Development Of New Sheep For N.Z.?

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31053, 7 May 1966, Page 10

Development Of New Sheep For N.Z.?

A Scottish experimental sheep breeding organisation is interested in producing a breed with a high prolificacy to suit New Zealand conditions and is working towards this goal. It is the Cadzow Sheep Company, Ltd., of Glendevon, about 10 miles west of Edinburgh. A member of the Cadzow family, Mr John Cadzow, has lately been in New’ Zealand for two months and a half and in Australia for four months reviewing the situation and conditions in the two countries.

While he was in New Zealand Mr Cadzow said that the company had bought a number of Romney ewes and these had been put with the Finnish Landrace ram, a breed with a lambing percentage of about 400 per cent. The ewe lambs from this mating will be mated at six months of age. Mr Cadzow said that unless New Zealand took advantage of this sort of stock it would be left far behind by other countries in this field. He particularly emphasised that it would help farmers in facing the problem of ever increasing costs. Dissatisfied with the traditional methods of fat lamb raising, the. Cadzows, who have a 1200-acre farm, have used the Finnish Landrace (average lambing about 400 per cent) with the Dorset Horn to produce progeny with a lambing percentage of 260 per cent. Where the Finnish Landrace-Dorset Horns were used in a flock with a lambing percentage of 120 per cent Mr Cadzow said that the lambing percentage of the female progeny of this mating would be raised by some 70 per cent. This ram, known as “The Improver,” apart from giving a vastly improved lambing rate to its progeny, also confers a good growth rate and gives lively rugged offspring, according to a recent statement issued by the company. Where the ram has been used to cross with a Down breed the seven-month-old ewe lamb’s offspring has

given an increase in lambing percentage from 131 to 200 per cent compared with the original Down breeds, and so far, over all the trials the conception rate has been 100 per cent when mating has been done at seven months old. When the new strain is crossed with a mutton sire the resultant lambs are rugged and their mothers quite competent to rear them to six weeks’ old and older. After weaning the feeding of the lambs themselves has given a conversion ratio of 3.02 to 1. The growth weight of the lambs from these crossed ewe lambs has been 0.591 b per day with a top gain of 0.8131 b. The firm says that its Improver ram can be claimed to be the most prolific commercial hybrid ram in existence in the world today, but is still producing ideal carcases when its progeny is tupped with a mutton sire. The Improver is at present the subject of extensive trials on farms throughout Britain and farmers are keeping simple records which are being processed with the company’s research results, with the aid also of a computer, to help in the selection of breeding material. Factors being taken into account in these studies are prolificacy, growth rates and feed conversion, ability to breed throughout the year, wool and also conformation. Mr John Cadzow said that the firm had no interest in what the sheep looked like — all that mattered was that they should be as productive as possible and give maximum returns from the sheep enterprise. For this sort of

work the firm was establishing a genetic bank of breeding material so that sheep could be bred for particular conditions. Thus where there was a need more milking ability and a larger size sheep the German Westphalian sheep, with a milk production of about 180 gallons to a lactation, might be incorporated in the hybrid.

In Scotland the firm of Cadzow has also developed an intensive form of sheep husbandry. It has involved the housing of ewes and lambs in pens in a former aircraft hanger. Here the highly prolific ewes are brought inside six weeks before lambing. Feeding is done mechanically. The lambs are weaned at about six weeks and the lambs then carried on to slaughter at about 12 weeks at 30 to 351 b dressed weight:

It has been found most economic to wean at six weeks and then concentrate on feeding the lamb while releasing the ewes for remating by artificial insemination, after which they go out to pasture at 20 to the acre until six weeks before the next lambing. Mr Cadzow said that this method of husbandry was justified by the high lambing percentage obtained and also the prices obtained for the lamb meat, ranging from 3s 6d per lb in the autumn to 5s per lb in the winter. According to a recent statement, this type of intensive husbandry will yield 15 per cent on capital, on a most conservative basis, when ewes are housed during the winter and during the summer

“stacked” on to grass at 20 to the acre, with separately fed lambs being free of worms. The firm of Cadzow has also developed a system of lambing every seven months instead of once a year. The new system does not include any chemical treatment. Ewes are kept under full electric light during lambing time and then the light is decreased during the next five to six weeks. At this stage the lambs are

taken away from the ewe for a day and put back again the next day. This is repeated on three occasions and on the fourth the lamb is taken away and not returned. About 10 days later the ewe will take the ram and, contrary to what might be expected, the lambing which follows has shown an increase of more than 18 per cent over that of the ewes which have lambed only once a year.