Where Can I Buy Hampshire Lambs Near Me
Progress and Profit
Employ a Hamp for fast finishing lambs
Cormac McGarvey farms part time running around 150 ewes and rearing pocket-size batches of calves most Newtownhamilton in County Armagh. He has been using a Hampshire Down ram for iii years at present and has been impressed with the Hampshire cantankerous lamb's ability to stop quicker than other breeds, their superb growth rates and hardiness.
"We currently sell the majority of our lambs through Dunbia with the rest going through Markethill Livestock Market. We are currently looking into one of the supermarket schemes that give a premium for lighter well finished lambs. The Hampshires power to terminate lambs chop-chop I feel would really suit this scheme. My plan is to stage out our Texel rams replacing them with Hampshires".
"We have been then impressed with the breed nosotros take started our own pedigree flock named "Camly Tréd". We started our flock by purchasing ewe lambs at The Hampshire Down In lamb female sale held at the start of October a few years dorsum and we have recently purchased a new stock ram at the July sale. We plan to breed commercial rams for the growing need for Hampshire rams".
Ease of Management key for success in Northern Ireland
The Horner family unit have been farming in Beachcomber, Co.Down for several generations. They proceed 250 ewes, rear beefiness cattle and grow cereals, potatoes and a variety of vegetables. Garth Horner too runs a busy farm store supplying the local area with fresh produce.
Garth remarks: "Over the years nosotros have kept pedigree Border Leicester, Blue faced Leicester and Charollais sheep. We now concentrate on producing fatty lambs. My flock of ewes mainly consist of Mules along with a few Texel and Suffolk crosses. We use Hampshire, Rouge and Texel rams.
"A few years dorsum I decided to try a Hamp out of curiosity later a neighbour recommended them. I have been using him for three seasons now. He is an exceptional worker. He tips all round him. Each year I have to remove him from the field to ensure some of my other rams get a chance to tip a few ewes.
The Horner'south sell their lambs through Linden foods with the majority grading E to R. Garth plans to invest in a few New Zealand Romney ewes to see if they tin can meliorate the longevity of the flock.
The farm shop has had a very busy spring due to the corona virus pandemic. People can shop online and the Horner'due south provide a home delivery service.
Garth commented: "With the increment in trade in the farm store this spring, I have had less fourth dimension to spend on the sheep. I find the Hampshire lambs tough and they could nigh wait later on themselves."
Fantabulous growth rates plus good killing out pct makes the Hampshire a winning formula.
The Hampshire Down brood as a terminal sire is working well for Gloucestershire based farmers, Phillipa and Sam Page. The good eating quality of the lamb is attracting more than customers to their farm shop and the excellent growth rates and good killing out percentages are ticking the boxes for the deadweight market too.
'The lamb sales have doubled since we started helped by the Corona Virus increasing our footfall significantly with customers looking to buy locally. At present they have tasted the lamb we're confident that nosotros tin keep them coming back' said Phillipa. 'The new customers similar the fact they can ask questions and meet where their food is produced as well every bit the quality of the product'
The 300 ewes that are kept are a mixture of early lambing Suffolk Mules which lamb in Jan/Feb to the Hampshire and the North Country mules are lambed in April which gives them a skilful supply of early lambs for the shop and so right through the twelvemonth. Historically a combination of Meatlinc and Texel rams were used and a maternal Suffolk to produce replacements. A Hampshire was introduced a couple of years agone and information technology was establish that they produce good lambs on both types of ewes. 'We aim to have the Hampshires killed at 38kgs equally the smaller joints are easier to sell in the shop' explains Phillipa. 'We like to be able to lamb early also as mostly the commercial prices are better then'
The remainder of the lambs are sold through Randal Parker or Dunbia Carnaby with pleasing results due to the adept killing out percentages.
Phillipa added 'With the good growth rates the lambs are on the farm for less time which is a big plus bespeak, they fit both of our markets of finished lamb production sold deadweight and lamb specifically for our subcontract shop and we find their temperament easy to work with'
So if you're selling directly to the customer or selling commercially the Hampshire breed has a lot to offer so why non give i a try!
The Hampshire's thriftiness, ease of growth and carcass and eating qualities are fundamental to success for Hertfordshire young farmer
Harry Elsden, a cocky employed agronomics contractor from Hertfordshire has congenital up a medium-sized flock in but seven years and sells in the region of 500 lambs directly to customers annually. The 26 year erstwhile from a not farming groundwork dreams of sheep farming full time but at present rents several parcels of land to run his sheep enterprise from.
To maximise the output from lamb sales, he operates a mainly flying flock of 270 mixed breed ewes. Some three-quarters of the total become to Hampshire Downwards tups from his small pedigree 'Hertford' flock, while the Hampshire crosses are put to a Hampshire cross Beltex which he breeds himself. He finds this crossbreeding system ideally suited to his farming practices and to the demands of his customers.
