Merino/beltex

[beardface]

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

Well muscled sheep with a high value fleece. Could be a game changer.

 

[sean m]

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

Well muscled sheep with a high value fleece. Could be a game changer.

just imagine,the only sheep who's wool grows faster than it's frame,they'd be like wooly footballs

 

[Global ovine]

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

Well muscled sheep with a high value fleece. Could be a game changer.

What?
Two slow growing breeds together will substantially reduce the KPI with the most impact on profit (Days to Slaughter), especially in NZ where less than 5% of prime lambs are sold through live markets. Most suppliers to export processors never send prime lambs to sale yards, but have supply arrangements directly to that company/co-op. NZ does not use the EUROP grading grid.
Merinos run on hard hill country and mountain land. Such flocks need sexual athletes to mate these ewes and the short growing season demands a fast growing terminal sire.
Most pure Merino wether lambs are slaughtered at 18 months of age, even if they are taken down country for finishing.

 

[NZDan]

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

Well muscled sheep with a high value fleece. Could be a game changer.

The problem with Using merinos to produce Halfbreds (which is what they are called) is that if you have the wrong wool type on the crossing sire you just finish up with a poor quality fleece, we used a merino over Finn, FinnTexel and Texel hoggets last year, the Finn cross lambs had good enough fleeces but the others were all mushy rubbish. To produce a quality halfbred fleece you need a well nourished flat stapled fleece as is found on English Leicesters, Lincolns, Border Leicesters and some Romneys and Coopworths .

 

[JD-Kid]

The problem with Using merinos to produce Halfbreds (which is what they are called) is that if you have the wrong wool type on the crossing sire you just finish up with a poor quality fleece, we used a merino over Finn, FinnTexel and Texel hoggets last year, the Finn cross lambs had good enough fleeces but the others were all mushy rubbish. To produce a quality halfbred fleece you need a well nourished flat stapled fleece as is found on English Leicesters, Lincolns, Border Leicesters and some Romneys and Coopworths .

ummm yer mean like a corridale or IDF but then it depends on what direction a breed goes if higher weighted towards wool or to meat

 

[Agrivator]

What?
Two slow growing breeds together will substantially reduce the KPI with the most impact on profit (Days to Slaughter), especially in NZ where less than 5% of prime lambs are sold through live markets. Most suppliers to export processors never send prime lambs to sale yards, but have supply arrangements directly to that company/co-op. NZ does not use the EUROP grading grid.
Merinos run on hard hill country and mountain land. Such flocks need sexual athletes to mate these ewes and the short growing season demands a fast growing terminal sire.
Most pure Merino wether lambs are slaughtered at 18 months of age, even if they are taken down country for finishing.

Surprisingly, the Beltex is the gold medalist in any sexual -athlete competition. And they need to be. But there is a significant difference in the growth of lambs between different strains of Beltex.

 

[MDL POWERUP]

Surprisingly, the Beltex is the gold medalist in any sexual -athlete competition. And they need to be. But there is a significant difference in the growth of lambs between different strains of Beltex.

I'd like to see them tupping on a hill, a lot of then cant gi from one side if the field to another without sounding like they need an inhaler.

 

[Agrivator]

I'd like to see them tupping on a hill, a lot of then cant gi from one side if the field to another without sounding like they need an inhaler.

Exactly. But if they are carried up the hill, they will have plenty of opportunity to tup ewes that are facing downhill or are standing in a slight hollow. Just like a small bull can bull big cows on undulating ground.

 

[glensman]

Exactly. But if they are carried up the hill, they will have plenty of opportunity to tup ewes that are facing downhill or are standing in a slight hollow. Just like a small bull can bull big cows on undulating ground.

You're on fire today

 

[Agrivator]

You're on fire today

And I didn't even mention Bernie Ecclestone - of Formula one faim.

 

[Devil's advocate]

For uk conditions

Why has no one bred something with Texel conformation & Wensleydale fleece.

