New Zealand Suffolk

brownswiss

Have any of you bought or already have lambs from the New Zealand SF. Thinking of investing. I presume they are not comparable to Irish SF so how do you choose a good one ?

carrollsno1

brownswiss wrote: »

Have any of you bought or already have lambs from the New Zealand SF. Thinking of investing. I presume they are not comparable to Irish SF so how do you choose a good one ?

No experience with them look good stock from what ive seen at events if i was sheep farming id be chancing them

Buford T. Justice XIX

brownswiss wrote: »

Have any of you bought or already have lambs from the New Zealand SF. Thinking of investing. I presume they are not comparable to Irish SF so how do you choose a good one ?

Afaik, there are only half bred NZ suffolks for general sale as yet, I haven't seen any PB ones for sale but I would definitely be looking at them as a crossing option on my ewes.

My impression was the head shape is much softer then the Irish bred Suffolks and they did look cleaner around the hind quarters than the last few Suffolks I had on the farm but I will be waiting a few more years until some PBs come on the market.

brownswiss

If they are only first cross the €600 seems pricey as the likelihood of any NZ genetics passing on to the lambs is slim

Buford T. Justice XIX

brownswiss wrote: »

If they are only first cross the €600 seems pricey as the likelihood of any NZ genetics passing on to the lambs is slim

Yeah, on average the lambs off the halfbred Suffolk ram will have 25% NZ Suffolk blood. Saying that, though, their ease of lambing and ability to take care of themselves would be a nice improvement and ease the workload.

Ard_MC

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Yeah, on average the lambs off the halfbred Suffolk ram will have 25% NZ Suffolk blood. Saying that, though, their ease of lambing and ability to take care of themselves would be a nice improvement and ease the workload.

Is there not a fella in the midlands somewhere breedin them? Niall Walsh or something like that?

razor8

Here's another lad

https://m.facebook.com/HakaNewZealandSuffolkSheep/

Buford T. Justice XIX

Ard_MC wrote: »

Is there not a fella in the midlands somewhere breedin them? Niall Walsh or something like that?

And l was following him on twitter without copping he had NZ rams. Might go for a drive up there fairly soon for a better look.

brownswiss

razor8 wrote: »

Here's another lad

https://m.facebook.com/HakaNewZealandSuffolkSheep/

.

Where is this guy based ?

roosky

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Afaik, there are only half bred NZ suffolks for general sale as yet, I haven't seen any PB ones for sale but I would definitely be looking at them as a crossing option on my ewes.

Most lads here bought in NZ rams to put on Irish suffolk ewes so at best they would be 3/4 or 7/8 Nz suffolk which I would reckon would be better than going pedigree of either Irish or NZ.

I looked into getting in NZ ewes form England but proving very hard to get breeders to part with females

brownswiss

What criteria would you use for choosing one NZ over another if they are so different to Irish suffolks?

serfspup

https://www.facebook.com/fearnfarm/videos/pcb.1372636642852874/1372628972853641/?type=3&theater

brownswiss

Thanks for the link. I suppose if we are always complaining about the Irish suffolk that is certainly an extreme alternative. They seem to have the conformation of an Irish SF ewe. Hard to believe they can compete in days to factory

serfspup

at the end of the day it is how many kg are sold for the least cost and effort.

but these lads remind me of yolks that would be tied up round the mart 30-40 years ago.

the nz model is extreme think alot could be achieved if pedigree breeders adopted more severe culling and less mollycodling.there are flocks particularly in the uk leading the way but they are not in the big money ponzi scheme so they dont make the headlines.

brownswiss

Have any of you priced NZ Suffolk rams this year? Are the prices based on quality and genetics or just the NZ brand ?