"The Hampshire downwardly ram brings the thriftiness, ease of growth and carcass and eating qualities that are essential for making my policy work," says Mr Elsden. "The lambs take rapid growth rates and the ability to finish off grass with minimal or no concentrate input"
He adds "Another Hampshire Down trait is good carcase quality and it has the potential to reach the top grading specification. Nearly of my lambs will grade Due east and U, with a handful of R grades. I aim for a 42kgs plus creature which will attain 22-23kgs deadweight. "Every bit a sire, the Hampshire Downwards cantankerous Beltex will produce a very similar lamb but whiteheaded, although markings are not important to me. These lambs will amend high carcass form consistency, without compromising eating quality and growth rates." Lamb is supplied every month of the year, with the exception of February and March. Therefore, some 20 Hampshire Downwardly ewes and a similar number of commercials are lambed in Dec and Jan with the master flock being lambed from mid-March.
Concentrate feeding is non offered until the month earlier lambing, when they will build up to 0.5kgs/head/day; the wintertime-lambers are also fed for the commencement eight weeks. The early on lambs are creep-fed, but the balance will stop off grass.
Direct Marketing is cardinal to Mr Elsden's sheep enterprise success one sales avenue is the Tewin Coffin Hotel in Welwyn, Hertfordshire where Mr Elsden rents the surrounding ground. Lamb features prominently on the menu and on boilerplate the hotel takes three or four lambs each week throughout the year. One of the Tewin Bury's immature chefs, Lucy Wigmore, was a finalist in the 2022 K Restaurants and Bookatable 'Young Chef of the Yr' award. Miss Wigmore finds the meat versatile and complementary to a broad range of ingredients, adding that Hampshire Down lamb has exceptional flavour and colour.
Other local businesses, including a farm shop, a local golf club, several butcher shops and a number of independent restaurants likewise accept lamb. A fixed price is negotiated per kilo deadweight for customers including butchers, while near 100 lamb boxes containing a diversity of cuts are marketed at £130 each, leaving Mr Elsden with £90/head after processing costs. The boxes are normally delivered to the client direct from the abattoir. "My customers want peak quality meat and they like a certain amount of fat embrace, to improve its flavour," says Mr Elsden. "They are also looking for a slightly heavier carcase than some of the alternative markets demand and a 21kgs deadweight lamb is platonic for their requirements."
Mr Elden said "My aim for the pedigrees is non primarily to win at shows, although I enjoy exhibiting my livestock," he notes. "The goal is to produce the blazon of Hampshire Downward tup that will suit the commercial farmer. "My Hampshire Downs must be able to catechumen fodder on a range of different types of pasture and survive over wintertime in some fairly exposed fields."
Mr Elsden plans to increment his ewe numbers in the time to come to nigh 400 ewes and sell 20 breeding rams a year to the commercial market place. If he can go on to generate boxed lamb demand and control a marketplace premium, the overall policy should let him to become a full-time shepherd.
Beak and Ruth McColl run a 240-acre organic unit at Nether Cambushinnie, Dunblane. Both are fully qualified vets based in Alloa and run 230 Lleyn cross Texel and Cheviot cross Texel ewes.
"The Lleyn and Cheviot cross Texel ewes are great mothers and easy to piece of work with which is ideal at lambing fourth dimension equally nosotros lamb everything exterior."
Having used Texel cross Beltex tups previously they found they were having to pull too many lambs which increased workload at lambing fourth dimension and caused problems during the night.
In 2022 in a bid to reduce that trouble the couple experimented with a Hampshire Down ram. Bill says "He was put to the test in his start year as he tupped l+ ewes in ane of the mildest winters and springs where grass was good and the ewes were fitter pre lambing,fifty-fifty with that, we didn't accept to pull any of the lambs."
Tupped at the beginning of Dec to start lambing from 28th April on wards they get through the winter on minimal feeding with just a tonne of bucket feed licks. Their abode bred ewes commonly scan out at 192% to produce a 175% lamb crop at bound time.
"All the Hampshire Down cross lambs were easy lambed, vigorous at birth and quick to go to their feet."
Just as of import to Beak and Ruth they noticed they grew slightly quicker than the three-quarter Texel lambs and produced just as good a grade, with those finishing yielding mostly U and R grades. Pecker and Ruth accept a relatively low stocking density which contributes to the lambs rarely having to be wormed. They don't have to be vaccinated or scratched for orf either, and with an abundance of grass, all lambs are sold finished off grass, keeping costs to a bare minimum.
"We've tried a number of breed and crosses over the years only I would have to say the Cheviot cantankerous Texel suits our organisation best with the Hampshire Downwardly being the preferred last sire."
If you desire a low input organization, these are the breeds that accept to be considered. They believe they take plant a winner with the Hampshire Down, with the progeny and the tups easy to manage. Afterward 2 very different lambing years and now two Hampshire Down tups, Beak and Ruth too think there is the potential for the Hampshire Down cross as a breeding female
Source: https://www.hampshiredown.org.uk/the-breed/progress-and-profit/
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