RYELAND NEWS Summer Edition January 2014
DIRECTORY Chairperson Helen McKenzie 06 372 7842 Email rosemarkie@wise.net.nz Secretary Greg Burgess, NZSBA 03 358 9412 Email nzsheep@clear.net.nz Breed Committee Lloyd Falconer 03 208 1747 Robert Port 07 872 2715 NZSBA Councillor Vacant Editor Helen McKenzie 06 372 7842 Email rosemarkie@wise.net.nz Website: www.nzsheep.co.nz Closing date for next newsletter is June 10 th, 2014 This newsletter will also be available in the Ryeland section of the Sheepbreeders Association website www.nzsheep.co.nz The Ryeland Breed Society accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any published opinion or information supplied by individuals or reprinted from other sources. Items may be abridged or edited. Cover: Rosemarkie F328, Champion Ram and Supreme Champion Ryeland at the 2013 Royal Show, Manawatu 2
CONTENTS 02 Directory 03 Contents; Noticeboard Masterton Show entries! 04 Chairperson s Report 05 A Bit of History from National Library Papers Past 07 Eclectic Energy Stud profile, Jill Thomson & Hamish Rennie 08 Manawatu Royal Show Results 09 Early NZ Ryelands 11 Brucellosis 14 Overseas Notes 15 Rosemarkie Report; Photo captions back cover NOTICEBOARD Please update your email addresses with Sheepbreeders. I had several breeders emails bounce back to me. Everybody please also email me with them direct they are not for publication. I want to use email to remind as many of you as possible prior to next newsletter being put together so you can put in a stud report, photos, for sale, wanted or other relevant item. Be good to have 20 pages regularly. Editor For Sale Very small number of registered Ryeland ewe lambs, $180 each; all plus GST. Intending or existing stud breeders only need apply. Stud/commercial ram lambs $250; rams $400; all plus GST Contact: Helen or Warwick 06 372 7842 or email rosemarkie@wise.net.nz Masterton A & P Show is Saturday 15 th of February. We usually enter a couple of ewe hoggets in the scanning class about $12 an entry. Must be tagged and registerable with the Society. Check out the Masterton show website for an entry form or ring me on 06 372 7842 and I will get a schedule sent to you. Ryelands can also enter the Any Other Breed category at the Show. I have put in the Royal Show results, for which we were the only exhibitors of Ryelands present. We did not put in any ram hoggets as we did not feel they were up to it but they have since picked up and are now looking great. English Leicesters just had 1 ram hogget and 1 ewe hogget representing their breed at least we had five pens! 3
CHAIRWOMAN S REPORT I am embarrassed to say yet another year has passed with no Annual General Meeting for our society. I sincerely hope will be able to meet up next year perhaps at the Royal show in the Manawatu or the Canterbury Show. I have pledged to myself that I will be more active in the role of Chairwoman than I have been in the past. With this newsletter which I plan to put on our Ryeland webpage via the NZ Sheepbreeders Association I hope we will get more publicity for our wonderful breed. I am sorry to hear that longstanding breeder Alec Ward-Smith has withdrawn his flock from registration, although I understand he will be keeping his sheep. Hopefully I will be able to do some research on his family s association with the Ryeland breed and get material for a future article. We really need more Ryeland breeders very badly, so please encourage anyone you know with 10 or more acres and a wish to own sheep to take up Ryelands. Stress their docility, good mothering instinct, versatile wool for handcraft use and of course, the sweet, great tasting meat; also the need to register them to keep them eligible for sale to other registered breeders and for possible export. There is also a lot of fun to be had showing a few sheep. Ryelands are still eligible for both the shorn and woolly classes at the Royal. We need committed breeders, not fashion followers! We have sold sheep to two new breeders this last year, one in Whangamata and one not far from us in the Wairarapa. I hope they will both become registered breeders in due course. We are down to 9 flocks, 193 ewes! Sadly we lost a dedicated breeder with the unexpected death of Ross Fraser in Southland earlier in the year. His wife, Pamela, is keeping some registered Ryelands, although she dispersed their Shropshire flock and their Red Poll cattle herd. Please let me know any constructive criticism of this newsletter you may have. I want it to be the best we can put together. Remember if you re in the Wairarapa we would love to see you. There is generally a spare bed or two available! Our phone is 06 372 7842. Helen 4
