Resilience you can see
Dual Purpose
Our Elite Romneys are NIL drench. This means all hoggets are lambed without anthelmintic support also - pushing the boundaries of the breed. Our sheep are bred to wean lambs (at 90 days) equivalent to 100% of the ewes weight at mating. They all have a quality fleece of wool suited to our warm/wet climate with good lustre and drainage. Sound feet are essential with the footrot pressure that occurs naturally in this landscape. Barber's Pole Worm and Facial Eczema both play a role in success or otherwise of all our sheep.
Albie - Tough son of a gun
Resilience
Albie is quickly becoming a core sire for us. He was put out to our best ewes with two other sires and covered 52% of the ewes as a two-tooth ram according to our parentage results. Albie is a genuine 2/2 twin from a top ewe with outrageous milking ability. He has the balance we are looking for with great early growth, excellent early worm tolerance, top meat index and good feet. This sheep uses energy the right way.
Where it all started
Oregon Genetics
Our stud was built from an Oregon bred flock. Keith and Gaye Higgins have been wonderful to us as a young stud. Our property was broken in by Keith's uncle Albie - an absolute legend. Our first few stud matings were dominated by Oregon rams. We love the meaty, compact, robust nature of these animals. They make us look like good farmers. The strong confirmation of these sheep and outstanding feet has given us confidence to drive the NIL drench future and push the boundaries of our flock. Ram 542/21 Oregon - an unbreakable type.
Grassendale 249/21
Power and Class
George was bred by George Williams at Grassendale genetics. We had a good look around in 2022 for new blood that could match our objectives. A clearer pointed, compact, vigorous animal built for hill country performance. George has left a swag of sons that have populated our recent sales, often leaving a romworth/romdale type look. He has a good jacket, exceptional fleece weight and is well sprung in the hind quarter for getting around steep country. Thank you Grassendale.
The De Lautour Ram
Te Whangai Growth and Meat
Hamish is our Te Whangai Sire. This won't be the last time we buy a Te Whangai ram. Philosophically we are so well aligned with what Te Whangai are breeding. Profitable sheep that don't need help. Hamish is also at the finer edge with a 32mic hogget fleece. He is built like a bull, but moves so well. Great ram, thank you Te Whangai.
Tuff Suff
Hill hardy terminal sires that won't compromise worm tolerance and will maximise hybrid vigour.
Ram with ewes
Top Suffolk Ewe
Terminals bred to last
Practical performance
Most of what we want in a terminal sire is found in hybrid vigour. With that in mind, although meat and growth are essential, the ability to thrive on hill country without help is important for all our sheep - terminals included. We aim to extended our NIL drench policy to the Suffolk Ewes and also run all Suffolks with the Romneys. It was a rough start for a breed with no background under this sort of pressure, but what's left is now thriving. We want our rams to handle every challenge that comes their way. Some ewes have required one drench so far, but still the majority of adult ewes are drench free and only hoggets that lamb get anthelmintic support, post weaning and pre ram. The suffolks are catching up very quickly since they don't send so much energy to wool production.
Excellent climbers
More ewes in lamb
One of the best attributes of the Suffolk we breed is their excellent ability to scale hill country. They are absolutely at home on steep hills and will find their way to the top. Some other breeds sit at the bottom of the hill and wait for the ewes to find them.
