Easy Care Sheep

[Ashill5]

Hi All

Just wondering if many have experienced Easy care sheep and how ye found them in comparison with traditional breeds.

No shearing, less dirty tails , less dragging and less lambs getting caught in briars this time of year.

I have a few Texel crosses and cross them with a Beltex and find them grand but was thinking of getting a few Easy Care, to try them out.

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[jf 850]

Hi All

Just wondering if many have experienced Easy care sheep and how ye found them in comparison with traditional breeds.

No shearing, less dirty tails , less dragging and less lambs getting caught in briars this time of year.

I have a few Texel crosses and cross them with a Beltex and find them grand but was thinking of getting a few Easy Care, to try them out.

Thanks in advance for any advice

I am no help to you .

But have memories of gathering up bits of wool around fields, in case cattle ate it .

Are easy care sheep a non starter on a farm which grazes cattle as well as sheep ?

 

[eire23]

Did you see ear to the ground a week or two back? They had a feature on easy care sheep. Going by the farmers talk on it they were the best thing ever.
Definitley not nice sheep to look at especially if your used to texel cross ewes. If you put a easy care ram on them ewes how many crosses till ya get a full shedding ewe that needs no shearing and dagging?

 

[AYF]

I am no help to you .

But have memories of gathering up bits of wool around fields, in case cattle ate it .

Are easy care sheep a non starter on a farm which grazes cattle as well as sheep ?

Did they just want you out of the way for a few hours by any chance?😂

@Ashill5 I'll tell you in a few months is my answer! Bought 98 this year to try out in the flock. They've run with either Texel, Primera or Aber Max rams, so the lambs will be interesting.
I bought them early in the year as ewe lambs, because of covid I didn't go see them, and was offered a few smaller ones to top the bunch up for a bit less ££, that was a mistake as a few haven't grown as well as others, I presume they are them!
Will be scanning them soon so we will see, but my scanner says the best flocks get about 175-180% scanning. As long as the figures aren't bulked out by triplets that should be ok.

We've been keeping a few Wiltshire horn x texel for a few years now and they have done well, quick lambs and good mothers, and keep the shape to an extent. They got too 'texelly' so decided on this move. Although I do sometimes think a farm full of Wiltshires is the way to go! Tough buggers!

@eire23 is correct there, if you want pretty sheep don't buy them, lots of lads find them hard to look at.

As for the wool, they have so much less of it in the first place, and it's closer to hair so just goes down into the ground quickly. Not the fields full of wool some seem to envisage!


All I'm undecided on is whether to bring them in to lamb or do as they should and leave them to it outside!?!

 

[Ashill5]

Did they just want you out of the way for a few hours by any chance?😂

@Ashill5 I'll tell you in a few months is my answer! Bought 98 this year to try out in the flock. They've run with either Texel, Primera or Aber Max rams, so the lambs will be interesting.
I bought them early in the year as ewe lambs, because of covid I didn't go see them, and was offered a few smaller ones to top the bunch up for a bit less ££, that was a mistake as a few haven't grown as well as others, I presume they are them!
Will be scanning them soon so we will see, but my scanner says the best flocks get about 175-180% scanning. As long as the figures aren't bulked out by triplets that should be ok.

We've been keeping a few Wiltshire horn x texel for a few years now and they have done well, quick lambs and good mothers, and keep the shape to an extent. They got too 'texelly' so decided on this move. Although I do sometimes think a farm full of Wiltshires is the way to go! Tough buggers!

@eire23 is correct there, if you want pretty sheep don't buy them, lots of lads find them hard to look at.

As for the wool, they have so much less of it in the first place, and it's closer to hair so just goes down into the ground quickly. Not the fields full of wool some seem to envisage!


All I'm undecided on is whether to bring them in to lamb or do as they should and leave them to it outside!?!

Thanks AYF,

Hope they go well for you.

 

[Canyanero]

Are they meant to be slow to put on weight?

 

[scoffcruddle]

Stick a texel on them and sell the lambs in the store ring.

