Merryn Pugh's Comments A hot, clear Christchurch day saw a great turnout of Canterbury Dorper Breeders for an Open Day at Jo and Peter Townshend s Kilmarnock Stud on 1 March. Also on display were most of our M&M White Dorper Stud s sheep (Merryn Pugh and Michael Harvey). Jo and Pete have been breeding stud sheep since 2009, with Mike and I starting our stud in 2011. Both studs are only breeding White Dorpers. We both come from livestock backgrounds of breeding, showing and competing. The move in to sheep breeding has many similarities with any other breeding venture and both of us have been hooked on an objective to improve the quality of White Dorpers available in NZ. Both studs started off with very small numbers. The foundation ewes, for each stud, were sourced from quite separate breed lines. However in early 2013 Jo and I became the owners of the entire Ellesmere Stud ewe flock. We split the ewes down the middle and welcomed some very nice sheep in to our flocks. The Ellesmere Stud had previously completed a very successful embryo transfer program in 2011, and most of the resulting lambs were retained by the stud. In addition to the ewes we also purchased one 2012 stud ram each from the Ellesmere flock. I took a gamble in purchasing a very nice ram, with quite heavy horn. Given an option I would have liked a ram with all of his characteristics and less/ no horn, but there was no other ram that I liked as much. Many consider that some horn is desirable, as it is directly correlated to masculinity and muscle growth, but my boy really does have too much. The resulting lambs, on the whole, have been of excellent quality with great growth rates. He has produced some very nice ewe lambs and I have been careful to ensure that they were mated with a ram that does not have any horn. Some of the ram lambs did have heavy horn and most of these were culled. Both studs have the objective of breeding White Dorper sheep that are suitable for profitable commercial farming in the NZ climate. This requires an animal that is structurally sound, with high early growth rates, producing a lean high yielding carcass. Of secondary consideration is shedding ability and pigmentation. It is important that we do not lose sight of this objective and, in an effort to increase numbers, fail to cull genetically weak animals. For this reason we have both been very harsh on our lambs, when it comes to faults. I believe we are starting to see the results although it is still early days. We have both been guilty of too much input, in the early days, when we did not have big numbers. I think it is easy to handle the sheep too much, as it is natural to want the best outcomes from your investment. With bigger numbers, both flocks now at about 120 ewes, the sheep are left much more to their own devices. There is much less input now. Sheep with bad feet are quickly culled and anything that needs more than a routine drench, is quickly on the truck. In saying that, animal health is a priority and any animal that needs attention gets it. Both studs have routinely lambed twice a year (ewes lambing three time in two years). With smaller numbers this was an effective way of increasing numbers quickly. Out of season lambing is only successful if there is feed availability when it matters. Mating ewes out of season to lamb in March- May, requires excellent nutrition and stock management. Jo has been able to ensure adequate pasture growth for lambing during February/ March, through irrigation, but I need to be a little more careful with no option to irrigate and therefore do not intend to continue twice a year mating in large numbers from now on.
In 2014 I secured 100 acre lease block on the Port Hills. This is where our ewe flock winters, prior to being brought home for lambing. The block is very steep, with unimproved pasture. The ewes seem to thrive and come back to the flat in excellent health and fitness for lambing. Once lambs are approx. 2weeks old they are returned with their mothers to the hill. Lambs are weaned from the hill at 90-100 days of age in mid to late November and brought home. The ewes remain on the hill block until just prior to mating in Feb/March. This year we weaned ram lambs to Jo s property and the ewe lambs stayed with me. This was a great strategy and ensured separation. All ram lambs, being kept as potential studs or for commercial breeding, are eye muscle scanned. All retained ewe lambs are also scanned. With feet being such a problem (both excessive growth and footrot susceptibility) we have tried to identify individuals that exhibit the foot confirmation and structure that is desirable. I have a homebred 4th that has not had a lame day in his life. He has just been foot scored at 1,1 so we are excited to see the results of his mating s, this season. Jo and I have been fortunate to visit shows and sheep studs in Australia. It is constructive to meet other breeders who farm Dorpers on a larger scale than us (500-26,000 hd of dorpers) and to see the variations in the different breeder s flocks and objectives. This has lead us to the purchase of a very nice two tooth ram, African DMax, at the 2014 Dubbo Sale in Australia. He is by the Australian super sire African D555, out of a champion ewe. DMax remains at stud, in Australia, and we have brought semen in to NZ. We have just completed our first AI program, using DMax. Jo put 39 ewes up and I had 33. At time of writing this article we appear to be in line with the statistics and are hoping for not too many more returns. Fingers crossed that some of the progeny may be seen at Canterbury Show, this November. Whatever your objective, I think that we need to collectively support this fantastic breed and show our lamb eating public exactly how good it is. Jim McPhee's Comments Great day that Merryn and Jo organised well done! I found Sarah Adam's input very helpful. On another day I think it would be good for her to give a formal presentation of her area of expertise. It is good to hear from academics who have good practical background. For those unaware Sarah has family background in stud sheep breeding and is a population geneticist There were a few snippets on the day which I found of particular interest 1. Eye MuscleScanning I had previously looked at this technology in terms of assisting selection of a particular ram from his peers. From that perspective I had decided that until I had more than 5 ram lambs apparently equivalent phenotypically there wasn t much value in this technology for where our flock is at the moment. However, looking at say 20 sons/daughters from each of the rams used to identify the top ram by progeny testing seems to me to be a much more meaningful way to use the technology. Now that I have finally been able to establish 3 breeding groups of 30 + ewes I can see how this could be a way to assist selection of the top ram each year and replace the poorest with a promising young ram to see how he stacks up the following year.
2. Horns I had not heard elsewhere that associated with strong horn development can be better muscling etc and that use of a horned ram ( given he has other excellent attributes) occasionally can be of value. The horned gene, being recessive will only crop up sporadically and may not be deemed to be too much of a problem. However. I would still avoid the use of any ram known to be carrying horned genes. I rely heavily on AI/ET technology in my breeding programme and it seems better to avoid this issue due to the relatively high cost of production of each lamb. Why increase the chances of producing an animal that will be culled? However, I can see the value in a commercial flock. 3. On the day we were able to visually assess the quality of ewe and ram lambs as well as ewes and rams. Reflecting back on the 10 years I have been endeavouring to breed a good White Dorper it was a credit to both Merryn and Jo that they were able to put together such a high proportion of commercial to stud quality animals in each group. The breed has come a long way and the enthusiasm displayed on the day by these breeders is to be commended. It has only been the last three years that I have discovered that there are Dorpers out there with 4 straight legs! I did wonder for a while! Feet are always an issue so it was good to hear from Sarah Adams with respect to other breeds and to have confirmed that one needs to be ruthless in ensuring that all breeders have zero tolerance for feet issues (scald/footrot issues as well as conformation). I for one have had 100% of this season s lambs come through with not one having any feet problem. It concerns me because it has been hot and dry so that the scald challenge we normally experience has not occurred. I am telling myself this so as not to become too complacent! Andrew Tomlin s response to the field day - 1 Nobody seems to be bothering with the claimed breed 3 times in 2 years regime which was the attraction to me along with shedding. Perhaps it s just a function of getting the genetics/composition and other attributes of a hi-performance meat breed right 1 st and then concentrate on the frequency. 2 The proliferation of small clandestine stud flocks hampers the visibility of the breed and it s uptake 3 Jo and Merryn seemed to have recognised that smallness hampers useful statistical analysis by joining forces/leasing a grazing block / tags allow easy separation when needed
PHOTOS FROM CANTERBURY DORPER DAY