General sheep thread

arctictree

Just had a hogget there reject both her lambs. She was licking them at the start but seemed to just give up. I've had a few like this. They are always the half Suffolk, half llyen ones. I presume this bad maternal trait is coming from the Suffolk ram? Don't have this problem with the PB llyens or Belclares I have.

roosky

I have dry ewe hoggets that I planned to run until end of summer but with great prices at the minute I might let a few of the plainer ones off to the factory......what carcass weight are the factories paying up to for hoggets and what live weight would you want to have them at to max the carcass weight ? Thanks

Dinzee Conlee

roosky wrote: »

I have dry ewe hoggets that I planned to run until end of summer but with great prices at the minute I might let a few of the plainer ones off to the factory......what carcass weight are the factories paying up to for hoggets and what live weight would you want to have them at to max the carcass weight ? Thanks

I think they paying to 23kg deadweight.

As for live weight - depends on flesh cover really. I would have said they’d want to be 50kg, but I let a few off at 48kg last week as I thought they were ok.

J.O. Farmer

roosky wrote: »

I have dry ewe hoggets that I planned to run until end of summer but with great prices at the minute I might let a few of the plainer ones off to the factory......what carcass weight are the factories paying up to for hoggets and what live weight would you want to have them at to max the carcass weight ? Thanks

Are you planning on selling in the breeding sales or keeping as replacements. Unless they're exceptionally nice they may be worth more now than in August.

Young95

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

Are you planning on selling in the breeding sales or keeping as replacements. Unless they're exceptionally nice they may be worth more now than in August.

I think breeding hoggets are going to be mad money come this August. Demand will outstrip supply. It’s gona be another good year for sheep prices .

J.O. Farmer

Young95 wrote: »

I think breeding hoggets are going to be mad money come this August. Demand will outstrip supply. It’s gona be another good year for sheep prices .

Nice breeding hoggets will be dear and so will lambs (both stores and ewe lambs), plain hoggets with current prices I'm not sure I'd be keeping to sell as replacements if they're fleshed.

I expect you will see plenty of plain hoggets not make €200. What's a 23kg hogget worth now €175+.

Young95

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

Nice breeding hoggets will be dear and so will lambs (both stores and ewe lambs), plain hoggets with current prices I'm not sure I'd be keeping to sell as replacements if they're fleshed.

I expect you will see plenty of plain hoggets not make €200. What's a 23kg hogget worth now €175+.

Yes that’s true . Nice breeding hoggets will surly be well over the 200 mark .

farawaygrass

Sami23 wrote: »

Wondering the same here myself - noticed a few month old lambs starting to get 'black' backsides this week in a particular field where as older lambs in a different field are clean as a whistle

Went ahead and dosed the lambs today. Put ewes and lambs through the footbath too as there was a few too many suffering from scald.
I also took a dung sample from the ewes and lambs and awaiting results from the vet.
Took the samples from the lambs to see about cocci really. I have a feeling there is a handful suffering with it, no real clinical clinical signs, the odd one with a very slight dirty back end or else not just thriving 100%, mayn’t Just a little off on their wool.
Doing a lot of reading up on cocci and wondering would it be a good idea to dose as a preventative next year and going forward. Works out about €1-€1.10 a head depending on amount bought. It’s expensive but it might work out cheap. You could always be treating for things though, hard to know what call to make

joe35

Got a few queries to ask your opinions on.

I've a few inlamb hoggets that are coughing and wondering what I should dose them with. They're due to start lambing today, but noticed them coughing a bit when I took them home yesterday.

I've a ewe here, scanned single, she looks poorly and has a dark scour. I don't think it's too much meal as they're only getting a pick. She has fodder beet at lib and a nice picking of grass in the field.

Thirdly, how would I go about setting up an as lib milk feeding system. We've a few doubles with 1 spin and currently just giving the lambs a bottle morning and evening, lambs left on ewe.
I'm thinking of pulling one of the lambs of the ewe and putting them on cold milk at lib.

Would you get the teeth, hose and none return valve in a normal agri supplies. I'm gonna source one in the morning and just wondering where I should look.

