Featured Farms » Texels - A Lot Less Work
From Irish Farmers Journal 14th June 2008.
In a recent interview, the sheep manager at Gurteen Agricultural College, Ger Carey, was asked why he favours the use of Texel Rams on the college flock over other breeds and, according to Ger, "the progeny of the Texel rams are superior in many ways.” From day one, the hardiness of Texel cross lambs allows him to turnout the day-old lambs straight to the field without any worry about cold or wet days. “The Texel cross lambs in the flock always remain a lot cleaner than other breeds, require a lot less labour and they always top the list when it comes to grades of the sale sheets".
FLOCK MANAGEMENT
Gurteen College is in the sheep farming business for the long haul having boosted its ewe flock last year by purchasing 200 ewe hoggets at Tullow and Borris marts, the flock currently runs at 650 breeding ewes. The sheep enterprise remains a very important part of the education programme at Gurteen College with the enthusiasm shown by sheep manager, Ger Carey, and lecturer, Tom Abbott.
The flock is lambed down in two groups – the first group of 200 lamb in January. This lambing session takes place with the aid of Gurteen College students and the second group of 450 lambs in March, assisted by veterinary nurse students from Athlone Institute of Technology (at this time of the year Gurteen students are on farm placement).
Many of the students enter the college with no knowledge of sheep farming but, at the end of the college year, with this hands-on assistance, they are up to speed on all day-to-day duties of a sheep enterprise. The second group of 450 ewes are currently involved in LMI trials (Lean Meat Index) run by Seamus Hanrahan from Athenry Research Centre. At birth, lambs are weighed, tagged and recorded, weighed again at seven weeks of age and final weight then at slaughter in Irish Country Meats, Camolin, Co. Wexford, where the lambs are sold through the Offaly Lamb Producer Group.
Through his own duties and an eye on the records on the farm, Ger has found in recent years that a higher % of the Texel cross lambs are grading U than other breeds (currently 60%). Also, the college has established a home trade for Texel Cross ewe lambs which are purchased by students who have attended the college in the past. These ewe lambs are bought for their prolificacy, docility and confirmation which they pass on to their progeny.
One of Ger's management tools is to keep the age profile of the flock young which is necessary in a large flock to avoid problems and extra work at lambing time. After their fourth crop of lambs, ewes are sold on to local farmers as breeding ewes to have their final crop of lambs.
LAMB SALES
This year, it expects to sell 1,050 lambs (as this article goes to print, 400 lambs are sold averaging 91 euro). All lambs are creep fed a home mix that is grown on the college farm. The sheep are mixed grazed with the suckler cows during the summer months. Lambs are weighed and drafted every week with the target weight of 38-42kg the requirement. They are then sold through the Offaly Lamb Producer Group to ICM In Wexford.
TEXEL RAM SELECTION
When Ger goes to select the rams for use on the Gurteen College flock, he looks for a ram that is correct on his legs and has length and good confirmation to pass on to his progeny and when he has found the rams with these attributes, he will then take a look at the LMI figures so they back up his choice. Texel rams are usually purchased at the Texel Sheep Society Sales that are run throughout the country.
Date Published: 14/06/2008
