News, Views And Information From The Mayo Blackface Group

Mayo Mountain Blackface Sheep Breeders 14th Annual Sale

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 17:10:00 +0100

THE MAYO MOUNTAIN BLACKFACE SHEEP BREEDERS ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THEIR 14th ANNUAL SALE...
Saturday 29th September 2018
Aurivo Mart, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo

2250 Mountain Blackface Sheep on Offer
(1150 Lambs, 800 Hoggets, 300 Aged Ewes)

Show @ 9 AM
Show Classes
1. Ewe Lambs
2. Ewe Lambs – Other Blackface Type
3. Hoggets
4. Hoggets – Other Blackface Type
5. Aged Ewes
(1st prize - €50, 2nd prize - €40, 3rd prize - €30 to the buyer )

Sale commences @ 11 AM sharp
Order of Sale:
1st Hoggets
2nd Aged Ewes
3rd Ewe Lambs
ONLY CATALOGUED SHEEP WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE SALE

Click HERE For Catalogue

Mayo Blackface 2015 AGM Report

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 09:55:00 +0000

There was a great turnout at the Agm.

A number of our suppliers were in attendance including Grennan feeds, Cormac tagging, IOMLAN, FBD, Mayo Healthcare, Sean Walsh, Macra, Westport College Of Further Education and Teagasc Education Ballinrobe will also attend.

We also launched a young farmer bursary between FBD and Mayo Blackface, South Mayo Lamb Producer Group and the Mayo Mule and Greyface Group on the night.

Mayo Mountain Blackface Sheep Breeders Society Annual Sale

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 19:02:00 +0100

This years sale will be held on 23rd September 2017
All our top quality stock are home bred, sound for sale with catalogues available for buyers who want more information on sheep. Our Mayo blackface sheep go to all parts of the country for both replacement and fat lamb production.

Click the image below for the full catalogue.

Kildare Chilling Company Presentation

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 09:40:00 +0000

Click the picture above to download in Microsoft Powerpoint format.

Mayo Blackface Group AGM 2014

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 09:26:00 +0000

Chairman : John Noonan, Teagasc Westport The Mayo Blackface group held their annual AGM in the Mill times hotel on Monday 26th January. The group has grown in membership substantially over the last number of years with 226 paid up members on the books at present. The group has two main activities for its members

Continue reading "Mayo Blackface Group AGM 2014"

Teagasc Hill Sheep Conference 2015

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 10:29:00 +0000

Click the image below to view the Teagasc Hill Sheep Conference 2015 details

Marketing Hill Lambs: The Mayo Story

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 10:01:00 +0000

Tom Staunton, Tom Staunton (Junior), Frank Hynes & John Noonan

Introduction

Tom Staunton lives in Toumakeady, Co. Mayo on a picturesque location overlooking Lough Mask. With his wife Maura he reared six children, three boys and three girls. Farming has provided the main source of income since Tom took over the family farm in 1980. Income is also supplemented by agri-tourism. Over the past 35 years, much of Tom’s time has been devoted to innovative ways of maximising the returns from his business and for other farmers in his community.
Continue reading "Marketing Hill Lambs: The Mayo Story"

Options for Finishing Hill Lambs

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 09:27:00 +0000

Michael G Diskin, Noel Claffey & Frank Hynes,
Teagasc, Mellows Campus, Athenry, Co. Galway.

The Scottish Blackface breed accounts for approximately 22% of the 2.5 million ewes in Ireland. The majority of these Blackface sheep are maintained on hills or marginal land that is not suited to other sheep breeds or other farm enterprises. Profits from these hill sheep enterprises is very much dependant on prices obtained for lambs sold. A large proportion of these lambs become available for sale annually from August onwards. In recent years, prices for hill lambs and in particular light hill lambs have been disappointing. This paper briefly examines different options to improve the marketability and profitability. The main focus of this paper is on pure Scottish Blackface lambs with some minor references to crosses of the breed.
Continue reading "Options for Finishing Hill Lambs "

Mayo Blackface Sheep Producers 2014 Sale Report

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 09:16:00 +0000

Click the image below to download the Mayo Blackface 2014 sales report in Microsoft Powerpoint format.

Mayo Blackface sale report 2014

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 09:14:00 +0000

The Mayo blackface group held their 10th annual sale on September 26th 2014 at Aurivo mart Ballinrobe County Mayo.

It was the group’s biggest sale to date, with1727 sheep entered and 1575 sheep sold on the day.

Hoggets averaged 123 euro with a maximum price of 170 euro and a minimum of 85 euros.

Aged ewes averaged 88 euro, with a maximum of 130 euro achieved and a minimum of 60 euros on the day.

There was brisk demand for ewe lambs as buyers from other hill areas especially the south of Ireland, paying an average of 86 euros per head, with a maximum price of 130 euros and a minimum price of 50 euros.