 

[tepapa]

For uk conditions

Why has no one bred something with Texel conformation & Wensleydale fleece.

Because they're all bred for tight skins

 

[Bury the Trash]

Texel on Dorset lambs were like woolly puff balls

Charolais or Rouge Rams were the best lambs we ever got from them , i consider Merino would be similar, quick doers , pull the weights and far leaner than pure bred.

 

[Agrivator]

For uk conditions

Why has no one bred something with Texel conformation & Wensleydale fleece.

But the Wensleydale has, or at least did have, good confirmation. It bred good Masham lambs, and I remember a butcher saying that twice crossed Mashams ( the Wensleydale put back to the Masham) was an ideal butcher's lamb.

 

[hendrebc]

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

Well muscled sheep with a high value fleece. Could be a game changer.

Nice idea if they grew a bit faster. Isn't Canterbury very dry though? I don't really see a lot of the UK being suitable for high quality wool production it's too wet. I practically gave my wool away in 2018 after it was all discounted for discoloration after the pee wet autumn and winter of 2017 and then that shitty spring we had.

 

[beardface]

Nice idea if they grew a bit faster. Isn't Canterbury very dry though? I don't really see a lot of the UK being suitable for high quality wool production it's too wet. I practically gave my wool away in 2018 after it was all discounted for discoloration after the pee wet autumn and winter of 2017 and then that shitty spring we had.

Thinking more fore ozzy feed lot system heavy hoggets with a lot more flesh on them, got to keep an eye on the competition.

 

[Global ovine]

Thinking more fore ozzy feed lot system heavy hoggets with a lot more flesh on them, got to keep an eye on the competition.

Australian sheep production relies on fast growth rate as their growing season is usually very short due to dryness. That is why Suffolks of both colours and Poll Dorsets dominate their terminal sires. No processors pay for meat yield, just carcass weight. Therefore Texels will remain a minor breed and I doubt that Beltex will find a place if they ever reach Oz.

 

[NZDan]

Australian sheep production relies on fast growth rate as their growing season is usually very short due to dryness. That is why Suffolks of both colours and Poll Dorsets dominate their terminal sires. No processors pay for meat yield, just carcass weight. Therefore Texels will remain a minor breed and I doubt that Beltex will find a place if they ever reach Oz.

As much as the Texel has a reputation for lack of growth, 5 of the top 35 sires ranked for terminal growth on SIL are Texels and none are Suffolks. Interestingly one of those Texels is a UK bred ram.

4 Poll Dorsets and 1 IDF, are the only other Pure breeds in the top 35, the rest are all composite Terminals, 15 of the top 35 belong to one breeding company

 

[Global ovine]

The SILACE lists show some extreme examples of breeds that have been considered poor for a trait excelling in that trait.
This all gets back to the goals those breeders aim at, the generation interval used and the selection differential they use as a threshold for retention and especially rams used in the programme. This is high turn over of rams forever seeking improved progeny performance and setting higher thresholds annually in the females.
Many of the large flocks that have dominated these trait rankings have used introgression (bringing in another breed to introduce improved traits, back crossing and careful selection to retain the novel trait). Most of these breeders are not constrained by Breed Society rules. hence some high ranking Texels are 88% - 94%.
SILACE do not include calculations for hybrid vigour and recombination, because analysis showed that the rankings may have changed slightly, but almost all stayed within a 5% grouping. When NZ breeders were asked if they wanted this level of precision, they rejected it on the basis that traits were more important and many breeders were using some genetics different to their breed identity.

 

[beardface]

Australian sheep production relies on fast growth rate as their growing season is usually very short due to dryness. That is why Suffolks of both colours and Poll Dorsets dominate their terminal sires. No processors pay for meat yield, just carcass weight. Therefore Texels will remain a minor breed and I doubt that Beltex will find a place if they ever reach Oz.

That's me put back in my box.