I do not selling breeding stock at the auction. If I sell ewes at the auction it is because I don't want them in my program, the udder has broken down, or they don't shed properly. They sell with no papers. As culls. I sell only ram lambs at the stockyard auction. I stopped selling finished market lambs since I get as much for a weanling 3 month lamb as a finished lamb. And selling at the stockyard is much easier. I am in southern California.
Lamb prices have been coming up and if you have any ram lambs for sale, be sure to take them between now and the first week of April to catch the Easter market. The price also depends on the size of lambs, whether they are uncut rams, etc. , and breed.
I pull my lambs off the ewes at 3 months old. The ewes go out to the field, the ewe lambs stay in the creep for another 2 weeks, and the ram lambs go straight into the stock trailer for the auction. The auction lambs don't take a back set in weight by going right off the ewes to auction. We don't castrate since they are leaving by 3 months old, and we also don't dock tails on ram lambs. This saves us work, and the lambs bring higher prices for the ethnic market.
You need to check out the sale prices on lambs at auctions in your area. Find out when the sheep sales are and call the next day to check prices. The auction will gladly give you that information. There will be a difference is the lambs are chunky meat lambs, compared to lightweight lambs. Younger lambs often bring the same as older larger lambs which is why we don't hold anything past 3 months anymore. An older lamb will bring as much as a younger one based on bringing cull 6 month ewe lambs that we decided we didn't like in with some 3 month ram lambs.
Another thing you have to realize is that unless you are selling at a show auction, buyers at the stock yard are not looking for papered sheep. They don't care what your breeding program is or how much you have spent on your seed stock, or how good your registered animals are. They are buying meat to fill a market order or looking for cheap breeding sheep for specific purposes. If you sell pedigreed animals at the stockyard auction you get meat prices.
You need to decide on your market and once you have been bringing in good lambs for a while people will look for your market lambs. Don't try to sell good registered breeding stock there. Advertise those sheep in breed magazines, sheep magazines, or take them to shows that have an auction.
Prices on good market lambs are up. I was getting $185 apiece for my 3 month 65-70 lb. White Dorper ram lambs at our local stockyard auction. Last week I got $230 and $210 apiece. This is the time to sell just before Easter. My lambs are out of top quality breeding stock, thick, heavy and meaty. I don't expect to sell my ram lambs for breeding ram prices. I don't sell ewe lambs for meat, I am keeping most of the ewe lambs to increase my flock. I buy good breeding rams from top breeders instead of keeping home bred rams to use. My current flock is over 30 and by the time we move to Texas I hope to be around my desired number of 50 breeding ewes. I breed all year round and prices change but I can't breed everyone at once so every month I take a small load of lambs to the auction.
Hope this helps. You really need to know your market and plan accordingly.
