Good Mountain Sheep

grayh0und

We are just starting to send some of our lambs up the mountain to some commanage. These are Cheviot crossed with some scotch. The neighbors mostly have Scotch or Mayo or Swales in the commanage.

I am wanting to see if anyone might have some suggestion for other hardy mountain sheep we might try to raise to handle the mountain and be easy to distinguish from the neighbors.

DJ98

Slightly irrelevant but do you find it hard to train the ewes to the commonage?

grayh0und

DJ98 wrote: »

Slightly irrelevant but do you find it hard to train the ewes to the commonage?

Yeah it took them a few weeks to get used to it. We sent last years lambs up in March of this year. They had already been getting some nuts so we’re pretty spoiled! I think sending them up earlier in the year would have been easier.

Lots of trips up the mountain but good training for me and for the dog!

Mountain Mayo

Still think the mayo BF is the best one, guys down here have used all the breeds your on about but the hardy mayo BF is the best, the guys have used lanark, swaledale, perth, scotch etc but the mayo is the best one for us

MayoAreMagic

Mountain Mayo wrote: »

Still think the mayo BF is the best one, guys down here have used all the breeds your on about but the hardy mayo BF is the best, the guys have used lanark, swaledale, perth, scotch etc but the mayo is the best one for us

Agreed. Good mayos can offer serious longevity also, which is something that people underestimate in my experience. More years means more lambs. Id expect most of my ewes to be going to 10 at least and still be operating at a reasonably high level. Some have gone much further and most guys I know are in the same boat.
I actually ran a lanark ram with some of my ewes once and noticed that a few years down the line, the lanark cross daughters were being outlasted by their full mayo mothers.
One word of warning to a prospective buyer though, there are different types within the breed. A good rule of thimb is dont buy at the balinrobe mayo blackface breeding sale.

Mountain Mayo

totally agree with ya there, alot of the sheep that go through that sale have never seen a hill, i know if i bought some they would die with the shock when id open the trailer at home

JJayoo

Dalesbred are a hardy mountain sheep, have always noticed that they come in fat of the mountain compared to other sheep, they also have very distinct markings on their face.

grayh0und

JJayoo wrote: »

Dalesbred are a hardy mountain sheep, have always noticed that they come in fat of the mountain compared to other sheep, they also have very distinct markings on their face.

Nice looking sheep, wasn't familiar with the breed!

JJayoo

They aren't a very tall breed but we would always pair some of the taller ewes with the Dalesbred Ram and were always very happy with the lambs.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOsn2N8hcqw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

We have used this ram for 7/8 years at this stage