 

[AYF]

Are they meant to be slow to put on weight?

As with every lamb it's how they are minded.
A lot seem to go past easy care to don't care and wind up with parasite issues and the likes.

And seen to think they can let their ground go to s#it and they'll still perform as well as a lamb on good ground with creep feed!

 

[Canyanero]

As with every lamb it's how they are minded.
A lot seem to go past easy care to don't care and wind up with parasite issues and the likes.

And seen to think they can let their ground go to s#it and they'll still perform as well as a lamb on good ground with creep feed!

A lot to be said for feeding lambs alright

 

[Ashill5]

No matter what type of stock you have, they have to be well fed and minded.

You only get out of what you put in.

In saying that you might not get paid for it.

 

[ranger]

Stick a texel on them and sell the lambs in the store ring.

Was reading on another forum that they don't sell well in the marts over here. Maybe a texel x might be more appealing. I found that with Hampshire downs as well, and always sent direct for slaughter.

 

[scoffcruddle]

Was reading on another forum that they don't sell well in the marts over here. Maybe a texel x might be more appealing. I found that with Hampshire downs as well, and always sent direct for slaughter.

Sell them as a texel X .😜

 

[JohnBoy]

Like when you put an angus on a Jersey and get an AAX not a JEX :)

 

[AYF]

Was reading on another forum that they don't sell well in the marts over here. Maybe a texel x might be more appealing. I found that with Hampshire downs as well, and always sent direct for slaughter.

They aren't a market ring lamb for sure. Crossed with something shapely they can be.

But they will kill out well on quality forage.

Forget aiming high on the EUROP grid also! R would be the norm.

 

[AYF]

@Ashill5
Scanned the group with easy cares in today.
Of the ones scanned in lamb they came to about 170% with no triplets which isn't too bad. They were mixed in and hard to count, and the scanner did say some will probably have more in as they were borderline being able to see properly.
About 20 went through as being to far to scan so will be coming back through next month some time.

 

[AYF]

No matter what type of stock you have, they have to be well fed and minded.

You only get out of what you put in.

In saying that you might not get paid for it.

So they've started!
They do lamb easily for sure. Lambs are bright and quick to suck. They pop them out without us seeing that they've started even!!
However their udders are leaving much to be desired!!
They've been in on tmr with all the other shearlings. And for some reason they just aren't milking well at all! All the Suffolk x's are milky on the same diet.
They improve once out on grass, but not without the lambs suffering in the meantime!
Had to take a few twins off to hand rear.
I do however think it might be down to genetics and age. I think they may have been very late lambed, which would put their whole development back a few month, making them forward ewe lambs more than shearlings now. Some of the bigger individuals in the group are fine! So good chance they didn't get the start they needed at their previous residents either.
And I remember having the same issue with some Wiltshires years ago, and they made awesome ewes the year after.

 

[Danube]

So they've started!
They do lamb easily for sure. Lambs are bright and quick to suck. They pop them out without us seeing that they've started even!!
However their udders are leaving much to be desired!!
They've been in on tmr with all the other shearlings. And for some reason they just aren't milking well at all! All the Suffolk x's are milky on the same diet.
They improve once out on grass, but not without the lambs suffering in the meantime!
Had to take a few twins off to hand rear.
I do however think it might be down to genetics and age. I think they may have been very late lambed, which would put their whole development back a few month, making them forward ewe lambs more than shearlings now. Some of the bigger individuals in the group are fine! So good chance they didn't get the start they needed at their previous residents either.
And I remember having the same issue with some Wiltshires years ago, and they made awesome ewes the year after.

Great to hear how they are doing for you. Do you think they would have done better if they lambed outdoors? Or is it just a case of them still growing into a mature ewe like you said?

 

[AYF]

Great to hear how they are doing for you. Do you think they would have done better if they lambed outdoors? Or is it just a case of them still growing into a mature ewe like you said?