A BIT OF HISTORY From Papers Past (NZ National Library) Auckland Star, Volume LV111, Issue 41, February 1927 THE RYELAND BREED. General Utility Sheep A BREED OF PROMISE Perhaps the most valuable of the more recently introduced breeds of sheep is the Ryeland. It appears to be a breed well suited to our general farming conditions and has, in fact, given no small satisfaction to those who have tried it. The Ryeland takes its name from the rye-lands of Herefordshire and neighbouring counties in the west of England. Rye, by which is understood ryecorn and not ryegrass, was grown for many centuries in England on land that was too poor and light to grow good wheat. That the breed should have been evolved on such land is evidence to its constitution and hardiness. As far as history takes us back, the Ryeland was an exceptionally small sheep noted far and wide for its fine fleece as well as its foraging capacity. In fact, it has been suggested that Merino blood may have been introduced at some date. Be that as it may, Ryeland wool has always stood very high in the estimation of the expert. The wave of livestock improvement that followed Bakewell s epoch-making work led to the introduction of Leicester blood. A very much larger sheep was thereby created and there was at one time a distinct danger of the fineness of the fleece being sacrificed for the larger carcase. There were, however, a sufficient number of local enthusiasts to save the breed from being entirely swamped by Leicester blood, and the evolution of the breed along the same lines has now been in progress for many years. Although by no means as numerous in the Old Country as many of the other breeds, the Ryeland is steadily increasing both in numbers and popularity. In view of modern labour conditions and the decline of arable farming, the demand is for a readily adaptable sheep that will to a large extent, look after itself and thrive well on grass without recourse to crops or artificial foods. This is where the Ryeland excels, and large numbers are now being used to cross with long-wool ewes, the resulting lamb being suitable for rapid fattening either on grass or crops. 5
The Southdown of the West Although it has no Southdown blood in its veins, the breed resembles in many ways a larger and more heavily woolled edition of the Southdown. In fact it takes the place on the rank pastures of the West of England occupied by the Southdown on the drier soils of the south-eastern counties. It is of just the same compact type that produces early maturing lambs of the highest quality, while its wool is even finer. The breed is well woolled all over and carries a dense heavy fleece. It is thus likely to become popular with flock- owners who aim to get a portion of their lambs away fat, but who may be able to carry on a considerable number of them. The Ryeland-Romney crosses are not only hardier and better fossickers than the Southdown-Romney crosses, but they are a distinctly bigger sheep. The ewes are considered excellent milkers and the breed has always been singularly free from foot trouble. The breed has already won many admirers, more particularly in Canterbury, while there was an excellent stud at the now non-existent state farm at Moumahaki, in South Taranaki. There seems to be no doubt but that it is destined to become one of the standard breeds of Australasia. All the above mentioned attributes of thriftiness, hardiness and good fossicking ability are certainly still there in abundance. In a complete turnaround they are nowhere near the size of the modern Southdown. The NZ small holder is not looking for large sheep. Ryelands have a great role to play on small holdings, being both docile, polled, great mothers, having a fleece suitable for spinning and above all excellent to eat! As terminal sires they are eminently suitable for the drought-prone east coast hill country. Sires are very prepotent, leaving even lines of lambs from disparate ewe flocks. Crossbred lambs have good length surprising when most Ryelands are of a more compact body shape; as well as inheriting the early maturing ability required for prime lamb production. Being white woolled, with white points and a minimum of coloured fibre (if any) means more versatile uses for slipe wool from the pelts. Editor 6