The sale was relatively successful with very good demand for ewe lambs and aged ewes, with some disappointing prices for good quality hoggets, although the average overall for hoggets was a very respectable 123 euros/head.

Mayo Blackface sale report 2013

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 09:12:00 +0000

The mayo blackface group held their 9th annual sale on the last Saturday in September 2013.
Hoggets averaged 126 euros, with a maximum of 175 euros achieved and a minimum of 85 euros for smaller lots of hoggets
Ewe lambs averaged 80 euros while the top price achieved was 146 euros and the minimum was 52 euros.
There was a good trade for aged ewes with an average price of 72 euros achieved with a maximum of 137 euros and a minimum of 41 euros achieved for small lighter sheep.

Protein Requirement for Ewes in Late Pregnancy

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 08:57:00 +0000

A shortage of protein in a ewe's diet in late pregnancy is a recipie for disaster. Ewes will have little or no colostrum. Lambs will be lost as a result. They will produce less milk as mammary tissues for milk production do not develop fully. The result – slow growing lambs.

It is the last three weeks of pregnancy that protein becomes crucial. When questioned about protein; most farmers refer to the percentage in the ration e.g. 16% or 18%. But this is only part of the story. To get the full story you should know the answer to five questions

What is protein % of your ration?
How much meal are you feeding?
What is protein % of your hay/silage?
How much are they eating?
What type protein are you feeding?

Knowing these tells how much protein the ewe is eating – this is the real measure.

200 grammes/day

In the last three weeks of pregnancy a ewe requires 200 grammes each day, in mid pregnancy only 100 grammes/day is needed. All feeds that the ewe eats contributes to this daily requirement.

For example, one kg of a purchased ration (18%CP) will supply 180 grammes of protein, therefore feeding a ewe 0.8 kg get about 140 grammes. This ewe will eat about 4kg of fresh silage (0.8kg Dry Matter, 14% CP), which supplies about 110 grammes.

Total protein intake is 250 grammes. This is adequate but it assumes that silage is 14%, if it was 10% then the ewe would have barley enough. Similarly, if less meal was fed there could be problems.
It highlights the importance of knowing what type roughage you are feeding.
Continue reading "Protein Requirement for Ewes in Late Pregnancy"

Sheep Ireland and the Mayo-Connemara program

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 08:50:00 +0000

The aim of Sheep Ireland as an organization is to add value to the Irish sheep industry by identifying and promoting the very best sheep genetics that we have. The only way in which we can identify these better genetics is through the recording of data. Ancestry information is the foundation of all genetic improvement program but the extensive nature of hill farming means the collection of this information can be seen by many farming these hills to be an almost impossible task. The Mayo-Connemara group has helped to prove this theory wrong through the design of a simple flock book model that is amenable to all breeders of the Mayo-Connemara sheep.

In time Sheep Ireland hopes that this ancestry recording will become routine for Mayo-Connemara breeders and develop further into a widespread program of performance recording of the important traits that will help sheep farmers improve their returns from farming the hills. It will only be through performance recording that the better genetics can be identified and promoted across the breed through the €uro-Star evaluations. There is now a solid foundation in place for the Mayo-Connemara breed improvement program and if breeders remain committed, there will be major future benefits for all involved.
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Preservation and Improvement Programme in Mayo Connemara Blackface Sheep

nospam@example.com (Administrator) — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 08:34:00 +0000

This type of blackface sheep have evolved and adapted to the mountains of Connemara and West Mayo. The rugged sometimes harsh conditions that they survive in have shaped them to what they are today. In stature they are slightly shorter with good width standing with good ground clearance. They sometimes can have some black wool appear through their strong warm fleece but it is their head that clearly distinguishes them from their Blackface cousins (Scotch, Lanark, Swale dale, Perth and Kerry Hill). The head is lighter with a nice balanced set of horns usually with a black face but can have the occasional speckled face as well. The nose can turn grey as the sheep ages but not as pronounced as the Lanark or Swale dale breeds.

They are a low input breed that converts the heathers and a variety of grasses on the mountains into a sustainable diet. They are superb mothers that offer the lamb’s great protection at birth and within a few minutes the lambs are up and about. They longevity is a key part of their makeup and it is not unusual to see ewes leaving 8 or 9 crops of lambs after them. “In lowland situations” they are a good ewe to rear from a terminal sire or crossed with a Leicester ram leave a very desirable mule lamb.

The lambs produced on the mountains are slower maturing with slightly smaller carcass but with superior taste flavored from eating diverse vegetation on the mountain. This has been also recognized by Europe by the awarding of the PGI (protected geographical indicator) status to The Connemara Hill Lamb. Continue reading "Preservation and Improvement Programme in Mayo Connemara Blackface Sheep"