Maternal tup for Texels

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.
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.
I also found them a good bit harder fleshing and as you say the udders leave a lot to be desired.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Photos of homebred Highlander shearlings taken this morning, for those judging them by those early ones...

To me, they look much the same as any other medium sized, white faced, efficient grazing sheep.

4CA7AD39-F55F-46DB-8FA3-B78DEC867BCC.jpeg
C8246FD8-15C8-4AD8-A17A-DC7BE5A9BF84.jpeg
 

easyram1

Member
Location
North Shropshire
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.
So how popular are Highlanders in NZ ? as that is what people keep banging on about here on TFF - I assume because they are the only NZ Maternals used to date in the UK. That is apart from the 3 specific NZ Romney Flocks over here. Point I was trying to make is that none of the guys I have spoken to or bought from have used Highlanders, so far as I can tell so I assume what we have is different even if we all have a common destination. So why is that? Obviously we have always sought "Differentiation" because without that nobody would ever give us a try. So this is why I naturally resist the "Oh they are just the same as.... " comments. The main difference, which may be more important to me than others, is that all our stock have come from individual family farms who are specialist ram breeders as opposed to large scale corporates but that is just my choice.
 
So how popular are Highlanders in NZ ? as that is what people keep banging on about here on TFF - I assume because they are the only NZ Maternals used to date in the UK. That is apart from the 3 specific NZ Romney Flocks over here. Point I was trying to make is that none of the guys I have spoken to or bought from have used Highlanders, so far as I can tell so I assume what we have is different even if we all have a common destination. So why is that? Obviously we have always sought "Differentiation" because without that nobody would ever give us a try. So this is why I naturally resist the "Oh they are just the same as.... " comments. The main difference, which may be more important to me than others, is that all our stock have come from individual family farms who are specialist ram breeders as opposed to large scale corporates but that is just my choice.
I only scan two flocks of Highlanders, as GO they are hamstrung by type, quite variable and probably have too many lambs for most people. (one flock often scans 190% with out looking for triplets). There is strong resistance to them from other ram breeders but I know of at least one breeder who use's them but puts them on to SIL under breed Composite, which means the Highlander name doesn't show up. The only flock of TEFRoms I scan is a small flock of 100 ewes, they look and scan like Romneys, infact I'd scanned them for 10 years assuming they were Romneys.
Highlanders do seem to be more popular in the UK and Australia than here in NZ, and certainly more popular in the NI than in the SI.
TBH if I wasn't breeding my own Rams I'd be running Highlander ewes. (in a perfect world a Highlander cross Shetland ewe Mating to an EasyRam would tick all my boxes)
 
I get rather dismayed with discussion about breed fractions in composite sheep as if these are fixed amounts giving perpetual levels of outcome. The quantity of each breed is only the starting point from which a collection of desired traits can potentially be extracted to eventually achieve the desired outcome.
Take the four main breeds that make up today's NZ composite sheep breeds, whether they are branded Kelso, Highlanders, Greeline, Textra or Tefrom (being the most common); are Romney or Coopworth (Romney based), Texel and either Finn or East Friesian. The variable component being the latter option. Why use either of these? Because both breeds offer genetics that give a step change in reproductive performance of ewe lambs getting pregnant. Both offer additional hybrid vigour lifts because they are not UK breeds in origin, but North European.

The Finn offers regions that suffer from seasonal drought better protection for maintaining lambing % and some innate protection against the toxic effect of the pasture fungus spores causing Facial Eczema. Therefore most North Island flocks have Finn influence. The EF offers a greater lactation peak and duration and early lamb growth.

The deep south of NZ does not suffer from either drought or Facial Eczema. Stocking rates are much higher and regional performance in meat/ha is the highest in NZ. Therefore the desired traits in the cool moist maritime environment adds up to requiring a sheep with traits that deliver the best outcome for that region. Hence the EF has been the "exotic" option of choice.

As said above, the original mix is only the starting point. Where these settle down depends on what the breeder endeavours to achieve which requires retaining the desired attributes in the gene pool and culling out those individuals that exhibit undesirable traits, such as bad feet and udder structure, poor wool quality, etc. that may be more prevalent in one of those breeds. As a Romney breeder keenly watching my competition getting established, I have seen these composite sheep develop from a mixed bunch to very even lines delivering levels of production they claim. This has been an exercise in having sheep numbers to initially select from and very strict criteria presented by good performance analysis. Nowadays the Texel body thickness dominates, whereas the EF and Finn looks have disappeared.

At the end of the day it is just another option of "Horses for Courses" that breeders have exploited.

Visually and productivity they are similar, so much so that many rams of outstanding performance have been used across most of these flocks. The distinguishing differences will always end up being the breeding goals of each individual breeder to suit their ram market, be it drought prone hill country, or cooler and moister country with higher stocking rates.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.1%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 67 35.3%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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