Tullow Mart’s general sheep sale held on Tuesday included a special entry of about 50 ewes with lambs at foot.
The sheep on offer were mixed in terms of breed type, ewe quality and age of lambs.
Hogget ewes with young lambs at foot and medium-sized second- and third-crop ewes with an average of 1.7 lambs aged a few weeks old at foot sold from €285 to €330 per unit, with a small selection of full- and broken-mouth crossbred ewes with lambs aged a couple of weeks old at foot selling back to €235 per unit.
A few similar-type ewes with 1.5 lambs at foot sold from €200 upwards.
It was a similar trend for single lamb units. Prices ranged from €160 to €190 for broken- and full-mouth ewes with young lambs at foot, with prices rising to €200 to €220 for a selection of small- to medium-sized second- and third-crop ewes with lambs a few weeks of age at foot.
The best price for single lamb lots of €255 was paid for two good Suffolk hogget ewes with a single lamb at foot.
There was a flying trade on the day for cull ewes. Fleshed Cheviot ewes weighing in the region of 80kg to 85kg sold on average from €135 to €145, with better-conformed continental-bred ewes of similar weight selling from €150 to €160.
Heavier fleshed ewes, such as Suffolk Cheviot types, weighing in the region of 90kg sold from €165 to €175, while a selection of ewes weighing up to 100kg topped at €195.
Ewes with an average cover of flesh and weighing from 70kg to 75kg sold from €100 to €110, with average-quality ewes weighing 80kg to 85kg sold from €110 to €127.
Fleshed rams were also solid, with a handful of rams weighing from 100kg to 130kg selling from €150 to €190.
Manager Eric Driver said the lamb trade was more settled than the week previous.
Fleshed lambs weighing from 47kg to 52kg sold from €145 upwards for Cheviot types to €150 to €154 for good lowland lambs.
A selection of heavier top-quality lambs weighing 54kg to 58kg sold from €155 to €162.
Meanwhile, store lambs were steady, with prices averaging around the €3/kg mark and rising to €3.20/kg for quality, well-presented lambs.
Special sale
The mart will hold a special sale on Tuesday 25 January of 60 purebred Wicklow Cheviot ewes carrying 1.8 lambs, due to a Suffolk ram from 1 March.