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CHARMOISE HILL SHEEP SOCIETY
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Trials on Charmoise Hill Sheep Welsh Sheep Strategy
– Trials
Assessing the potential of Charmoise rams as a crossing sire
in organic hill sheep production
A
crossbreeding trial being conducted at ADAS Pwllpeiran Organic hill sheep farmers face the same problems as conventional hill farms in that many of the hill breeds do not meet current UK market requirements in terms of carcass weight and conformation. Conventional farmers have used continental terminal sires to overcome this problem. Whilst this route is also open to organic farmers many of the terminal sire breeds could be considered to be “high maintenance” with offspring requiring high energy feeds to meet their full potential. In the organic system, where forage-based diets predominate this is not always possible. However,
other continental breeds do offer some potential to organic farmers.
The Charmoise sheep originated in the hills of France and has been used
in the production of continental terminal breeds such as the Charollais and the
Rouge. The
Charmoise is a small but compact breed which is claimed to thrive under sparse
vegetation. This trial
will monitor the performance of Charmoise x lambs under organic hill conditions. Half of the
breeding ewes (Welsh Hardy Speckle Faced) on the organic unit at ADAS Pwllpeiran
will be tupped by a Charmoise ram. The
ewes will be weighed and condition scored prior to tupping and at pregnancy
scanning. At lambing, ewes will be
condition scored. Lambing
difficulties and mortalities will be recorded.
Lambs will be weighed at birth, eight weeks of age and 18 weeks of age.
Regular
updates will be available as the trial progresses. Contact
point Barbara
McLean 01974 282229 Five
different breeds were crossed onto Welsh
ewes and the offspring’s
weights were compared. The
breeds included were; Charmoise
Hill, Texel, Cheviot, Poll Dorset & Lleyn The first year’s results for single ram lambs are
included below (weight in kilo’s).
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