How hardy are these Lleyn sheep exactly?

johngalway

I keep reading about these Lleyn sheep, that they are a lowland sheep which are suited to both lowland and upland grazing

That is all well and good and I'm quite impressed with what I read of them, prolific breeders with low feeding requirements.

But, how tough are they? Can they compare to a Blackface ewe regarding where that Blackface ewe will eke out a living for herself on the type of upland commonages we have here in Connemara? My commonage isn't any higher than the farm, but it is on bogland. My Blackfaces do reasonably well on it, but there's nothing like limestone on it, any rock is granite.

I would be interested in trying out a few of them if they can compare. But if it's a case of "upland" meaning the grass there being of the same quantity and quality as my fenced land, just at a higher altitude, forget about it.

Do we have any Farmers here who have tried the Lleyns in this situation?

ATB,

John

snowman707

I am interested in the breed myself and judging by the response to my previous query there doesn't seem to be any breeders on boards

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055986705


will certainly get either a couple of rams for crossing or some ewes next year,

Sorry have no info on their suitability for the uplands though

supersean1999

imo i would doubt putting them on lowland bog would be to their liking im only guessing here but id say upland green fields with a bit of rough ground is whats meant, think the upland is more to do with altitude than our traditional meaning for upland BOG or HILL,maybe the cross would be a bit hardier,

5live

They are interesting sheep alright. There was a woman from tipp i was talking to at the ploughing a few years ago with a hill breed from france. Damned if i can think of their name but were tidy size and very small ears. That should narrow it down to about 1000 breeds. My oldest lad called them deaf because he could barely see the ears! Could make tagging a bit more interesting too

5live

At ploughing yesterday i found that sheep breed. The charmoise. Adult males 80 to 100 kg females 50 to 60kg. Average lambing rate 1.19. ADG of 221 to 246 g/day. Carcase of 16 to 17 kg in conditions of restricted feed. Not a hill breed according to the sheet i got but found in areas of difficult growth ie drought. Just imagine a smaller texel in terms of confirmation with much finer bone and small ears. the lleyn (pronounced clin apparently) have a lambing percentage of close to 200 with decent management with about 80% twins 10% single and the rest triplets or better. Look for rams tagged by the breed society as acceptable for breeding as ones not tagged may have a deficiency in terms of type. They looked a bit poorer than belclare in terms of confirmation but appear to be hardy. Hope that helped a bit

sheepdogone

i bought a lleyn ram last year after reading all the hype put him to 28 ewes had 51 lambs alive and reared . the lambs dont look as good as a charolais or suff texel x but they are up in seconds sucking no joking they want to live , i have kept ten on for replacements to c how they do and have put the ram out with 55 ewes this year because they make lambing easier .

hedgecutting eddie

i have them for the last 4 years ,great sheep to get up and suck im not breeding any rams just for the ewes , i find it very hard to fatten the ram lambs, i wud avdise not to go for a big ram a nice roundy butty ram , ewes are alot smaller than suffolk cross , there very milky nearly to much and have lots of lambs my purebreds scanned 2.1 %

5live

hedgecutting eddie wrote: »

i have them for the last 4 years ,great sheep to get up and suck im not breeding any rams just for the ewes , i find it very hard to fatten the ram lambs, i wud avdise not to go for a big ram a nice roundy butty ram , ewes are alot smaller than suffolk cross , there very milky nearly to much and have lots of lambs my purebreds scanned 2.1 %

How are they on worms? Dirty like suffolk or cleaner like texel? And do they lamb naturally out of season like belclares? I need to get smaller ewes that dont need sponging and 2.1 lambing down would be nicely around what i need:)

hedgecutting eddie

5live wrote: »

How are they on worms? Dirty like suffolk or cleaner like texel? And do they lamb naturally out of season like belclares? I need to get smaller ewes that dont need sponging and 2.1 lambing down would be nicely around what i need:)

Very clean sheep not bad feet wise 2 ,no way wud i sponge them u wud hav 4 -5 lambs/ewes i think i have 5 triplets on 25 ewes last year i lamb 1st march , im hopin to put a texel ram with pure lleyns then keep them ewes and cross with a charolais ram for butcher type lambs ,wil take gud few years to build up no.s

5live

hedgecutting eddie wrote: »

Very clean sheep not bad feet wise 2 ,no way wud i sponge them u wud hav 4 -5 lambs/ewes i think i have 5 triplets on 25 ewes last year i lamb 1st march , im hopin to put a texel ram with pure lleyns then keep them ewes and cross with a charolais ram for butcher type lambs ,wil take gud few years to build up no.s

Charolais?:eek: Had a bad experience with dem boyos. I need to get 2 rams this year and Lleyn is one i am considering. I lamb start of jan and dont sponge so am very particular about my rams:o

Username John

5live wrote: »

Charolais?:eek: Had a bad experience with dem boyos.

