# Breed check! Corriedale ram.



## chubbydog811 (Apr 16, 2012)

I have what was said to be a registered Corriedale ram. I have researched, and never seen one in this color. What do you guys think? I don't really care either way, since he is sire to my meat flock (not breed specific), but I would like a rough idea as to what, breed wise, I should advertise his lambs as. 
The ewes are all Corriedale/Shetlands (And they look the part), but he is the one I am doubting. 

Here are a couple photos. He is a very large ram. Taller than my waist, and I am 5'7".


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## aggieterpkatie (Apr 16, 2012)

Looks like he could be a Corriedale.  There are Natural Colored ones, so it's possible!


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## SheepGirl (Apr 16, 2012)

He looks like a Corriedale to me.


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## chubbydog811 (Apr 17, 2012)

Thanks! I just wanted to double check. I am still new to sheep, so I wasn't really sure if the color was right or not.


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## Bossroo (Apr 18, 2012)

I have never seen a Corriedale of this color in 50 years   ... he is a very poor physical specimen conformationally for meat lamb production.    Using this ram will increase your production costs and then bring lower market price at sale time.


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## chubbydog811 (Apr 18, 2012)

Bossroo said:
			
		

> I have never seen a Corriedale of this color in 50 years   ... he is a very poor physical specimen conformationally for meat lamb production.    Using this ram will increase your production costs and then bring lower market price at sale time.


For the sake of knowing why and learning - why do you say he is "a very poor physical specimen comformationally for meat..."? 
If it helps any, he was severely under weight when I took this photo. They all came in poor condition. 
In person, I think he is a pretty good multi-purpose ram. His ram lambs are very bulky and look to be good for meat and wool, which is what I was aiming for with his flock.


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## Royd Wood (Apr 18, 2012)

Think you have answered it yourself by saying they came in poor condition. He looks nice though and at a good home now
Welcome to the sheep world


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## TexasShepherdess (Apr 18, 2012)

I gotta ask, how tall do you think he is? he looks huge in the pictures..but I am used to squatty dorpers..


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## chubbydog811 (Apr 18, 2012)

Royd Wood said:
			
		

> Think you have answered it yourself by saying they came in poor condition. He looks nice though and at a good home now
> Welcome to the sheep world


Thank you! And you are probably very correct, but I just wanted to check if there was anything else I was missing. He's already put on weight, and looking a bit better. I hate that it's harder to put weight on than it is for them to drop it!!

As to his size - he is VERY large. As I mentioned in the first post, I am about 5'7" and he is a little over my waist. Very big boy. He's about the size of a Shetland pony lol


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## TexasShepherdess (Apr 19, 2012)

wow! That is one big sheep!


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## Bossroo (Apr 19, 2012)

chubbydog811 said:
			
		

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From the photo...  Conformationally- This ram is slab sided with no spring to the ribs, his legs turn in at the knees, he is very narrow in the body.  Beeing tall doesn't mean that he will have enough muscle mass as edible meat. Therefore he will be producing lambs with more bone/gut/hide  to meat ratio department.  If he passes on these traits to the lambs, they would bring a discount at auction.  Also, the dark wool fibers would be discounted by the wool buyers, therefore the sale price wouldn't even come close to covering today's sheering costs.  Not exactly what I would be looking for in a profitable  enterprise.


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## chubbydog811 (Apr 19, 2012)

Bossroo said:
			
		

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Thank you for clarifying! Like I said, I am still learning. The only reason I bought him was because he was included in the sale with the ewes (couldn't take the girls without him). 
As far as meat rams go - what breed do you think would cross well with a Corriedale/Shetland ewe to get better meat quality and wool? The girls I am planning on keeping looking like short Corriedales. They are white, wider set and more correct than the ram, nice wool, and will be relatively meat-y once they get weight put on them. 
Are there any wool colors that seem to sell for a better price than others?
I just picked up shearing clippers the other day, so that will actually be one less expense for the sheep. I only paid $20 for the clippers, so I would say money well spent.


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## Bossroo (Apr 19, 2012)

chubbydog811 said:
			
		

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I used to have several hundred Ramboulett and Corriedale ewes as well as a flock of purebred Suffolks to sell the rams at ram sales. I crossbred the ewes to the Suffolk rams that produced excellent crossbred lambs at  very good prices at auction .  White is the preferred wool color for wool buyers. Black fibers in the wool always meant a discount.  Since your ram came in a package deal, I would send him packing like yesterday and go out and purchase a high quality ram that would be an asset instead of a liability.  In todays economy, I would concentrate on producing a meat type lamb.  Sell  the lambs and forget about wool production as the prices are way too low here to compete with Australian wool. My choice of ram breeds  would consist of  high quality purebred Suffolk, Dorper, or Southdown ( the full size type, definately NOT the babydoll size)   for the best return on investment. I would also consider to annually retaining  about 10 to 15% of the best quality ewe lambs produced from this cross as replacement ewes to improve meat production characteristics in your flock.    Enjoy the journey !


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## chubbydog811 (Apr 19, 2012)

Bossroo said:
			
		

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Thank you again for your advice! I am definitely going to take note of it and sell/process anyone that isn't as productive as they should be (ram, and I also have 3 ewes that were also included in the flock that I'm not fond of. They are more similar to the ram in shape/color, though conformation wise look a lot better). I was thinking on the Suffolk or Dorper breeds for my meat flock, just wasn't sure how well they would do with the mix I have. I will definitely look into getting a better quality meat ram over wool.


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## Bossroo (Apr 20, 2012)

Remember ...  the ram is ONE HALF of your herd assembly line  for production !          Only the best quality ram will make you a profit.    Cull the ewes ruthlessly every year.        A TOP quality Suffolk or Dorper will work wonders on the ewes that you select to keep.


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## TexasShepherdess (Apr 20, 2012)

Ive come across afew folks crossing dorper rams over their wool ewes..they seem pleased with the results..the woolies were mainly Ramboulett and Suffolks..but like I said, they were pleased.

I am just in awe of how big he is..height wise..


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## TheSheepGirl (Apr 21, 2012)

As far as wool color goes, a handspinner will pay top dollar for a good quality natural colored fleece! I have found that a silver fleece sells as well as any color that is unusual. Some but black wool and others prefer regular brown wool.

I breed only wool sheep and not meat, since around here it is more profitable. Each ewe produces a $60-$80 fleece twice yearly as well as 1-3 $100 lambs once yearly. Works pretty well for me and I make a bit more than if I just sold meat around here.

Handspinners are the way to go if you only have a small number of fleeces to sell, but they prefer quality fleeces over those from meat sheep that are not as good of quality, though I've been told that suffolk and hap. fleeces are good for socks, being courser.


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## kfacres (May 21, 2012)

if that ram is a corriedale-- he's a poor representitive....

True, purebred black corriedales, are not eligible for registry in that ass'n.  The black genes do show up sometimes.  Friend of mine has several black ones.


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