Some pedigree breeders are doing sheep farmers no favours with their pumped-up rams

It’s the time of year when I begin to focus my attention on preparing the flock for the breeding season. Although I won’t be letting the rams out until the end of October, it’s important nonetheless to condition score both rams and ewes to ensure that they have plenty of time to recover and prepare for what lies ahead.

Once the ewes were dried off, I separated out the thinner ones, giving them access to the best grass. I culled anything that had problems from lambing, was old, lame or had developed mastitis. You have to be ruthless when it comes to culling and I would generally replace 20-25pc of the flock each year.

On the subject of replacements, while I like to buy in Mule ewes, it’s an expensive hobby. I have learned through my pocket that the most profitable farmers are the ones who breed and retain their own replacements from within their own flock. I believe that any sheep farmer would do well to have Mule ewes as the base from which they start, but retaining the mule cross daughters as replacements makes sense and is cheaper.

If I am buying in some replacement ewes, the first thing I do is make sure that I have the foot bath ready for when they get home. I have very little lameness on my farm thanks to ruthless culling and regular foot bathing, so the last think I want to do is import this back onto my farm.

I also keep the new ewes or rams isolated for at least a month to make sure they have adjusted to their new surroundings.

As I have had issues with abortion in the past, I now vaccinate the flock for enzootic abortion.

This is a one-shot vaccination that lasts generally a life-time in the ewe. With regard to ‘toxo’ abortion, I let them develop their own immunity to this and I have found that you have to be very unlucky to have an outbreak of ‘toxo’ abortion on your farm.

With regard to these vaccines, you have to contact your vet and make sure that you have them ordered in advance. The companies only make so much of it each year so it’s important to get your spoke in for this well in advance.

When it comes to buying rams, I buy them privately off breeders. I do this because I have been very disappointed with rams from sales over the years.

Some of these rams can be pumped with meal, resulting in the ram melting into nothing in his new home.

Pedigree breeders need to cop onto this because they are doing themselves more harm in the long run and sales suffer as a result.

My breeding policy is to use Belclares on my best ewes and keeping their daughters as replacements. I also use Suffolk, Texel and Charollais. Charollais and Belclare are put on the ewe lambs as they are easy to lamb and produce good quality, early finishing lambs.

I have gotten into the Belclares over the last couple of years and I am really impressed with them.

Multiple births

Their lambs have great survivability and I find that the multiple births are generally very even and hardy.

We’re in business as sheep farmers so the Belclare is ticking all the boxes for me as it gives you more lambs.

The options are there to keep their daughters as replacements, making the Belclare an all-rounder breeding ram.

Finally, we did a fecal egg count on two batches