A NEW DIRECTION FOR THE OLD RAM

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day, here is a link to the latest stud sale results for Aussie Dorpers..T.O.R.
http://www.theland.com.au/story/495...il&utm_term=0_ade9099b1a-4450cf6c13-114560001

 

[Baymule]

Out of my price range!

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Mine too Bay,but you need to understand how the stud system works.It's likely that the genetics of this ram was not available in the eastern states.So the price was driven by the top studs to acquire them.The successful stud will sell lambs and semen at a premium price to the other top studs.these studs will sell rams to the next lower level of studs and these studs will sell to the next level all the time claiming a link to this one ram.The next level down will also claim the link ,which by then is "so" diluted it can hardly benefit the buyers of "flock rams" to use in commercial flocks.The thing is everyone will put a "premium" on the link however obscure ....T.O.R.

 

[Baymule]

Just like horses. Any famous horse that can be claimed to famous lineage automatically makes the nag standing in front of you more valuable as if it already knows how to be the top cutting horse, barrel racer, race horse, roping horse and so on. While in reality, the claimed famous ancestor's genetics are so far back on the registration papers that it makes no real difference. I see well bred registered horses with papers on the Facebook sites "saving" horses from slaughter.

 

[Bossroo]

The value of a sire is that he contributes his genes to all of the offspring that he produces and hopefully the resulting offspring are of better quality therefore they will bring a better price in the marketplace. So he is valued at fully one half of the herd or flock. If you own high quality ewes , you want to use the best sire that you can find so that you can sell his offspring for a even higher profit. If you have average quality ewes, you want to use the best quality sire that you can find to improve future quality of your flock. All boils down is a quest for profit or more meat on your table from each lamb.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Of course you are right Boss,especially in the first instance and even the second X,but at what point does the success of the sires genes become a matter of "luck"?T.O.R.

 

[Bossroo]

Not even all ram lambs produced by the high quality ram will be of enough high quality to be used for stud duty. It all depends on what genes they inherit. Improve your " luck " through severe culling of the ewe band every year and then buy a high quality ram to compliment or improve the flock even more. Being satisfied with the flock one currently has is the fastest way to mediacrity over time.

 

[Baymule]

Well said Bossroo. I just took my ram to slaughter along with wethers, last Friday. I am going to up grade to a better ram. I've said all along that I bought "learner" sheep. I bought a decent ram, not great, but decent. I have had 1 lamb crop from him and the ewes are heavy bred right now. As I go along, I will upgrade to better ewes. It is a work in progress.

 

[Reindeermama]

I have enjoyed reading this thread. I am so sorry for your news -The Old Ram. My mother had Alzheimer's, and I took care of her for about 15 years. She took Aricept. I think my spelling is wrong on the name, but it seemed to help with the symptoms for some time, at least until the last 4 to 5 years. It still helped. My heart is with you.
I am thinking about raising St. Croix hair sheep. They are supposed to be resistant to foot rot, and more resistant to parasites. We have decided to raise these because they will graze some of the weeds on our property to help ready the pasture for Dexter cows, we also want to raise. Supposedly we can put the ram with the Dexter's when we want to isolate him. We are going to divide the pastures into 1 two acre, 1 seven acre, and two five acre paddocks for the sheep. The other seven acre is being left in brush and open for wildlife(quail and deer). They are fine boned and supposed to be fine textured and dress out at 23% more meat. However, they are not as big as other hair sheep breeds.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day to you all ,sorry I have been a bit lax ,but Jenny and I have both had the terrible "flu" going around down here in spite of us both having our "flu" shot.Jenny is OK ,but I have a lingering cough which is "driving me mad".

Another 4 of the new Dorpers have lambed along with a few Suffolk's which had gone to a X-bred Suffolk /Dorper ram which "escaped" early in the season.The ewe lambs will be a handy addition to the new group.Now our Suffolk's are a "free spirited lot" and we recently sent 9 of them off to the sale ,but it seems that the Dorpers can be "quite hard " on the fences and a group of them followered some Kangaroos into next doors place.This has caused me to put some thought into our current fencing which was a combination of mesh(Ringlok) and 7 strand wire which now has to be up-graded to contain the new flock.We had trialed a new plain wire design to limit the damage from Wombats (9 plain wires),but I am moving to 3 HT barb and 7 plains to not only keep the flock in ,but to limit the damage from the wildlife (I will post a photo of the new one when the first section is complete.).

Sheep unlike Goats (who look up and tend to jump)look for an exit on the bottom of the fence, so any damage done by roos or wombats is an immediate target for escape.If you can imagination a 80 kg roo travelling at 30 mph hitting a fence where the wires are fixed at each steel dropper the damage is considerable,so to reduce this I thread all the plain wires through the holes and use wherever possible a special "clip" on the barb so the force is taken at the strainer and stay at either end of the strain.If you have Dorpers what is your experience with fencing?Bearing in mind that ours are "not pet sheep" and are handled as little as possible to encourage the natural behaviors with regard to mothering and foraging.

Thanks RM,I will update Jenny's condition after she sees her specialist at the end of the month.....T.O.R.