easycare sheep

orchard farm

Thinkin of gettin into a few sheep and lookin at these guys,no sheering needed ett any one here have any experiance with them

123shooter

Me....... (I can hear groans):)

Ask away if I can help I will.

orchard farm

Are they as good as they say??i mean no sheering,easy lambed,hardy etc?are they quite?what ram do u use on them

123shooter

If you get PBNR sheep then you will get no shearing sheep. This means no shearing costs and because in the summer months they can range from bald to 2" of wool they will not require dipping and I use a 'pour-on/spot-on' solution just once a year (August) unless I see an itch problem.

They should not have foot problems but my ram did get a little bit of rot in one foot last week for the first time in 5 years.

They have no horns so you can use electric wire with a good mains energiser than sheep and barbed wire.

They prefer a mixed diet of anything and everything. They will spend some weeks in the summer on the bog and even forage out there in the winter as long as they can come back and get under cover or trees if it rains. Mountain land no problem either. But being of short or no wool they do not like cold or driven rain or midges so do not like to be confined to one area or areas of no cover.

Obviously on bog or mountain they will just exist and not thrive so trying to fatten any lambs on poor land is pointless. (Not miracle sheep).

They will lamb outside if they have cover but don't expect to find the lambs alive after a hurricane. (Usual common sense). I have only ever had to pull 2 lambs in 5 years. Rest no problem at all.

My sheep are very tame but I have known some to be very skitty and keep their distance. Maybe its how you treat them?

I have only ever bred PB so use ram of same..........but I have never got anything extra for my sheep over what the sheep/lamb price is at the time. So hold back on the Rolls Royce for a while.

Problems:-

If you use another breed of sheep with them, you will put the traits of those sheep back in to your lambs. So you will put back in to the breed wool/shearing, horns, foot problems etc.

This is no problem if those lambs are for the factory but some people do sell those lambs as Easycare (accidentally of course) and of course the buyer then ends up disappointed when he tries to use them for breeding.

Easycare sheep PB should be Wiltshire horn and Welsh mountain, cross. But I have come across people claiming Easycare made up of whatever they thought was a good idea. So you have to be sure who you buy from.

Trying to buy none related sheep is not easy and usually means travelling.

I had mountainy sheep before and prefer these by miles because they are far less work. But I have plenty of cover for them (trees) and do not confine them to one type of area.

DJ98

There's another thread on here somewhere, easycare sheep were heavily debated in it, both pros and cons, no sure which one it was now.

orchard farm

Thanks guys theres a lad on donedeal,sellin them in meath,think ill go have a look,just keep sucklers here but with all the rain few sheep would be good,

razor8

123shooter wrote: »

If you get PBNR sheep then you will get no shearing sheep. This means no shearing costs and because in the summer months they can range from bald to 2" of wool they will not require dipping and I use a 'pour-on/spot-on' solution just once a year (August) unless I see an itch problem.

They should not have foot problems but my ram did get a little bit of rot in one foot last week for the first time in 5 years.

They have no horns so you can use electric wire with a good mains energiser than sheep and barbed wire.

They prefer a mixed diet of anything and everything. They will spend some weeks in the summer on the bog and even forage out there in the winter as long as they can come back and get under cover or trees if it rains. Mountain land no problem either. But being of short or no wool they do not like cold or driven rain or midges so do not like to be confined to one area or areas of no cover.

Obviously on bog or mountain they will just exist and not thrive so trying to fatten any lambs on poor land is pointless. (Not miracle sheep).

They will lamb outside if they have cover but don't expect to find the lambs alive after a hurricane. (Usual common sense). I have only ever had to pull 2 lambs in 5 years. Rest no problem at all.

My sheep are very tame but I have known some to be very skitty and keep their distance. Maybe its how you treat them?

I have only ever bred PB so use ram of same..........but I have never got anything extra for my sheep over what the sheep/lamb price is at the time. So hold back on the Rolls Royce for a while.

Problems:-

If you use another breed of sheep with them, you will put the traits of those sheep back in to your lambs. So you will put back in to the breed wool/shearing, horns, foot problems etc.

This is no problem if those lambs are for the factory but some people do sell those lambs as Easycare (accidentally of course) and of course the buyer then ends up disappointed when he tries to use them for breeding.

Easycare sheep PB should be Wiltshire horn and Welsh mountain, cross. But I have come across people claiming Easycare made up of whatever they thought was a good idea. So you have to be sure who you buy from.

Trying to buy none related sheep is not easy and usually means travelling.

I had mountainy sheep before and prefer these by miles because they are far less work. But I have plenty of cover for them (trees) and do not confine them to one type of area.

How did you get into them? Uk?

What's prolificy like?

123shooter

Long story but needed sheep and didnt want the hassle of horny's again and just by chance came across a report on them and thought that will suit me.

This year ratio of 1.82 lambs born.

tractorporn

orchard farm wrote:

Thanks guys theres a lad on donedeal,sellin them in meath,think ill go have a look,just keep sucklers here but with all the rain few sheep would be good,

If that's Dessie Donohue selling those sheep he's a very sound man. He has about 500 of those easycare ewes they were in savage condition the last time I was up there getting a few drinkers.

foxirl

123shooter wrote: »

Long story but needed sheep and didnt want the hassle of horny's again and just by chance came across a report on them and thought that will suit me.

This year ratio of 1.82 lambs born.

Where did you source the easycare sheep from. Is there many breeders here in Ireland.

123shooter

Originally Meath. In Ireland not many they all seem hidden away and only appear to sell mainly Sept - November when getting rid of lambs in DD.