a city.

Probably where i'm going wrong =/

No sheep?You ain't going wrong at all.First one here with any sense.

rancher · 09-04-2014 08:58PM

tomwaterford wrote: »

they are a mighty cross off texel ewes IMO
just the shortage of wool is a killer...esp if you have weeks of rain and cold it will effect charolais lambs more:)

Texel ewes breed great lambs, but some of them are tight, so you have to stay away from heavy boned breeds. they milk like cows

Sheep breeder · 09-04-2014 09:21PM

Down to two to lamb,have to lamb by Sunday, on the charollais there are several variations with in the breed as any breed and the breeders vary from one to another on type with the under the kitchen table to the grass reared ram.when people go to buy a ram they only look at the name of the breeder and not the genetics of the sheep, in France the home of the charollais they lamb in very cold conditions and are bred for hardness before a lot of the English type of charollais who are only for show looks.the kids have some pure texels and these are hardship to lamb, but when they are crossed to the charollais they lamb themselves no problem when bred pure some times you need the calving jack or the hacksaw to lamb them.

tomwaterford · 09-04-2014 09:34PM

rancher wrote: »

Texel ewes breed great lambs, but some of them are tight, so you have to stay away from heavy boned breeds. they milk like cows

ya...they are a great sheep:)
I like them easy to do anything with,feet reasonably good:),great milkers,very hardy lambs, stubborn as f**k though at times

they make great ewes to cross with charolais or vendeens IMO...just watch what singles eat before lambing:o as I find youl get an odd one will put it all into the lamb (do you know why this is??)

Green farmer · 10-04-2014 12:25AM

My lambing percentages have taken a bit of a reduction, 7 singles in a row. At least all alive , so half a loaf is better then no loaf . As regards texel cross ewes, I've plenty of them. Good sheep as long as they don't become too texel looking. Ones with a narrow face are good sheep but when you've ones that look like their dads, then you've gone too far. They will be good mothers alright but you will have to pull everyone of them that is carrying a big single lamb. Just not enough room to work with in the pelvis.
Still I'd take them any day of the week compared to charlaois cross ewes. Have some of them as well. A few are getting road to cull land soon. No milk and no mothering instinct, in my ones. Their made for the table and not for breeding . But that's just my experience, maybe others have different opinions.

Username John · 10-04-2014 07:11AM

Green farmer wrote: »

Still I'd take them any day of the week compared to charlaois cross ewes. Have some of them as well. A few are getting road to cull land soon. No milk and no mothering instinct, in my ones. Their made for the table and not for breeding . But that's just my experience, maybe others have different opinions.

I have had a few of them too...

But... I also have 1 or 2 Charolais that have been good to mind their ewes. And whilst not having that much milk, they produced savage lambs...

I suppose like with any breed, there are almost breeds within the breed...

rancher · 10-04-2014 08:02AM

Username John wrote: »

I have had a few of them too...

But... I also have 1 or 2 Charolais that have been good to mind their ewes. And whilst not having that much milk, they produced savage lambs...

I suppose like with any breed, there are almost breeds within the breed...

Article in the journal today reports that Ken Matthews (tullamore) 330 ewes gave birth to over 700 lambs......new target for us all

Username John · 10-04-2014 08:13AM

rancher wrote: »

Article in the journal today reports that Ken Matthews (tullamore) 330 ewes gave birth to over 700 lambs......new target for us all

Holy God Rancher... I had a target of 1.7 and that didnt go too well this year... Don't be telling me about a lad having a birth rate of over 2...

Well done to Ken tho, they're some figures. I assume they were Belclare ewes?

rancher · 10-04-2014 11:52AM

Username John wrote: »

Holy God Rancher... I had a target of 1.7 and that didnt go too well this year... Don't be telling me about a lad having a birth rate of over 2...

Well done to Ken tho, they're some figures. I assume they were Belclare ewes?

Belclare is right,,,belclare + good management will make you busy.
Had bad luck this morn, a hogget on an outfarm scanned empty lambing, lamb coming backwards and big with it.... anyway we got a successful foster on to her

arctictree · 11-04-2014 11:25AM

arctictree wrote: »

First set of triplets this morning. They look healthy enough. Would ye lads ever leave them as a set? I only have 2 ewes left to lamb and they are not scanned so don't know if I'll have any singles.

My triplets don't seem to be doing that well. Anyone take a triplet off the mother after a week and bottle feed? Would the lamb take to the bottle? I don't have a foster available.

Username John · 11-04-2014 11:30AM

arctictree wrote: »

My triplets don't seem to be doing that well. Anyone take a triplet off the mother after a week and bottle feed? Would the lamb take to the bottle? I don't have a foster available.

Could you leave them with the ewe and supplement with a bottle? (Say give a bottle morning and evening?)

Triplets never do well for me. I accept it may well be my ewes - but every time I have said "oh, I'll chance leaving the 3 on her, they seem to be doing ok" I have regretted it.

AnFeirmeoir · 11-04-2014 11:35AM

arctictree wrote: »

My triplets don't seem to be doing that well. Anyone take a triplet off the mother after a week and bottle feed? Would the lamb take to the bottle? I don't have a foster available.

Go with your gut . If you feel they're not doing well, they're not doing well.

When you take one off he'll be slow to take to the bottle but the hunger on the second day should change that. so maybe take a strong one off.

rancher · 11-04-2014 01:42PM

Username John wrote: »

Could you leave them with the ewe and supplement with a bottle? (Say give a bottle morning and evening?)

Triplets never do well for me. I accept it may well be my ewes - but every time I have said "oh, I'll chance leaving the 3 on her, they seem to be doing ok" I have regretted it.