Can I ask what yer bad experience with the Charolais was 5live?

hedgecutting eddie

5live wrote: »

Charolais?:eek: Had a bad experience with dem boyos. I need to get 2 rams this year and Lleyn is one i am considering. I lamb start of jan and dont sponge so am very particular about my rams:o

it all depends what u want the lleyn for ,do u want to keep replacements or just finish lambs early , make great replacements but to finish lambs for easter market i wud stick with charolais best sheep in my eyes or for quick finishing selling straight to factory suffolk all the way but i see where i sell in kilkenny mart charolais lambs 50kg could make 115 -118euro suffolks lucky to get 110euro max,if buyin a charolais always try to get a ram with a cover on his head lambs wont b as bald when born , thats my thoughts im no expert!!

eorna

bought a lleyn ram last year to breed own replacements, so only breeding some of his ewe lambs this year and they look good, now the weathers were very hard to fatten as said in thread already..so i suppose can't have everything..you get good prolific replacements (in theory) and weathers that are not going to be at the top, that's my experience anyways..i am no expert either. Easy lambing...ideal for ewe lambs..

JohnBoy

sheep for dummies question!!!!


What's sponging?

jtex

JohnBoy wrote: »

sheep for dummies question!!!!


What's sponging?

Sponging is used to bring ewes into season early in season or to have a compact lambing. Sponges are put into the ewe's cervival canal for 12 days sponges taken out and ewe's given PMSG on removal. Ewes will be in oestrus normall 48-72hrs post sponge removal. Sponging is used for ai programmes, early lambing or compact lambing.

We sponged all our pedigree ewes this year and we have 92% due on 9th feb with the remaining 8% due on the next cycle and scanned 185%. Ewes were given 320 units of PMSG we're afraid to give any more as 15% of the ewes are carrying trips or quads

JohnBoy

similar to short cycling cows so, had heard the term before alright but never knew the meaning.

sheepdogone

i think it depends on the type of lleyn ram u got how hard the wethers are to fatten , i had no problems with the lleyn x suff ewes the lambs went to slaughter off the ewes no probs . I have seen a huge variation within the breed tho but they are supposed to be a female breed not a terminal sire . clean by name clean by nature !!

5live

Username John wrote: »

Can I ask what yer bad experience with the Charolais was 5live?

Hardiness. Soft as ****. I had a charolais a vendeen and a polled dorset back in '97. Lambing was great and weather good so turned all out after 5 days with a good forecast. A week later the rain started and i was going around the field collecting the charolais in bags every day. Lost over half them but only 3 or 4 of the others. Maybe it was the ram i was useing but i wouldnt touch them if i was to grt a life time supply of rams and a guarantee of 200% lambing. I HATE loseing lambs so i stay with hardier rams now. But i did get good money for the survivors

5live

hedgecutting eddie wrote: »

it all depends what u want the lleyn for ,do u want to keep replacements or just finish lambs early , make great replacements but to finish lambs for easter market i wud stick with charolais best sheep in my eyes or for quick finishing selling straight to factory suffolk all the way but i see where i sell in kilkenny mart charolais lambs 50kg could make 115 -118euro suffolks lucky to get 110euro max,if buyin a charolais always try to get a ram with a cover on his head lambs wont b as bald when born , thats my thoughts im no expert!!

I'm a bit caught between two stools. I keep all my own replacements and sell a few to one or two guys for replacements with all the rest going for butchers. So basically i need an easily lambed ewe who cycles natutally out of season with good milk and feet(i dont foot pare either) and worm resistance that fattens 2(or more) lambs all to be sold before mid june to suit a butcher without much creep. Easy peasy:D

sheepdogone

u dont ask for much ????lol

Dickie10

bought a lleyn ram in September, I put him with 23 ewes and scanned last week, 19 doubles, 1 triplet and 3 singles, delighted with them results , I don't like the hassle of triplets. My plan is to keep the ewe lambs as replacements, I want an easier kept sheep. the ram lambs should be interesting. the ewes he was with are texel x . so they should add a bit of bulk to them.

Livestockmad

Dickie10 wrote: »

bought a lleyn ram in September, I put him with 23 ewes and scanned last week, 19 doubles, 1 triplet and 3 singles, delighted with them results , I don't like the hassle of triplets. My plan is to keep the ewe lambs as replacements, I want an easier kept sheep. the ram lambs should be interesting. the ewes he was with are texel x . so they should add a bit of bulk to them.

I was trying to get my hands on a few nice mule ewe lambs to let with a llyen ram. Id saw this cross for sale before but at the time I was skint.. the nicest ewes iv ever seen. Is your ram a tall long lad or more of a stocky type?

Dickie10

hes stocky and smaller , but has a good behind!