How many ewes will a Charollais Tip

tanco

Hi all,

I'm thinking of trying a charollais ram this year on a flock of 90 scottish blackface ewes ( mountain ewes)

I havn't used a terminal sire on these sheep before, always stuck with the blackface ram.
This year Im going to change to see if I can make more from selling store lambs.

Also would buying ram lambs be a cheaper option?

Would I need 3 ram lambs to service 90 ewes.?

ALso would I need more than 1 ram to service these.?


I had a look at last years premier sale for charollais and they averaged 700 each. Is this the normal price for a commercial flock buyer also.?

ie. what could I expect to pay for one to produce good lambs from mountain ewes..

Thanks for any help suggestions.

flatout11

not sure if i would go for charollais for lambing on a hill next april.... they are a nice cross though but would a tex not be a option??
the 3 ram lambs would be fit for the 90 ewes but it depends on where your tipping them - have you closed in ground???

tanco

I have some fields around the yard that are closed in and take all ewes down from the hill and lamb them in the fields. It has good shelter and fenced with fox wire.

I've never considered the texel , but as Im part time I'd be worried about the ewes having difficulty lambing. With Charollais I've been told they lamb much easier than a texel.

What do you think.?

I havnt seen a texel cross from a hill ewe. Are they a good cross.?

flatout11

re closed fields ... i was more thinking about the rams around tipping....
another option would be to let them with them for 3 weeks on those fields then let them off to the hill with a blackie...
yea tex cross lambs are alright everyone has their own preferance

Cran

tanco wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm thinking of trying a charollais ram this year on a flock of 90 scottish blackface ewes ( mountain ewes)

I havn't used a terminal sire on these sheep before, always stuck with the blackface ram.
This year Im going to change to see if I can make more from selling store lambs.

Also would buying ram lambs be a cheaper option?

Would I need 3 ram lambs to service 90 ewes.?

ALso would I need more than 1 ram to service these.?


I had a look at last years premier sale for charollais and they averaged 700 each. Is this the normal price for a commercial flock buyer also.?

ie. what could I expect to pay for one to produce good lambs from mountain ewes..

Thanks for any help suggestions.

before anyone asks I do breed Charollais so slightly biased, but used them for a long time on the commercials before any pedigrees and i cross them on Mules so have some idea of what they would be like on blackfaces.

A good fit Charollais ram will tip handy 60 or 70 ewes, but I do try and keep it to 50 to tighten lambing. For 90 ewes you would need two rams just in case;), 1 hogget and 1 lamb would handy cover them. If your on less than favourable ground I would go for 2 hoggets as a lot of the lambs are high feed and need to be well minded the first year so might suffer a bit on poor grazing.
As for price based on last year, I bought 3 rams for the commercials 2 lambs and 1 hogget. The lambs cost 520 and 540 both at the premier, and the hogget 560 at another sale (he was the highest priced on the day). There are loads of good sales around the country now and rams should be reasonable priced at them.
As for crossing with the blackface, our lambs from the mules are easy lambed, up quick and uncatchable within a day - perfect cross really:D

Username John

Hello Tanco,

This might be useful - lists where all the breeders are. Closest one to you might be Dunmanway would it?

http://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2010/20100622/DirectorySheepBreeders_2010.pdf

snowman707

For 90 ewes I would be using 2 shearlings

price wise we bought 2 privately last year from a breeder in mayo for 600 each