Key To Progress With Fertility

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30478, 27 June 1964, Page 8

Key To Progress With Fertility

“TTOW can the average farX ’ L mer improve the >ertility of his flock?” This question was put to Dr. L. R. Wallace, director of agricultural research for the Department of Agriculture, at the Ruakura farmers’ conference last week.

“I have got the feeling that quite a lot of progress can be made by paying attention to the ram replacements, even if one does not follow the breeding history of the ewe replacements,” he said. “If one pays attention to the way that the rams are bred—if the rams are bred from ewes that produced twins as two, four and six-tooths and you use that class of ram consistently you will make very rapid progress. I think that the gains from rams are much more important than con-

sidering the breeding of each two-tooth that is put into the flock.”

Answering further questions, Dr. Wallace indicated that other things being equal —the breeding performance of the dams being equal—-the ewe born as a single could be expected to give a better lambing percentage than a twin. What was important was not whether a replacement was born as a single or twin but whether it was bred by a dam of high consistent fertility. The twin, because of its lighter weight, did suffer a disadvantage, he said. Dr. D. G. Edgar, who was presiding at the session commented: “What we want is lambs that are born as singles from dams that usually rear twins.”