Store Lambs

early_riser

White Clover wrote: »

Marteye suggests they finished selling around 1pm. Am I missing something?

Neighbour went in around that time to collect ewe lambs he bought said they were still selling ewes, they didn't start the ewes til around 3 cause of all the lambs in yard, just saying what he told me

kk.man

early_riser wrote: »

Neighbour went in around that time to collect ewe lambs he bought said they were still selling ewes, they didn't start the ewes til around 3 cause of all the lambs in yard, just saying what he told me

Wow that's late!

thelegend1979

47kg and 44kg. Didnt sell one pen of 43kg. Fancy suffolk milford cross ewe lambs.

Western Pomise

thelegend1979 wrote: »

47kg and 44kg. Didnt sell one pen of 43kg. Fancy suffolk milford cross ewe lambs.

That's a great weight for Ewe Lambs for breeding.

Are they off a Suffolk or Milford ram?....you must have good ground to feed...as the Milford are a hard sheep to put condition on and that mixed with the Suffolk would not help them get any easier to keep condition on:)

If based around Tuam its great land.

early_riser

early_riser wrote: »

Neighbour went in around that time to collect ewe lambs he bought said they were still selling ewes, they didn't start the ewes til around 3 cause of all the lambs in yard, just saying what he told me

Found out today meat factory close by hasn't killed anything last week and not killing this week either so that might be why there was such a big sale in tullow tuesday

thelegend1979

Yes they are out of a milford ram and suffolk cross ewes. Based about 6 miles from Tuam. Lambs are up on donedeal.

leoch

hi western promice........wat in ur opinion it the best store ram lamb to buy now to put on flesh\finish over the winter months ,i know most men will have there favourites .....i like anything with a bit of texel in it be it hilltex or ant texel cross wat u think

memorystick

Bought me lambs today. Average 26kgs for €62. Some wethers in there at that. Some very handy lambs in it but they should be ok again March.

Western Pomise

leoch wrote: »

hi western promice........wat in ur opinion it the best store ram lamb to buy now to put on flesh\finish over the winter months ,i know most men will have there favourites .....i like anything with a bit of texel in it be it hilltex or ant texel cross wat u think

Tbh I wouldn’t know too much about the finishing over the Winter game....you definitely need to be supplementing the lambs diet with a good quality mixed nut/Krunch or cereal/forage crop if it’s available locally.
I think that it’s important to buy lambs with a bit of a frame to them....regardless of breed.
Often lambs in marts or on Donedeal this time of the year are pets or runts that had problems early in their life....so you could be buying trouble if you don’t do some research.
Personally I think if you could buy a healthy bunch of lambs with a bit of x bred vigour in them and keep them dosed and given vitamins regularly they will kill out well in time.
Likes of a Suffolk lamb off a mountain cross or horned ewe,Texel x off a horned ewe,Cheviot x off a crossbred ewe etc.....

the Cheviot Cross can take time to put on fat but they carry serious weight.

Dickie10

i just put a creep feeder or actually two out with about 200 lambs and feed intensive lamb nut ad lib, with hay when grass gets scarce, found the only way to finish lambs quick. make sure low enough barley content or else dead lambs

memorystick

Dickie10 wrote: »

i just put a creep feeder or actually two out with about 200 lambs and feed intensive lamb nut ad lib, with hay when grass gets scarce, found the only way to finish lambs quick. make sure low enough barley content or else dead lambs

How long would you feed them for?

k mac

k mac wrote: »

Same as OP hoping to get a few store lambs, have no experience with them, they are for a field around the house that is very wet so my thinking is sheep will be the best to keep it tidy and cleaned off without poaching it. So not overly worried if they leave money this year if they broke even would be happy as I am treating it nearly as an experiment to see how I get on with them, and if they go well might get into more in future (sick of beef prices)!
Plan is to get this small field and another fenced properly by a contractor so will at least have comfort that they won't be breaking out, and can swap from one field to the other.
Was thinking 15 store lambs for the 2 fields which are about 3 acres in total,(would also have another 3 acre field but might not be fenced enough to keep them). Have them ready for the factory in April. So to ask the same question, what breed, weight and price should I be thinking of.
Also on the lameness as the field is wet would I be right in thinking lameness would definitely be a problem. On the footbathing I could make a small pin in the field with gates and can borrow footbaths but do the sheep not have to go on concrete after footbathing for it to be effective?
Sorry for all the questions. Appreciate any advice

After being looking at the prices of store lambs I was thinking would I be better buying ewe lambs that I could sell on as hoggets next august or so. I presume you would have to be careful what you are buying so that they would make good hoggets

Mad about baa baas

I do that on a small scale.. buy ewe lambs in August.. by March you have a fair idea what is going to make the best hoggets.. so I usually sell the worst ones at that stage before the spring lambs come out..ironically the ones I sell then are often the fattest because they filled out as
Opposed to growing a nice frame..I'm lucky in that I get the run of a farm to graze from Christmas till st Patrick's day so tend to sell from there and bring home my best ones..ewe lambs pricey this year though..especially smaller ones

Kevhog1988

I have a few ewe lambs here now i was going to push on for the factory. Should i hold them back and sell as hoggets next year or let them off?. All off hardy suffolkx/LLeyn ewes who we lamb outside.

kk.man

Kevhog1988 wrote: »

I have a few ewe lambs here now i was going to push on for the factory. Should i hold them back and sell as hoggets next year or let them off?. All off hardy suffolkx/LLeyn ewes who we lamb outside.