ECLECTIC ENERGY Stud Profile When deciding what sheep to farm, Jill Thomson and Hamish Rennie (trading as Eclectic Energy) browsed through Kathryn Dun s Beautiful Sheep book and were struck by the looks of a UK Ryeland ram bred by RA & AM Howell. The description as small, docile and dual purpose with a fine fleece good for spinning and able to do well on a diet of grass alone was attractive. The name Ryeland also sounded familiar and sent Hamish delving into some medals inherited from his grandfather, W.O. Rennie who farmed Rushbrook Farm in Doyleston, near Christchurch. W.O. (as he was known) had Ryeland Flock No 5 (R) and won prizes for his Border-Leicester and Ryeland sheep from 1929-1939. In 1926 newspapers record 22 Ryeland ewes and rams from the flocks of John Brooks (Brookside) T.A. Stephens (Irwell) and W.O. were consigned to Melbourne. In April 1929 Rennie and Brooks each imported a Ryeland stud ram from the Hon. T. Payne of Victoria. The rams had been selected by Mr Brooks and were bred from stock imported to Australia from England by Mr Payne. John and Joseph Brooks (Brookside), Rennie and Stephens were prominent in Ryeland classes at many shows over the following decade. In February 1932, Messrs Rennie, Joseph Brooks and Stephens jointly shipped 60 Ryelands to Melbourne and W.O. (as he was generally known) sent a further 35 ewes to Sydney. In 1934, the Deputy-Director of Agriculture for South Australia visited the Stephens and Rennie farms to inspect the Ryeland flocks. Returning from judging the Ryelands at the Royal Show in Auckland in 1934, W.O. commented to the Ellesmere Guardian that the Ryeland competition was good and the breed was becoming popular, especially for crossing with Corriedales for fats and holding over ewe lambs. W.O. was also President of the Canterbury A & P Show in 1939. Among the medals, Hamish found the Royal Shows Ryeland classes Champion Ram in 1933 and 1939, Reserve Champion in 1937 and 1938, and Champion Two Ewe Hoggets in both 1937 and 1938. The Ellesmere Guardian records that the medals for the ewe hoggets were provided by the Ryeland Flock Book Society of England. W.O. also won Reserve Champion in various Ryeland 7
classes in 1929, 1939 and 1940, and was a recipient of the Bledisloe Medal for services to agriculture, The family connection was the clincher and Jill and Hamish s Eelbend Stud on the banks of the Selwyn River (Irwell), was founded in 2012 on five pregnant ewes from Lloyd Falconer s (Flock 259) Leithan stud. An additional two pregnant ewes and a ram were added from the late Ross Fraser s (Flock 256) Inchloan stud. Jill exhibited two hogget rams at the Ellesmere A&P Show in Leeston on 19 th October this year. This attracted some curiosity with several people, including the grandson of H.C.B Withell (Flock 35 R.), commenting they had wondered what Ryelands looked like. The Show was a learning experience. Coincidentally, a background report on T.A. Stephens, including his Ryeland breeding, featured in the Ellesmere Echo in the lead up to the Show as one of his grandsons, Stewart, was on the Show s organising committee. Photo 1: 1939 Champion Ryeland Ram Pitcher and medals for 1937 & 1938 Pair of Ryeland Ewe Hoggets (From the Ryeland Flock Book Society of England) awarded to W.O.Rennie at the Royal Shows. Photo 2 (See the back cover): Frederick of Eelbend, 2013 Ellesmere A & P Show Champion Ryeland Ram - sire Leithan, 8/10 (reg. 3858); dam, Leithan 18/08; sire of dam, Leithan 4/06 (reg 3835); dam grandsire, Halalullya (IMP) 125/01 (reg. 3800). Reference: Beautiful Sheep: Portraits of Champion Breeds by Kathryn Dun (2008), photographs by Paul Farnham, Ivy Press, Lewes, was published by Murdoch Books, Australia in 2010. Photo 1 8
ROYAL SHOW MANAWATU RESULTS Ram, Over 18 months: 1 st Rosemarkie Partnership #F328 Ram Under 18 months: no entries Champion Ram Rosemarkie #F328 Ewe, over 18months, suckling lamb/s at foot 1 st Rosemarkie Partnership #E392 2 nd Rosemarkie Partnership #F312 Ewe, under 18 months: 1 st Rosemarkie Partnership #G323 2 nd Rosemarkie Partnership #G321 Champion Ewe Rosemarkie #E392 Reserve Champion Ewe Rosemarkie #F312 SUPREME CHAMPION Rosemarkie #F328 Line up of Ryeland rams being judged at Three Counties Show, June 2011 when Warwick & I went to the International Red Poll Congress in the UK 9
EARLY NZ RYELAND S Volume 1 of the Flock book of the Ryeland Sheep Society of New Zealand (Inc) was published in 1925. (Prior to this I believe Ryelands were, as now, part of the NZ Sheepbreeders Association.) The foreword of the first flockbook gives a brief history. It says that it is on record that the first Ryeland sheep imported into this country were for the flock of Mr Kellock, Hinds, South Canterbury, in 1901. At this time the head shepherd for Mr Kellock was Mr J Price, of Ashburton. Mr Price was very keen on the Ryeland breed of sheep and after much endeavour persuaded Mr Kellock to found a flock. It was thus that the Ryeland was imported into this Dominion. Several breeders then turned their attention to this sheep primarily on account of the fact that it produced a quick fattening lamb, but also because of the excellent quality of its wool. The number and sizes of the flocks have shown a remarkable increase in the past five years, and it is a noteworthy fact that the second largest breeder in New Zealand is the Department of Agriculture at their experimental Farm, Weraroa. After considerable correspondence between several of the breeders a meeting was held in Palmerston North on the 15 th of November, 1924, when the Society was formed, officers elected, and a set of rules adopted. We have every expectation of increasing and strengthening our Society as time passes, possessing, as we do, members who stand high in the community as breeders with knowledge, intelligence and integrity. Our book is not as complete as we would like, but future editions will have complete histories of flocks included. The President who wrote the above was Mr T. Z. Stephens and the Society Secretary was Mr C. H. Flanagan. Hopefully our members are still knowledgeable, intelligent and of integrity! 10