+1

sea12 · 11-04-2014 09:53PM

Username John wrote: »

Could you leave them with the ewe and supplement with a bottle? (Say give a bottle morning and evening?)

Triplets never do well for me. I accept it may well be my ewes - but every time I have said "oh, I'll chance leaving the 3 on her, they seem to be doing ok" I have regretted it.

Just thinking the same this morning when I saw one of them in the field. Bent up like an s. Unfortunately he won't take a bottle to supplement.

Lano Lynn · 11-04-2014 10:29PM

a cow has four tits and guys are thrilled when she rears a good calf,if she has twins they pull hell out of her and only do middling.either way she will never produce more than her liveweight in output per lactation.

sheep have two tits fellas whinge when she doesnt produce twins whose combined liveweight is greater than their dam.

expecting her to rear triplets is just unfair.

if lucky you end up with four bad sheep.

there is no excuse nowadays donedeal !!!!!!!!!!!!

Lano Lynn · 11-04-2014 11:12PM

Green farmer wrote: »

My lambing percentages have taken a bit of a reduction, 7 singles in a row. At least all alive , so half a loaf is better then no loaf . As regards texel cross ewes, I've plenty of them. Good sheep as long as they don't become too texel looking. Ones with a narrow face are good sheep but when you've ones that look like their dads, then you've gone too far. They will be good mothers alright but you will have to pull everyone of them that is carrying a big single lamb. Just not enough room to work with in the pelvis.
Still I'd take them any day of the week compared to charlaois cross ewes. Have some of them as well. A few are getting road to cull land soon. No milk and no mothering instinct, in my ones. Their made for the table and not for breeding . But that's just my experience, maybe others have different opinions.

100%agree.....texels are great if they don't look like texels......(is that an oximoron or an ovimoron)

what a pity that the breed is being Fd up by showring bullsh1t the breed is going to be more screwed up than suffolks if not allready.

several breeds of dog cannot physically give birth naturally because 'top breeders 'selected for disproportionatly large heads and narrow pelvises the same has been done to texels,total neglect of functionality it really p/sses me off.

has anyone encountered 'texel throat' or texel lambs with no eyes? both genetic conditions .

Green farmer · 12-04-2014 12:31AM

Just home from lambing sheds, trying to get a char x hogget ewe to stand still for her lamb to suck. I really like the texel but breeders are pushing them too far . My rams are medium sized and can be hard to lamb when crossed with the wrong type of ewe. I hate to think what a huge show winner ram would throw out lamb size. The ewes that I've put to my charlaois are lambing easier, but they don't look as good quality lamb as the texel. Will have to see how both thrive once put out onto grass .

rancher · 12-04-2014 01:03AM

Green farmer wrote: »

Just home from lambing sheds, trying to get a char x hogget ewe to stand still for her lamb to suck. I really like the texel but breeders are pushing them too far . My rams are medium sized and can be hard to lamb when crossed with the wrong type of ewe. I hate to think what a huge show winner ram would throw out lamb size. The ewes that I've put to my charlaois are lambing easier, but they don't look as good quality lamb as the texel. Will have to see how both thrive once put out onto grass .

You should keep records, it might surprise you, The texels look the part here, as you say look better quality than the continental, yet we find the texel takes longer to get to killing weight and then doesn't kill out as well either.
As a pedigree breeder, we have to produce what the market wants and that's a fed ram, no point showing any thing else.
Because I like texel ewes, I buy high growth rate, feminine looking rams, so their progeny should be growing quicker than the breed average

Cran · 12-04-2014 12:06PM

rancher wrote: »

You should keep records, it might surprise you, The texels look the part here, as you say look better quality than the continental, yet we find the texel takes longer to get to killing weight and then doesn't kill out as well either.
As a pedigree breeder, we have to produce what the market wants and that's a fed ram, no point showing any thing else.
Because I like texel ewes, I buy high growth rate, feminine looking rams, so their progeny should be growing quicker than the breed average

It's funny I ve been trying Lleyn ram here for past few years to breed ewe lambs and really happy with them. There is a but though, in that I prefer the tidier head Lleyn rams rather then the big long headed traditional Lleyns I see a most sales.

I'm not saying there is Texel in them, but many people have commented on the rams how they look like a big texel with nice kind head.

Conmaicne Mara · 12-04-2014 12:28PM

Two hangers on left, must check them some day to see that they're actually in lamb as I don't scan here. Have them up with the hoggets on hay and a lifeline bucket, knocked off the ration, fup'em they've enough eaten now if they can't make a lamb out of it they never will.

rancher · 12-04-2014 01:06PM

Cran wrote: »

It's funny I ve been trying Lleyn ram here for past few years to breed ewe lambs and really happy with them. There is a but though, in that I prefer the tidier head Lleyn rams rather then the big long headed traditional Lleyns I see a most sales.

I'm not saying there is Texel in them, but many people have commented on the rams how they look like a big texel with nice kind head.

I like texels but I'm using lleyn in the mix too for hardines

Cran · 12-04-2014 03:56PM

88% through here on commercials and one pedigree left. 14 days into first cycle so very happy with progress here don't think they've ever lambed so quick

Back to day job Monday, end of two weeks as full time farmer

Green farmer · 12-04-2014 04:05PM

A lad the other day told me to change the rams every week next year. Said after a week the ram starts throwing singles. He said he can tell when lambing when the new rams lambs start arriving, as he shoots from singles up to doubles again. Any one hear this before ?

Cran · 12-04-2014 06:32PM

Green farmer wrote: »

A lad the other day told me to change the rams every week next year. Said after a week the ram starts throwing singles. He said he can tell when lambing when the new rams lambs start arriving, as he shoots from singles up to doubles again. Any one hear this before ?

Had to check the date on this one classic

How's lambing going?

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