Is your market more for fat tail sheep? Those are the variety that the middle eastern ethnicities want here but they usually want them very young - about 40 lbs.
G'day folks,on the subject of "Fat Tail Sheep",we are on a steep learning curve,the dairy types like the Aswssi and Asssaf seem to be typical of dairy animals ,,they are hard to put weight on once they come off the milk,without i suspect waiting a long time or.. really expensive high protein feeds...Because we do not have a need for the milk for cheese or the like we will sell them straight off of the mothers....I feel that by using our selected Meat breeds (Van Rooy,Wiltipol,Australasian White and W.H.Dorper) we may be able to produce a suitable animal which will weight at a heavier end...T.O.R.
I never wean my lambs. I just load them up and sell them straight off their mothers. It gets a bit noisy here for a day, but not weaning away from mama keeps the weight gain steady.
G'day folks,so much to comment on! P.O.W, for one of our lambs,wow.
A funny thing happened when i logged on this morning."Can you supply 40 male lambs over 12 months old?"As they were on line i had a chat with them,after a number of back and forth messages it turns they are in Alex town P.A. I assume nobody has lambs left but these people could be a worthwhile contact going forward?If your farm is "handy" I can send you their e-mail address by PM if you wish?
On the program front i am in the process of trying to obtain a PB Aswssi ram from Robbie and another 2 PB Van Rooy's about 12 months old to match to a line of maidens ,mainly W.H.Dorper and Wiltipols...In spite of the "dry conditions" and variable feed quality by way of grass the ewes are "as fat as seals" and the lambs are going forward nicely.
Recently on GUMTREE (similar to Craig's List over there ,I think) I requested EOI's in a line of hybrid ram lambs i will be offering next Feb at a attractive price to evaluate their performance on other farms and management styles.Last weekend Jenny and I caught up with a couple of our wethers now about 18 months old,OMG, talk about a "mountain of meat",they look terrific (we will be seeing them again shortly and i will get a photo and post for you to see).
An update on Jenny: since my last comments her condition continues to decline at what it seems is a faster and faster rate ,both psychically and mentally. Separation Anxiety is extreme,only short amounts of walking,total loss of short term memory ,but still "pushes back" against any micro managing and tends towards a "meltdown" when she is frustrated at her inability to perform a given task....Oh well, life goes on ,i'm off to crutch a line of lambs for delivery on Sat .they are for EID and this is a new customer with potential going forward.I set a price for them which ensures he has a "good margin"when he resells so we will see how it goes......T.O.R.
Hi again,first photo's of Brown Speckle and new Aswssi lamb.The Damara's have also started ,I was beginning to worry (just a little) that those long ,curly tails may have made "joining" difficult for the boys ,but it seems where there is a will, they will find a way...T.O.R.
Thank you Bay,I appreciate your words...I can see that I am "losing her" week by week and so I make the most of the time we have together as I am aware that time is short and her care is now the number 1 priority in my life...T.O.R.
G'day folks, new overnight, "Speckle" out of Aswssi mum...Also new photo of the brown headed in the last post.Its now 12 days old,looks great from any angle I think...T.O.R.