Paki iti breeding testing ground
"The Paki-iti Romney offers all round performance - growth, fertility, survival and constitution using a steep hill country property as a breeding testing ground."
Using a 890ha steep hill country property with 93% being Class 6 land or steeper, a 'survival of the fittest' environment is provided. We have concentrated on breeding full bodied, strong boned and heavy muscled sheep that perform with growth, fertility and survivability in this environment.
2011 Stand out performances - M 3162/03 Ranked 16th best Romney in August SILACE across flock analysis for Dual Purpose (Growth, Reproduction,Wool) - 5 sons used.
WA 6220/07 ranked 7th best Romney for Trait Leader Reproduction (1 son used) & 1033/05 ranked 16th best Romney for Trait Leader Reproduction. 1041/05 ranked 10th best Romney for Trait Leader Meat Yield.
Romney Breeding Traits
1. Fast Lamb Growth
2. High Fertility Ewes
3. High Lamb Survival
4. Easy Care Sheep
5. Adult Ewe Size/Efficient Ewes
6. Higher Yielding Lambs
7. Lambing as a Hogget
8. Maintain Quality Wool
9. Sheep with Immunity to Worms
1. Fast Lamb Growth
Produce lambs that grow in the key times - up to weaning and the period between weaning and the autumn. A high weaning % has the direct effect of lowering the weaning weight, so at a weaning % of 150% the target is 36kg. The growth up to the autumn period is also important for slaughter lambs, as well as hogget replacements and hogget mating.
2. High Fertility Ewes
Romney flock sells 140%
Last year Paddy and Carol Nesdale (Porongahau) produced 140% lambs sold from their 252ha property in Central Hawkes Bay. This has been as high 150% sold with the use of Paki-iti genetics - CountryWide September 2006
Romney Performance Shines on Hill Country
Romney performance comparable to that of composites is being recorded on some of Manawatu’s harshest hill country. Ross Bielski and Donna Forbes use Paki-iti Romney's and Suffolk rams bred at Kimbolton. They have used Paki-iti genetics for 11 years and will continue to do so because of the Morton brothers breeding philosophies are the same as Bielski and Forbes.
They are content with scanning 177% this year and docking about 150%, a far cry from when they took over the farm and its Romney Marsh flock in 1991 when they scanned 115% and docked 85% - CountryWide November 2004
Ross and Donna farm underneath the Ruahine Ranges (rising 1800–2500 ft)
3. High Lamb Survival
Aim to wean 150% of lambs. Lamb survival starts with ewe survival and with 36years of no shepherding at lambing an easy lambing type of ewe has evolved. Survival of the lamb is lowly heritable, with the environmental effects being huge, however there are differences between sire lines which can be exploited.
4. Easy Care Sheep
Easy care = low labour input. This covers a whole range of areas, from breeding free moving sheep that muster easily on hill country, to lambing ewes without having to do a lambing beat, to dag scoring and culling daggy sheep, reducing drenching levels... the list goes on.
5. Adult Ewe Size/Efficient Ewes
This is a MA ewe that will average 65 – 70 kg pre-tupping. We believe that at this weight she is at her most efficient weight, defined as output (meat and wool) relative to input (grass) which in turn determines the output (kg and $’s) per hectare. A more efficient ewe produces a greater weight of lamb and wool for her body size.
6. Higher Yielding Lambs
Through the use of eye muscle scanning over a number of years we have been able to breed a heavily muscled sheep, which we believe goes hand in hand with breeding tougher sheep. With our continued involvement with Romeny progreny trials over the past six years we have been able to compare performance with other breeders and share proven genetics.
7. Lambing as a Hogget
Although hogget lambing doesn't suit all hill country operations, we believe the onset of hogget oestrus is a good indication of lifetime fertility. The aim is to retain only those hoggets that get in lamb.
8. Maintain Quality Wool
Over the last ten years our focus at Paki-iti has been to maintain wool weights with the ewes clipping around 6kg/year. Quality has also been maintained with a good covering on the top of the fleece leading to constantly dry sheep, being good for animal health and reducing flystrike.
9. Sheep with Immunity to Worms
Drenching levels have been reduced, depending on the season, down to four drenches from weaning to sale, helping to identify sheep that can thrive under pressure. We are also into the second season of using the CARLA test on all ram hogget's to measure their antibody response to worms.
Romney Ram Hoggets