To be honest I don't know.
They've all eaten the same as the suffolks. Their innards work the same I presume!?!
The lads saying you can't bring them indoors, you soon find they've bought an old full mouth ewe in who had never seen a silage bale let alone a feed bag, and expect them to eat.
No breed of sheep will do in that situation!
My Suffolks wouldn't have seen silage or feed before coming in after Christmas either!

 

[Danube]

To be honest I don't know.
They've all eaten the same as the suffolks. Their innards work the same I presume!?!
The lads saying you can't bring them indoors, you soon find they've bought an old full mouth ewe in who had never seen a silage bale let alone a feed bag, and expect them to eat.
No breed of sheep will do in that situation!
My Suffolks wouldn't have seen silage or feed before coming in after Christmas either!

Do you know I their intakes were similar? Maybe they don't like hard feed. I'm only making assumptions now. Yeah you're dead right. You can't make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. It's a strange one alright. I'm very interested to see what kind of a lamb they will rear for you. Hopefully they come into their own on grass.

 

[AYF]

Do you know I their intakes were similar? Maybe they don't like hard feed. I'm only making assumptions now. Yeah you're dead right. You can't make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. It's a strange one alright. I'm very interested to see what kind of a lamb they will rear for you. Hopefully they come into their own on grass.

One thing I regret by now is not putting them in a separate pen to see their intakes.
They are smaller ewes so I suppose it makes sense they've eaten less feed?🤔

 

[Danube]

One thing I regret by now is not putting them in a separate pen to see their intakes.
They are smaller ewes so I suppose it makes sense they've eaten less feed?🤔

I actually hadn't even considered that. Yeah sure of course they would be eating less. I guess it wouldn't be a fair comparison against your Suffolk cross ewes. There goes that theory😅

 

[AYF]

They also have an incredible talent for rejecting one lamb!!!!!😡😡🤬🤬

And if they only have one lamb to reject.... so be it!

Why did I buy these f######---#$%$##:^&;^%$$@$^&;"#@$ things!?

 

[eire23]

They also have an incredible talent for rejecting one lamb!!!!!😡😡🤬🤬

And if they only have one lamb to reject.... so be it!

Why did I buy these f######---#$%$##:^&;^%$$@$^&;"#@$ things!?

Torture that.... One way ticket for them ewes😅

 

[darc]

They also have an incredible talent for rejecting one lamb!!!!!😡😡🤬🤬

And if they only have one lamb to reject.... so be it!

Hi AYF I had them lambing to pure easycare rams(got them from the same source that i bought the ewes from so im not sure if there related or not, even do I was assued that they werent) they lambed fine to be fair but two did reject one of there lambs .That wasnt my biggest problem ,it was the quality of the lambs that I was dissapointed with! they had plenty of grass and they were well looked after .but it looked like one lamb was half decent and the other lad was poor ,which would point to not enough milk , even do they looked to have plenty .Now i got the vet out to blood test some of the lighter lambs just to see was it anything else and the weaker lambs were very high in copper, which would explain alot(I had given the ewes mineral bullets that contained copper in them so was probably too much for them! didnt affect the ewes but definetley affected the lambs. I changed some of the rams this year to texel and hampshire downs and havent given any minerals that contain copper, will see how this works but if this years lambs arent better every one of them are getting the exit door,which is a pity as i like the idea of no wool ,and it just washes into the ground not like normal wool! There also hardy buggers and they do seem to be resistant to fluke etc according to faecal samples but they do get fly strike not like what the adverts say, got a couple of cases of it this year nothing major but they still have to be watched so alot of what the promoters says is horse shit , there feet are fairly good but not not resistant to foot problems as they claim! get the odd one now and again!Just trying to give an honest assesment of my experience with them not cutting or promoting them ! hope they go better for me this year or else bye bye

 

[darc]

They also have an incredible talent for rejecting one lamb!!!!!😡😡🤬🤬

And if they only have one lamb to reject.... so be it!

Why did I buy these f######---#$%$##:^&;^%$$@$^&;"#@$ things!?

HI AVF , Whats your final verdict on those easycares?im presuming your finished lambing at this stage?