Our standard
Useful sheep, selected under pressure.
We don’t select for one trait in isolation; we are looking for sheep that can move freely, shed cleanly, grow well, raise their lambs and remain straightforward to handle, because the value of an animal is in how those traits work together over its lifetime.
Maternal
A ewe should conceive readily, hold condition and raise her lamb well.
Movement
A sheep must cover country freely, stay sound and move without restriction.
Growth
Early growth should carry useful meat without losing the structure and mobility needed in the paddock.
Shedding
The coat must leave the animal clean without shearing or crutching.
Temperament
The flock should be straightforward to handle, both in the paddock and through the yards.
Selection pressure
A long look.
Then another.
Around 150 ram lambs are assessed at six months, fifty are retained and watched for another twelve months, and twenty remain.
The flock sets the standard
Each generation has to leave something useful behind.
The rams are one part of the breeding program. We retain females from the same commercial flock and keep watching what works through joining, lambing, growth and the seasons that follow, so the standard is tested in the flock rather than decided in a single classing.