Join the conversation: We now have Halfbreds and Quarterbreds for sale
Our Halfbreds are first cross Romney Ram over Merino Ewes. Romney rams are syndicate mated to Armidale Merino Ewes. Birth rank is recorded on all progeny and they are run with our merino ram hoggets from weaning. Weaning weights, dag scores, 200 day weights and eye muscle scanning data as well as fleece traits are all collected. Because our Halfbreds are run with our merinos "Merino Select" ASBV's are able to be generated for all sale rams. Ewe lambs are retained for Armidales commercial operation. These ewes have lambed at 160% (ewes mated to lambs tailed) over the last five years. In 2018 the Halfbred ewe flock shore 5.7kg at a value of $48.19 per head. Our ram hoggets range in micron from 20 to 27. What sets our Halfbreds apart from the rest is our careful selection of Romney rams. Along with sound carcass traits and confirmation wool quality and freedom from black spots are a must. In our view a Halfbred must be a true dual purpose sheep, not just a good carcass sheep with a light cutting fine fleece.
The success of our Halfbreds was highlighted in 2017 when our commercial ewe hoggets won the National Ewe Hogget competition. It was only the second time a fine wool flock has won the competition, the first was Richard and Jemma Gloag from Buscott with their Merinos on Armidale genetics.
Our Quarterbreds are bred by selecting our best Halfbred ewes and mating them back to syndicates of Polled Merino ram lambs. All the same information is collected on our Quarterbred lambs except their micron ranges from 18 to 24. We see these rams as a good opportunity for people to use over the stronger edge of their Halfbreds and target the lower micron wool contracts while maintaining wool cut and lambing percentage.
Both Halfbred and Quarterbred Rams will be for sale at auction in January
