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Co Tyrone-based sheep farmer James McCay has been busy selecting replacement ewe lambs for his Scottish Blackface and Texel cross ewes over the past week.
Although these replacements will not be mated until they are hoggets in their second autumn, James takes the task of drafting ewe lambs seriously.
Along with selecting on physical appearance, James also uses flock records and daily liveweight gains to highlight the best female progeny born to his most productive ewes.
Selection policy
“Ewe lambs that would make ideal flock replacements were pulled out as a separate group on 13 August,” said James.
“I have kept 45 pure Blackface lambs to join the hill flock. The same number of Texel cross Blackface and three-quarter cross Texel ewes lambs are being kept for my crossbred flock.
“All lambs were weighed when drafted. The heaviest weighed 45kg and the lightest was back at 35kg.
“While ewe lambs will not be bred until they are hoggets, I still want big, strong lambs with good frame, as they are better equipped to run outdoors over the winter.”
Flock performance
“I invested in a flock management programme that links to our weighbridge. All lamb weights are now captured and link back to individual ewes.
“I have used this information to pick out the lambs with the best growth rates up to weaning, as these are the animals bred from my best milking ewes.
“Using a combination of hard data from actual flock performance and physical appearance will ensure the best replacements are retained.”
Culling
The flock records collated by the software programme are also used to make culling decisions, along with the usual reasons such as age and physical defects.
“I have 40 ewes already culled and sold. I have since pulled out another 15 ewes based on the performance of their lambs this year.
“That’s the good thing about weighing and recording. It is helping me to weed out the worst-performing ewes in the flock. I no longer keep ewe lambs from these animals as replacements.”
The 40 ewes sold were offloaded through the live ring in mid-July, just as demand was reaching its peak levels in the run up to the Eid al-Adha festival. While July was a wet month, grass has been in plentiful supply and ewes were in great condition when weaned. The additional 15 ewes that have been picked out for culling will also be sold live.
Twins or singles
While many sheep farmers only retain replacements from twin-bearing ewes, James prefers a combination of ewe lambs born as singles and twins.
“For my ground, a lambing percentage of 1.8 lambs/ewe is the limit to what we can comfortably work with. Lambing down over 200% would put us under too much pressure for grass in the spring. So, keeping a mix of single and twin-born ewe lambs helps to keep numbers at a more manageable level. This spring, our scanning percentage was 160%, so there is scope to increase lamb numbers.”
Ram selection
Two new Texel ram lambs have been purchased this summer. But rather than buying at a society sales, James prefers to source lambs direct from farms.
His reasoning is that buying direct from farms allows him to source rams that have not been pushed as hard on concentrates at young age. These animals tend to be hardier and have fewer problems with fertility, legs and feet.
Texel rams are used to mate the mature crossbred ewes and a selection of Blackface ewes to provide replacements for this flock.
Crossbred hoggets are normally bred to a Charollais ram, with a new tup possibly required before breeding starts. “I prefer to buy ram lambs. They run with smaller breeding groups so as not to put too much pressure on them in their first season. Buying as lambs means they have plenty of time to grow out and I find that they last longer on our farm as a result.”
Lamb performance
Outside of breeding replacements, the flock is down to its last 35 lambs to sell, which will go to the store ring in the coming weeks.
“Lambs have performed really well this year and the bulk were sold by early August. I sell lambs through the live ring and they are coming into great money at the moment.
“I sold a mix of Texel cross and Blackface lambs through my local mart last week. Prices were the equivalent to factory prices, and more in the case of Blackface lambs.”
Grazing demand
With so many lambs sold, demand for grass has significantly eased in recent weeks. The plan is to start building sward covers for autumn and winter grazing.
Weaned ewes are still on the hill, but will come down to improved grassland in October before breeding starts.
Silage season was also finished last week, with 18ac baled. This ground will also be used to carry ewes during the breeding season.
Pre-breeding management webinar event
On Thursday 27 August at 8pm, programme farmer Clement Lynch will host a webinar on pre-breeding management.
As part of the event, there will be a series of pre-recorded videos on how to check rams are in working order with Clement’s vet, Des Fitzgibbon.
Getting ewes in the best condition for breeding will also be detailed, with Clement giving an overview of the management for his 500 ewes.
Other speakers on the evening include Irish Farmers Journal sheep editor Darren Carty and programme adviser, Senan White.
The event is open to everyone and viewers can register at www.ifj.ie/sheepevent.
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