question for mart experts

eorna

one for the mart experts.. few ewes scanned empty, there is around 2-3 hoggets, 2-3 2year olds and a couple of older ones..now the question is i presume hoggets and 2 year olds would make better money in the mart than in the factory??? and which way would you pen them together or separate?? (dont know if i am better with a lot of small groups or a larger one with hoggets,2,3-4 year old)..
i also have a ram i want to get rid of and i presume as well he should make a bit better in mart than factory but not sure..thanks

eorna

got no replies ....any ideas??

Username John

eorna wrote: »

got no replies ....any ideas??

I wouldn't be too familiar with the marts, but I did send a ram away to the factory before Christmas and he only made 1.80/kg (the old ewes made 2.10)

So max payment was 72euro (paid to 40kg)
Disappointing money...

I'd chance the mart, wouldn't be sure what the best way to seperate em would be...

sea12

eorna wrote: »

one for the mart experts.. few ewes scanned empty, there is around 2-3 hoggets, 2-3 2year olds and a couple of older ones..now the question is i presume hoggets and 2 year olds would make better money in the mart than in the factory??? and which way would you pen them together or separate?? (dont know if i am better with a lot of small groups or a larger one with hoggets,2,3-4 year old)..
i also have a ram i want to get rid of and i presume as well he should make a bit better in mart than factory but not sure..thanks

Yea the mart would be the best place for them. U need to have big numbers to get decent money in factory. Some one on the mart would buy as part of a group to go to factory. I would group hoggets and 2 yr olds together, older ewes together and ram seperate.

J.O. Farmer

This is something I have done on a number of occasions and there are no hard and fast rules.
First I would sell the hoggets separate. I would be tempted to carry those until closer to the breeding season if possible even if you want to sell them then they are very young sheep.
Older ewes I would group together only if they were close matches in term of size and weight/fleshiness. If they can't be matched well sell them separately.
I would do something similar with the hoggets. If selling for breeding later on in the year I would also try to match breed.
For the ram he will be sold separately from anything else probably in the cull ewe section. How old is he and is he suitable for breeding next year with somebody else. If he is fairly young and fertile you were better keep him for the summer as he wont be hard to feed for the year and he may be worth more then as a breeding ram as opposed to a cull now.

eorna

Thanks, planning to go next week see how we get on..will probably do 2 batches (hoggets and 2's) and (3's and 4's) and then ram, if not happy can always bring them back

dave747

thats the best of the mart you not happy with the price you can bring them home again no point giving out when their hanging up in the factory . yea best to sell younger 1s sep you might someone that might chance them for breeding next year

razor8

One issue with bringing sheep home from mart is bringing something back with you, remember a few years ago ewes getting an itch a few weeks after there return.