Border Leicester/Dorset Question

[Bounce]

I am going out tonight to look at 5 purebred Dorset yearling ewes @ $50 each. Farmer held 20 back but has decided to get out of sheep because of the border closure etc.

He's trying to talk me into his 3yr old Purebred Border leicester ram who took 2nd place at the Royal Winter Fair (our biggest livestock show)last November. He wants $150 for this ram. I don't need a ram but I've always like the breed.

He says the lambs finish up slowly but nicely when crossed to Dorset. Border L's are the sheep from the movie Babe. Any opinions?

[Valhalla]

I have Border Leicester/Dorset crosses and like them very much. Some have a little Cheviot in there, but for the most part they all stay very light for dog work. With the exception of two runts born to a short bodied ewe last year, all my lambs have been large and well boned. If I lived in Canada, I'd buy that ram for $150.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

I'd be drooling over the $50 Dorsets and would take a $150 BARB cross off his hands to keep that deal going! I'm looking to build my ewe flock with Dorsets and percentage doserts - got a good head start as my original purebred ewe, her daughters, and her granddaughters all twinned this year (yay!).

 

I had a BL ram for the last four lambings. Just like the man said, nice lambs but a bit slow to get to finish weights past weaning. I have a feeling if I had laid more grain in front of them after weaning they would have done better, but I need a little faster-growing lamb so I can get them off sooner - I have a very small property and the fast grazing rotation is over by mid summer.

 

My BL ram did make REALLY nice lambs off my Dorset girls, though.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Oh, one thing I discovered about that ram - I don't know whether this was just him or something that even matters to you, but he WOULD NOT breed when the temps were above 80 degrees F. This year I thought I was breeding him to abut half my flock, running my new Texels with the other half, and sold him about the time the temps cooled down. Then I ran all the ewes together with the two baby Texel rams. I ended up lambing in two shifts, all Texels!

 

Meanwhile my friend who bought the ram lambed about the same time as my second shift - that devil had covered about forty ewes with no problem once the temperatures dropped.

 

But, on the other hand, he was the nicest, most humble ram I've ever owned. The fact that I took a shock stick to him a couple times when he was still a baby may have had something to do with it, but it was a good thing since he was about 300 pounds of pure muscle!

[Bounce]

Alas, he had the whole flock of 20 sold by the time I was done work. I don't feel too bad, he fessed up that he'd had trouble with "moistfoot" all winter. Thats why the price was so good.

 

I don't think much of anything breeds once it goes over 80* Too Hot

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

I've got two Texels here who have no problem apparently - and I had a Dorper prior to the BL that was willing and able at all times - one year I was able to lamb three times in one year (differetn sets of ewes).

 

We'd be in trouble around here if everything waited until temps dropped below the 80s (that's Farenheit, of course), as it doesn't do that until November, many years. This year we had an 80 degree day on New Year's!

[Sue R]

Somewhat along this line, I have been wanting to get some sheep for "my" livestock project and for working/training the dogs. The cost of fencing is what has held us up and we probably can't do anything until next year.

 

I have a friend with a herd of Dorsets. I could probably get some ewes off him. Would straight-bred Dorsets make good training sheep, along with producing good lambs?