Flock #1 in the book is that of the Department of Agriculture. This flock was founded in 1907 by the purchase from W.T. Barnaby, England of 10 ewes (in lamb) and 1 ram. In January 1909 an additional purchase was made from the same breeder of 10 ewes (in lamb) and a ram. The ewes registered in the first book number 120 along with 60 shearling ewes. They bred 78 ram lambs and 84 ewe lambs in 1924. The sires used were Dominion Moumahaki, Dominion Duke and Dominion Prince, (of their own breeding), Waverly, and Waipuna Dart. Flock # 2 was that of Mr T A Stephens, the new Society s President. His flock was founded in 1908 by the purchase of 30 ewes from Wm. Hay (F2) whose flock was descended from ewes bred by WT Barneby and F E Gough, England. He had 210 ewes plus 60 shearling ewes. (This one flock has the number of registered ewes that we have in the whole of NZ now. We have dropped down in number alarmingly - by about 100 ewes in the last year or so. Helen) BRUCELLOSIS Thanks to Anne Ridler, Ben Hodgson & the NZ Sheepbreeders Association Brucellosis is the disease caused by the bacteria Brucella ovis. Its major effect is epididymitis (lumps at bottom of the rams testicles), which causes a permanent reduction in fertility. In NZ the disease will only affect ewes for a short time and they tend to clear the disease by the next oestrus cycle. Transmission requires close proximity (often by sexual contact), and is typically by direct ram to ram contact or from ram to ram by mating of the same ewe. Brucellosis may reduce the ewe pregnancy scanning percentage on a farm when it is well entrenched in the ram flock. However, these effects can often be masked if a high percentage of rams are used e.g. if tupping ratios of 1:50 are used, even if half the rams are infertile there may be enough rams with viable semen to achieve an acceptable tupping result. 11
For this reason, we encourage farmers to think about the cost of Brucellosis mainly in terms of the effect on ram wastage. In an infected flock, the main loss occurs as rams become infected and infertile and they are no longer able to contribute to the flock genetics or a crop of terminal sire lambs. Due to social interaction, as new rams find their place in the ram flock hierarchy each year there is a high chance they will become infected soon after introduction. Think about this and what you spend a new ram money that is wasted if the ram is infected soon after he arrives on the property. For flocks that have been recently infected it is usually possible to eradicate the disease by repeated blood testing and culling. In flocks that have been infected for a long period of time, it may be more practical and less expensive to replace the entire ram flock. Common causes of new infections that we tend to see are as follows: Stray rams (e.g. from neighbours who don t get their rams examined yearly or feral sheep in scrub/forestry blocks) Bought in rams e.g. cheap Black-face rams from a neighbour or dog tucker rams from a sale. Local ram fairs can be a risk, as entry requirements are variable and are sometimes slack. Winter ram lambs. Although lambs are free of the disease when they are born, as soon as they become sexually active they can become infected and very rapidly start spreading the disease around and between farms. In terms of stray rams, the riskiest time of year tends to be tupping. During the rest of the year rams should be safely in their ram paddock with no risk of strays coming through a boundary fence. However, during tupping rams are very active and are obviously distributed around a larger area of the farm, increasing the risk of contacting stray rams. In areas where there have been recent infections local farmers tend to retain a healthy fear of the disease. Once eradication in an area has occurred, over the years complacency tends to creep in and people start to make poor decisions. The exact number of infected flocks in NZ is unknown but 12
