Use a Hamp for fast finishing lambs

He has been using a Hampshire Down ram for three years now and has been impressed with the Hampshire cross lamb’s ability to finish quicker than other breeds, their superb growth rates and hardiness.

Cormac takes up the story: “We use a variety of rams Hampshire, Texel and a Chartex to our ewe lambs. We cross the Hampshire ram to mule ewes and we keep the ewe lambs from these ewes as replacements and then cross them back to the Hampshire. I find the Hampshire breed to be very versatile. The ewes can be lambed inside or outside, they are a very hardy sheep, they are easy to lamb and the lambs are strong at birth. We also like the breed as we can get three crops of lambs in two years from the Hampshire cross ewes and the cull ewes also have a good value at the end of their productive life.

“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 ability to finish lambs quickly I feel would really suit this scheme. My plan is to phase out our Texel rams replacing them with Hampshires.

“We have been so impressed with the breed we have 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 back and we have recently purchased a new stock ram at the July sale. We plan to breed commercial rams for the growing demand for Hampshire rams.”

The Hampshire Down Sheep Breeders Association of Ireland are holding a sale of rams consisting of six shearling rams and nine ram lambs at Armoy Livestock Market on Wednesday 16th September starting at 8pm. Buyers must register with the Armoy Livestock Market and online bidding will be available through www.marteye.ie or download the app.