Thanks for any replies

Albert Johnson

roosky wrote: »

I have dry ewe hoggets that I planned to run until end of summer but with great prices at the minute I might let a few of the plainer ones off to the factory......what carcass weight are the factories paying up to for hoggets and what live weight would you want to have them at to max the carcass weight ? Thanks

The factories would be paying to 23-23.5kg atm and I'd imagine you'd want them circa 50kg atm to avail of the full carcass weights. Having said that a ewe hogget should kill a bit better than a ram hogget atm so you'd probably get away with 48kg+ depending on fat cover. My vote would be for the mart compared to the factory currently. The agents are giving more than quoted prices in the marts and putting haulage and commission on top, most are quoting €7.80-€8 but giving up to the equivalent of €8.20-30 in the marts last week

farawaygrass

joe35 wrote: »

Got a few queries to ask your opinions on.

I've a few inlamb hoggets that are coughing and wondering what I should dose them with. They're due to start lambing today, but noticed them coughing a bit when I took them home yesterday.

I've a ewe here, scanned single, she looks poorly and has a dark scour. I don't think it's too much meal as they're only getting a pick. She has fodder beet at lib and a nice picking of grass in the field.

Thirdly, how would I go about setting up an as lib milk feeding system. We've a few doubles with 1 spin and currently just giving the lambs a bottle morning and evening, lambs left on ewe.
I'm thinking of pulling one of the lambs of the ewe and putting them on cold milk at lib.

Would you get the teeth, hose and none return valve in a normal agri supplies. I'm gonna source one in the morning and just wondering where I should look.

Thanks for any replies

I don’t know about you’re first query.
You’re second query-my uneducated opinion would be the fodder beat doing it if ad lib and not on it too long, but then you say she’s poorly too so that’s probably not the case. Worth taking a dung sample to the vet to know where ya stand fluke and worm wise.
Thirdly-if you google hiko lamb mini suckler you will see what you are looking for. I ordered them online but you might want them quicker. If your local agri shop doesn’t have them you probably will have to order online. Fayne valley up north are keen on price and sound to deal with

joe35

Thanks faraway, when I say she looks poorly, she's in good body condition just a bit sickly in herself.

Have only 30 odd left to lamb out of 250. 60 ewe lambs should be starting now. Good year so far but still lots of areas need improvement.

Have to get something better set up for lambs of ewes with no or poor milk. We're chasing lambs round the field trying to give them a bottle and it's not sustainable

Kevhog1988

anyone gotten rid of fat/cull ewes lately?. Have jst the one here that i want to get rid of as shes not in lamb.

OneMan37

Anyone any experience of the Rouge sheep/Rams ? Are they as wired as a the Charollais or a little more docile ? Was thinking of buying a ram. Do they finish well off grass ?

charolais0153

Kevhog1988 wrote: »

anyone gotten rid of fat/cull ewes lately?. Have jst the one here that i want to get rid of as shes not in lamb.

Heard of 210 for ewes 115kg , their lambs made 190:o

Kevhog1988

charolais0153 wrote: »

Heard of 210 for ewes 115kg , their lambs made 190:o

mart or factory?

charolais0153

Kevhog1988 wrote: »

mart or factory?

Mart

White Clover

I have a 3 year old ewe here scanned with 4 lambs and due next week sometime. Her stomach muscles seem to have given way. Her belly and udder are only 2 inches from the ground now. I have never seen this before.
I presume its from the weight of the lambs. Is she a write off after lambing or will she come right again?
Of course she is a cracking ewe, it wouldn't happen to one of the yokes here!

wrangler

White Clover wrote: »

I have a 3 year old ewe here scanned with 4 lambs and due next week sometime. Her stomach muscles seem to have given way. Her belly and udder are only 2 inches from the ground now. I have never seen this before.
I presume its from the weight of the lambs. Is she a write off after lambing or will she come right again?
Of course she is a cracking ewe, it wouldn't happen to one of the yokes here!

I've had a couple like that but they never got their figure back. they did rear their lambs though

White Clover

wrangler wrote: »

I've had a couple like that but they never got their figure back. they did rear their lambs though

Thanks Wrangler. At this stage I'd take that! Do you know if its hereditary? I'm hoping for 4 ewe lambs from this lady!!