What did these make as hoggets this year... That's the question you have to ask yourself.

I often kept the best of Suffolk ewe lambs here. They be as good and as big as the Borris types but you sell them at 30 to 40e less. Its all about what your customer wants.

Tileman

kk.man wrote: »

What did these make as hoggets this year... That's the question you have to ask yourself.

I often kept the best of Suffolk ewe lambs here. They be as good and as big as the Borris types but you sell them at 30 to 40e less. Its all about what your customer wants.

Often found that you are better take the money now. Next year is a long time away and the market could be flooded with Hoggets after the good year this year.

Dickie10

+1 on that, the secret in sheep is keep stock moving as soon as it will kill around 21-22kg dead. ask yourself this would you keep a bullock or heifer til next summer and kill off grass or finsh now. buy a few ewe stores lambs and keep them

Dickie10

memorystick wrote: »

How long would you feed them for?

i would be picking off in groups of about 20 as they come fit, weigh and go through thier feet every fortnight. around march 1st i wouldnt feed , usually nothing left at that point maybe 10-15 screws, even left run til may 1st they usually weigh like lead and come into great money as hoggs at that time

memorystick

Dickie10 wrote: »

i would be picking off in groups of about 20 as they come fit, weigh and go through thier feet every fortnight. around march 1st i wouldnt feed , usually nothing left at that point maybe 10-15 screws, even left run til may 1st they usually weigh like lead and come into great money as hoggs at that time

Do you feed ad lib?

Dickie10

yea fill the creep feeders every second day, so could run out at points during day but usually meal left, cant use high barley nut though , too high of barley content will kill them, need maize and oats first on list small bit of barley grand. lambs dont eat much in troughs it gets wet and messy and waste, in walk in creep its kept dry.

memorystick

What was Baltinglass like today?

memorystick

What was Baltinglass like today?

OneMan37

Western Pomise wrote: »

Tbh I wouldn’t know too much about the finishing over the Winter game....you definitely need to be supplementing the lambs diet with a good quality mixed nut/Krunch or cereal/forage crop if it’s available locally.
I think that it’s important to buy lambs with a bit of a frame to them....regardless of breed.
Often lambs in marts or on Donedeal this time of the year are pets or runts that had problems early in their life....so you could be buying trouble if you don’t do some research.
Personally I think if you could buy a healthy bunch of lambs with a bit of x bred vigour in them and keep them dosed and given vitamins regularly they will kill out well in time.
Likes of a Suffolk lamb off a mountain cross or horned ewe,Texel x off a horned ewe,Cheviot x off a crossbred ewe etc.....

the Cheviot Cross can take time to put on fat but they carry serious weight.

True, I bought lambs in July, mostly for under €60. Surer of them not being runts that had problems. Doing okay. Will prob start to feed after Christmas as have a good bite of grass ahead of them atm.

Albert Johnson

OneMan37 wrote: »

True, I bought lambs in July, mostly for under €60. Surer of them not being runts that had problems. Doing okay. Will prob start to feed after Christmas as have a good bite of grass ahead of them atm.

Usually the bigger the bundle of lambs the better they'll thrive. I'd always be very wary of any sheep sold in ones and two's, yes they might be an odd one out of a bunch but there's often a backstory too them. A bundle of backward lambs are usually coming off a bad place or the man was overstocked, all they need is time and tlc. However a single backward lamb is usually a pet, orphan or a dying hoor of a thing you'll still pick out of the flock at sale time in the spring.

memorystick

I see ram lambs at 25-30 kgs being sold. Is it safe to castrate lambs of this size and would they go back much? No experience with this type as I usually buy ewes or wethers. Thanks

razor8

memorystick wrote: »

I see ram lambs at 25-30 kgs being sold. Is it safe to castrate lambs of this size and would they go back much? No experience with this type as I usually buy ewes or wethers. Thanks

Why castrate if not mixed with ewes or wethers?

k mac

memorystick wrote: »

I see ram lambs at 25-30 kgs being sold. Is it safe to castrate lambs of this size and would they go back much? No experience with this type as I usually buy ewes or wethers. Thanks

Would the factory still kill these is there not something about the meat being tainted

Green farmer

k mac wrote: »

Would the factory still kill these is there not something about the meat being tainted

No, scientific studies show that the taint doesnt become an issue until the animal is at least a year and a half old and some people actually prefer the taste . So not an issue with lambs. I haven't castrated a animal in years and sell most lambs directly to factory. Maybe different if selling to a butcher as some wont take them after August. But other then that, never an issue

memorystick

I usually buy in autumn and sell in spring. You’d never see a batch of 50-55 kgs rams for sale before spring lamb.

razor8

memorystick wrote: »

I usually buy in autumn and sell in spring. You’d never see a batch of 50-55 kgs rams for sale before spring lamb.

Plenty of them sold around here.

Butchers are afraid to buy a ram as one bad experience will lose him custom

It seemed an issue few years ago but any research done lately have all indicated no issue with taste. Ram lambs are actually a lot leaner

Only advantage of castrating is if they are mixed you could end up with some unwanted pregnancies next spring