M-J-G
Member
Having dealt with both I'd totally agree that the EF is pretty much a soft Zwartble, and that's doesn't say much as I don't class a Zwartble as being tough.Not upset at all, I used to have East Fresians, they grew well and made exceptional hoggets and really good 2ths. They were Ok as 4ths and mostly gone after that.
I mated them to both Finn and TexelRomney ewes, the lamb survival was poorer that the Finn sires over both dam breeds. I did keep a small flock of 1/2 Finn 1/2 EF ewes for a while but they died out on there own, certainly the Finn is a much hardier and robust animal than the EF.
The EF has it's place but it is a high input breed, there are really only 2 composite flocks in NZ that have stuck with a strong EF based composite, one is definitely a high input farming system with ewes wintered indoors and an intensive lambing similar to the UK, I'm not certain of the others farming system.
The EF has had a resurgence in NZ for sheep milking flocks but again constitution and longevity is a big issue, think of a white Zwartble but not as hardy and with a worse udder, most milking flocks are now being crossed with Lacune milking sheep to add some constitution and structural soundness.
Edit. Just had a quick look on SiL for the two main TEFRom flocks and both contain a small % of Finn through many animals, I'm presuming a residual from out side rams, most NZ composite breeders will use other composite rams regardless of breed back ground, providing the ram suits them on both performance and type.
I also found them a good bit harder fleshing and as you say the udders leave a lot to be desired.