Dinzee Conlee

White Clover wrote: »

I have a 3 year old ewe here scanned with 4 lambs and due next week sometime. Her stomach muscles seem to have given way. Her belly and udder are only 2 inches from the ground now. I have never seen this before.
I presume its from the weight of the lambs. Is she a write off after lambing or will she come right again?
Of course she is a cracking ewe, it wouldn't happen to one of the yokes here!

wrangler wrote: »

I've had a couple like that but they never got their figure back. they did rear their lambs though

We had one like this before as well...

She reared her lambs fine, and I think she went back in lamb - but like Wrangler said, she stayed that way.
She never seemed put off by it, or sick or in pain or anything with it.

Like you, she was a good sheep, and that was why she got another chance. But I know she didn't improve. I cant remember if the second set of lambs made her worse or not, but she was gone after the second set anyways...

wrangler

White Clover wrote: »

Thanks Wrangler. At this stage I'd take that! Do you know if its hereditary? I'm hoping for 4 ewe lambs from this lady!!

Ours was on their last year and probably weak muscle, we reckoned we kept them a year too long, and like that as they get older they are prone to multiple births. as I said we only had two so it's not hereditary.
We cull hard so they didn't get a second chance

Just edited tosay I hope you're not expecting her to rear four

orm0nd

OneMan37 wrote: »

Anyone any experience of the Rouge sheep/Rams ? Are they as wired as a the Charollais or a little more docile ? Was thinking of buying a ram. Do they finish well off grass ?

very wild, bought a ram a couple of years ago to breed replacements off the white ewes which are very docile,

the ewes are very wild but still good mothers , had 1 years back from the same breeder and he was timid enough

had to factory our fellow as he was kinda prolapsing from the his rear passage,

was told that it could be passed on the ewews but so far so good no issues

possibly not on par with ch for finish off grass but they k.o. well

White Clover

wrangler wrote: »

Ours was on their last year and probably weak muscle, we reckoned we kept them a year too long, and like that as they get older they are prone to multiple births. as I said we only had two so it's not hereditary.
We cull hard so they didn't get a second chance

Just edited tosay I hope you're not expecting her to rear four

No, id only send a ewe out with 2 lambs. I don't mind the pets, don't get much hassle from them.

OneMan37

orm0nd wrote: »

very wild, bought a ram a couple of years ago to breed replacements off the white ewes which are very docile,

the ewes are very wild but still good mothers , had 1 years back from the same breeder and he was timid enough

had to factory our fellow as he was kinda prolapsing from the his rear passage,

was told that it could be passed on the ewews but so far so good no issues

possibly not on par with ch for finish off grass but they k.o. well

Thanks. Will choose a Belclare so, can’t tolerate wild ewes.

DJ98

What sort of money would full mouth Suffolk or belclare ewes with 3 week old texel Suffolk or chaolais lambs be worth at the moment?

OneMan37

DJ98 wrote: »

What sort of money would full mouth Suffolk or belclare ewes with 3 week old texel Suffolk or chaolais lambs be worth at the moment?

Check Donedeal, hard to gauge without photo’s. But I think if you got €150 for singles and €200 for doubles you’d be doing okay.

My friend bough 2/3YO Texel ewes with 1.5 lambs for €210 recently at a mart.

DJ98

Heard of people getting up to 300 for the same story last week, but that seemed a little over board but then again giving current sheep prices may very well be the case

OneMan37

I didn't lamb last year, due to working away from home. However this year, ewes were in great order going with the rams, due to no recover issues, post weaning and I have more triplets than ever, all ewes scanned in lamb and even had a quad so far. Goes to show how important ewe condition is to lambing %. Is weaning early a good idea to give the ewes longer to recover before mating again ?

Sami23

OneMan37 wrote: »

I didn't lamb last year, due to working away from home. However this year, ewes were in great order going with the rams, due to no recover issues, post weaning and I have more triplets than ever, all ewes scanned in lamb and even had a quad so far. Goes to show how important ewe condition is to lambing %. Is weaning early a good idea to give the ewes longer to recover before mating again ?

The only problem with that is do you really want a load of triplets and even a quad - I certainly don't anyway but I'd say the condition of the ewes was a massive factor.