A NEW DIRECTION FOR THE OLD RAM

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day,thought you might enjoy a couple of photos on the new ram group.

The first is a Wiltipol and the second one shows the Van Rooys with a W H Dorper on the left and another Wiltipol at the rear...T.O.R.

 

[Baymule]

Those are some very nice looking rams. Do you have a favorite?

I had a good lambing this time. I had 9 ewes, 5 were FF's. There was a total of 15 lambs, lost 2, for 13 lambs. 7 ram lambs, 5 ewe lambs, will more than likely keep 4 of them.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day and good on you B M.this clip shown Edgar (Australian White ram) meeting his new ewes for the first time,he looks very mobile and "keen" which is a good sign.

I kept this line of Suffolk ewes because after over 18 years of breeding they have a very high resistance to worm challenge and I want to infuse it into the new flock even though it will come with the "wool gene",but i cannot wait another 18 years to get the new flock to the same stage.There are 16 ewes 14 of which are about 18 months old ,one a year older and another another 2 years older and she leads the group with the aid of the next younger one.Over the years I have found that it is essential to maintain the flocks knowledge within the new younger ewes as it shortcuts the number of mistakes the young ones make in learning"whats ,what"......Hope you all enjoy...T.O.R.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=987587974763000

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Here is a pic of the paddock that the Suffolk ewes came out of ,its about 30 acs

and as you can see they were hardly marking a "dent" in the volume of feed available.....T.O.R.

 

[Baymule]

Looks like lambs will be arriving in about 5 or 6 months! That is a beautiful pasture. It sure shows all your hard work.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day folks,sorry B M i did not answer you question about the rams.I don't have a fav, each breed and each ram within the breed bring with them a different strength and it is the managed combination which achieves the desired outcome.But reaching the outcome is a bit of a "hit and miss affair" although with a "few " years of experience behind me I'm hoping mistakes will be few.On the way to the outcome there will be a lot of sheep eaten but it is hoped it will all be worthwhile once a stable genetic base is established .

On the paddock photo it is worth remembering that this paddock has had "no" external applications of any fertilizer be they Super or Nitrogen for 30 years, only sheep and wildlife manures and careful management in times of stress.This paddock was in a only fair state when the rains came so the result in species,volume and forage quality must speak for how we look after the farm,this result is replicated in all the paddocks we locked up after the start of the rains.In the paddocks that were grazed the grasses still managed to stay ahead of the stocks appetite most likely due to the reduced numbers we have due to the changeover to the new flock it remains to be seen how they come back after the next shower or two.My expectation is that all the Natives and the Cocksfoot will respond as we move to a cooler part of the year......T.O.R

 

[greybeard]

Is Kikuyu one of your grasses?

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day GB, no, not on this farm ,I think it's too cold for too long to be of any use on this farm. we have in the past had it on the farms closer to the coast.The dairy guys use it a lot down on the coast but for me its too invasive for our sheep situation.Because except in "extreme situations" we don't hand feed our need is for the largest mix possible of grass species.

This year after the dry spell broke" we have rested as many paddocks as possible to allow them to recover and the other day I noticed that the Brown Quail have returned after about a 18 months absence......T.O.R

 

[greybeard]

G'day GB, no, not on this farm ,I think it's too cold for too long to be of any use on this farm. we have in the past had it on the farms closer to the coast.The dairy guys use it a lot down on the coast but for me its too invasive for our sheep situation.Because except in "extreme situations" we don't hand feed our need is for the largest mix possible of grass species.

This year after the dry spell broke" we have rested as many paddocks as possible to allow them to recover and the other day I noticed that the Brown Quail have returned after about a 18 months absence......T.O.R

I was just curious..
I've recently seen it's USA use discussed on one of the cattle boards, but it seems to be listed as an invasive here in Texas and banned by USDA for most states...Calif & Arizona being exceptions.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day folks,the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy down on the farm.We sold our first draft of lambs from the "new flock" this last week and much to our surprise they returned better $ wise than the equivalent Suffolk lambs used to.In what was described as a "soft market" they sold 25% higher on a carcass weight measure than the average for the day (700 c/kg as against 520 c/kg).they were score 4 and only fed grass.

The new groups have also been determined and the rams put in,the new flock has been broken up into 4 breeding groups and are as follows.

GROUP 1.Clean Skins,mixed breeds with the WILTIPOL Rams ..lambing to start mid -Aug.No males retained ,90% of females retained.
GROUP 2. WOOLLY EWES,mixed breeds to W H Dorper Rams... as above..............................................50% of females retained
GROUP 3.B H Dorper EWES,mix of full B H and broken faced ewes to Van Rooy Rams...as above...................50% of females retained.
GROUP 4. Suffolk EWE maidens to Australian White Ram..lambing to start mid-late July.............................100% of females retained.

................T.O.R.