| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Essex Gal |
Easy Care ram lambsOnly a few available. Born in March and should be ready to tup a few ewes this year. I'd like £89 each. Situated in north west Essex.Please call me 07768 368053 for more details |
||||
| tahir |
What breed are they? (not that we're going to get any, I hope) | ||||
| mochyn |
Wouldn't K like half a doz. for a mid-winter pressie? Shall I phone and ask her? |
||||
| tahir |
She would, and if you phone her I'll murderise you |
||||
| Nick |
Are you still at work, Tahir? | ||||
| mochyn |
 You're a long way away, though...
|
||||
| tahir |
Don't you start too. 
|
||||
| colour it green |
'easy care' is a breed name http://www.easycaresheep.com/ |
||||
| tahir |
Blimey 
|
||||
| Chez |
Interesting link, thanks, CIG. | ||||
| colour it green |
i dont really know anything about them...just came across them when i was triying to find a breed that was easy care.. iyswim They dont need shearing - so presumably shed their wool.. which is a shame.. cos i like processing wool.... |
||||
| VSS |
Initially based on a cross between a welsh mountain and a wiltshire horn. | ||||
| Castle Farm |
The easycare sheep...
They don't need any feed except grass. Never need their feet trimmed. Never get fly strike. Don't need drenching/worming. Tup themselves. Lamb themselves..Castrate themselves. Dock ditto. Round themselves up when needed for the sales. Fill the lorry up with fuel and drive themselves to market...After booking themselves in and filling and posting paperwork to DEFRA. Yeh! right. Except for shearing there the same as all other sheep..Just designed for muppet farmers who can't shear or lack shepherding skills. |
||||
| Bebo |
Why does wanting to keep a breed that requires less hassle make you a 'muppet farmer'? | ||||
| gil |
I know very few farmers who do their own clipping. That's what contractors are for. |
||||
| Essex Gal |
Castle Farm. I have kept sheep for years ,starting with Lleyns and I've had Suffolks and Texels too and then when I decided I'd had enough of shearing them myself ( YES MYSELF!!) I graduated to Wiltshire Horns whose fleeces fall off usually during late April/May.
When I found out about Easy Cares I thought I'd give them a try - I was quite keen to avoid the bruises ( that's the trouble with having friendly sheep) as well as the shearing now that I'm older. It's been brilliant! They DO lamb themselves BUT they do need foot care and worming from time to time but they are a joy and yes although there is less likelihood of flystrike I still spray them with Click just to be sure. OK if you want to have a difficult time then stick with your traditional breeds it's your back and if you want to make a rod for it that's ok by me!! 
|
||||
| colour it green |
Essex Gal - how does the shedding their own wool go? does it lead to them scratching more or anything? just curious as I have never seen it in action. | ||||
| Essex Gal |
Hello Greeny,
The wool ( although it's more coarse and hairy than proper wool) drops out in small clumps and the whole process can take about a month to six weeks until the sheep is left, not bald, but with a very short clean fleece. The sheep do rub against the fences to hasten the moult but they don't really do any damage. The fields do look untidy for a while BUT the local birds are quite keen on it for nesting and it doesn't hang around for too long. |
||||
| colour it green |
yeh i imagine the local birds are very happy with the arrangement. | ||||
| SheepShed |
What, you mean the lazy little blighters don't do any fencing, topping or hay-making ? And I suppose they think that tractor's going to fix itself ... |
||||
| Pel |
They talked about easy care sheep (along with the dorper, monsa, and zwartbles) on ffermio (s4c) today. It was an old chap (probably 70's) who had retired and he wanted a sheep with less work than other breeds... which he did keep as well. | ||||
| GSHP |
Pel what did they say about Zwartbles ? I think they are fantastic, large but so friendly handling isn't a problem, easy lambers, great milky mothers and as far as mine go good feet. | ||||
| Pel |
They didn't say too much other than the monsa breed is a dorper ram on a zwartble ewe, and it looked like a good sheep, he said had a great conformation, not too much fat, good at lambing too, the presenter pointed out that it was a big sheep too. The presenter seemed more interested in the fact his dorper sheep didn't suffer from maggots and that in fact the Easy Care sheep was actually a breed, they passed quickly over the zwartbles (though when they came on i was letting the dogs out, so may have said more) | ||||
| colour it green |
our zwartbles cross has much harder hooves than the other sheep. |