“Without reproduction there is no production. An animal must be able to reproduce itself easily”
Our philosophy revolves around the profound connection between reproduction and profitability in a Modern Merino enterprise. By harmonising the conflicting traits of reproduction and wool production, we maximise profitability.
Conception
Good conception rates are the first step to a good weaning rate. Maintaining a good condition score is the best management tool available to lift conception rates though genetics also play their part & the CON ASBV is the way to improve conception rates genetically.
We strongly recommend that any ewe that doesn’t conceive is sold out of the flock.
Correlations of number of lambs
- How easily a ewe conceives
- Main focus is to reduce the number of dry ewes in a flock
Litter Size
Litter Size refers to the number of foetuses a ewe conceives.
If a flock is conceiving a high proportion of singles, even when the flock is in good condition, then selection for LS will help improve the number of lambs conceived, & potentially the number of lambs weaned. Keep in mind that the higher the litter size, the harder it is to convert a high percentage of those foetuses.
Correlations of number of lambs
- How many foetuses a ewe conceives
- Need to optimise as too many triplets can cause higher levels of foetus loss
- Keep in balance with ERA
Ewe Rearing Ability
Ewe Rearing Ability is very important to our flock as we already have high LS, so converting foetuses is now our priority.
Some fun facts on ERA:
If a ewe conceives a lamb & loses it at birth, it has cost that ewe 10% of her fleece weight to produce a lamb that dies.
If that ewe takes her lamb from birth to weaning & the weaner dies sometime after weaning it has cost the ewe 20% of her fleece weight to produce a weaner, that dies.
For this reason, our industry must pay close attention to the rearing ability of our sheep, to keep our lambs alive & to avoid wasting wool.
Correlations of number of lambs
- How many foetuses are being weaned
- A key driver of maternal efficiency
- Need to balance with LS as selection for high ERA can reduce LS
Yearling Conception
Yearling conception is for breeders looking to improve their ewe lamb joinings or for breeders looking to go down the ewe lamb joining path in the near future.
Ewe lamb joinings won’t suit every flock or every production system but for those looking to make the most of this area, YCON is a great trait to select on.
Correlations of number of lambs
- How well the daughters conceive as lambs
- Very important for people joining ewe lambs
Weaning Rate
Weaning Rate is made up of three component parts – CON, LS & ERA.
WR is the figure to give a quick assessment of reproduction & will be enough for most breeders to make their decision with. The component parts are there for breeders looking to further refine specific areas of reproduction.
Correlations of number of lambs
- The trait that combines the component parts of reproduction – CON, LS & ERA
- The ASBV to increased reproduction
“Without reproduction there is no production. An animal must be able to reproduce itself easily”.
Reproduction is the major driver of profit in a Modern Merino enterprise with as much as 70% of the gross income in some clients flocks being derived from lamb & surplus sheep sales.
Balancing the antagonistic traits of reproduction with wool production is how we optimise profitability & we now have a more detailed list of reproduction traits to identify where to place our selection pressure.
Some breeders are looking to increase the conception rate of their sheep while others are more focused on converting a higher percentage of foetuses. Some flocks are going to the next level & joining their ewe lambs & there is data available now to assist in the decision making around these specific areas of reproduction.
Repro is an area we have focused on for many years. All stud & commercial ewes are preg scanned every year. All dry ewes, & all ewes that lose a lamb, are sold – no exceptions. As a result our mature age ewes now wean close to 140% lambs with our maiden ewes around 115%.
We are having great success joining our ewe lambs at 9-10 months of age with around 65% of these un-classed lambs conceiving a lamb & marking around 100% from the lambs that conceive. The early joinings are a great way to reduce the age of puberty which is also a way to improve the early maturity pattern of a flock.
High conception rates and higher conversion of those foetuses simply means more lambs to sell. More lambs to sell means greater selection pressure at classing time and faster genetic gain.
With approximately 70% of a modern flock’s income being derived from lambs & surplus sheep, efficient reproduction is often the biggest opportunity for a business to drive profitability, providing it is done without compromising wool income.
Weaning rate.
Correlations of Weaning Rate:
- Higher body weight
- Higher growth
- Lower wrinkle score
- Lower fleece weight
- Lower staple strength
The great thing when we measure is we can see the effects of change.
In 2018 I became aware of the benefits of fat and muscle after contacting Ferg at neXtgen Agri and despairing that we were only marking 62% lambs to ewes joined with our traditional mulesed merinos.
In 2020, having purchased Mumblebone Rams with high muscle, fat and low breech wrinkle, we managed to mark 129%. We are now back in the game, & with lessons learnt in managing ewe condition score and, more importantly, having sheep we can get to CS 3, we have marked above 110% every year since moving to Mumblebone rams.
The change to non-mulesing has been easy using low EBWR ASBV rams from a stud that has not mulesed since 2006. Our 2022 results, with over 50% of the ewes joined being maidens, scanned 153% and marked 112%, & we joined our ewe lambs for the first time as they had the early growth to reach joining weight as lambs. It’s all coming together.
For us the biggest change was selling a truck load of wether lambs that didn’t even exist the year before. The effect of genetics is stark when measured in extra truckloads of sheep when everything else stays the same!
Benambra, Victoria