unfortunately there are still relatively high numbers of commercial rams that are never examined some of these are likely to be infected. In NZ a voluntary B. ovis accreditation scheme is in place. For stud breeders most (if not all) of the Breed Societies make accreditation a compulsory part of membership. For a variety of reasons there now seem to be a large proportion of breeders who are not members of a breed society. Most of these have joined the accreditation scheme independently, but never assume this. Some golden rules for your rams 1. Never buy a ram without seeing a current B. ovis accreditation certificate. There are still reasonable numbers of rams being sold around the country from breeders with no accreditation program in place. Don t assume, and don t just take a verbal assurance that the rams are Vet Checked confirm that the Rams and Stud are actually Accredited free of Brucellosis. Accredited-free flocks should have a current certificate issued by their veterinarian 2. With stray rams, if you are in a risky area, shoot first and ask questions later. Treat any stray ram as infected. If you see a stray ram, remove him as quickly as practically possible (by any means necessary!). If the stray has been in the mob for a while it may be a good idea to get the ram flock tested. 3. Get your rams palpated by your local Veterinarian every year. If you are unlucky enough to have your flock infected, the sooner this is identified the sooner steps can be taken to reduce the impact. Keep your new rams separate until you have the flock checked each year. In high risk areas, many farmers choose to blood test the entire ram flock every year. 4. Don t buy dog tucker rams. A high percentage of these are infected (this is often the reason they have been culled). Compared to many diseases, Brucellosis is an easy one to keep on top of with some good habits and a community approach. If you have any questions consult your vet! 13
OVERSEAS NOTES 14 Ryeland Judge, Brian Davies, awards Champion Ryeland to a shearling ewe from the Dolwen Ryeland Stud at the 2013 Pembroke Show in the UK. Australian News On the internet I entered Ryeland sheep Australia 2013 to see if there was any Ryeland news that might be of interest and it came up with the ABC Rural Tas Country Hour by Sally Dakis. There is a brief summary of the item written on the page as well as an audio of an interview with Stephen French, an Australian Ryeland breeder, whose family have bred Ryelands for many years. He is currently Federal President of the Australian Ryeland Sheep Association (Item recorded in October 2013). She is talking to him at the Hobart show in Tasmania. He speaks of the resurgence of the Ryeland in Australia as the slow food way of eating takes off. He says that the Ryeland has a marbled meat with the best of flavours (as we all know). He also says they have ease of lambing when used over Merino ewes as a plus compared with the modern big framed terminal sire breeds. It is only a couple of minutes long but worth listening to. HE MUST PAY Husband and wife had a tiff. Wife called up her mum and said, "He fought with me again, I am coming to live with you." Mum said, "No darling, he must pay for his mistake. I am coming to live with you.
ROSEMARKIE STUD REPORT Not the best of years. We had a disastrous start to lambing in both our Shropshire and Ryeland flocks this year, with 1 Ryeland and 4 Shropshire ram lambs getting into the ewe flock several weeks before mating. However the Ryelands were not affected as badly as the Shropshires and we ended up with forty nine registerable lambs of which twenty five are ewe lambs. We had the ram lambs scanned this year and found that they compared quite well with the Shropshires. Our Shropshire ewe hogget came second= at Masterton Show last February competing against Texels, Polled Dorsets, South Downs, and Dorset Downs. Masterton takes into consideration the body weight of the animal in comparing the eye muscle areas. We will scan all our ewe and ram lambs this year. We are hoping to get a new ram or two this year from NZ breeders as we have some older ewes that do not have any of the last import from Australia in them and have found ourselves with only rams that have the imported ram bloodline. In NZ we need to keep as wide a genetic base as possible and with only 200 odd ewes that is becoming more difficult. If we all increase our flock numbers by 10-20 ewes every extra good ewe will help the breed s position in NZ. We may have to reduce our Shropshire numbers by that amount to let us pick up a few more Ryelands. The sale of about 25 stud females this year dropped our ewe numbers well down again. We would like to maintain at least 80 Ryeland ewes at Rosemarkie, plus replacements. Helen McKenzie & Warwick Potts Top: PHOTOS BACK COVER: Frederick of Eelbend, 2013 Ellesmere A & P Show Champion Ryeland Ram - sire Leithan, 8/10 (reg. 3858); dam, Leithan 18/08; sire of dam, Leithan 4/06 (reg 3835); dam grandsire, Halalullya (IMP) 125/01 (reg. 3800). Bottom: Ryeland ewe with Shropshire X lamb at foot. November 2013 15
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