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The Texel-Cross Road
Using Texel genetics that have been selected for maternal traits, as Mount Linton has, is crucial for cross-breeding with your maternal ewes. The Texel has become renowned as a terminal sire breed with high meat yield and growth rates. But it has also been bred on Mount Linton as a dual purpose animal that has fertility and improved lamb survival. It is these dual-purpose characteristics that the Station is seeking in a maternal sheep.
The Strategy
To utilise the recorded Texel ewe flock on the Genetic Unit as the base for the new Maternal program. The Texel will be crossed with some of the top maternal rams in the industry (Romney, Perendale) to eventually supply stabilised Texel-cross rams to the Station and its clients. The program will be run on the Sheep Genetics Unit and will build numbers from 550 ewes in 2009 to 1200 stabilised Texel-cross ewes.
Breeding on the Station will be working towards having a stabilised Texel-cross ewe flock in 2014. For the first few years, it will involve using pure Texel rams over the 22,000 Romney ewes to get first cross ewe lamb replacements.
Selecting for the High Five:
Fertility Survival, Meat Yield, Growth and longevity
A specific MLM (Mount Linton Maternal) SIL index has been designed to evaluate the genetic performance of animals within the new flock including:
- The flock must achieve 140 plus lambing percentage to sale each year and average over 30kg lambs at 90-100 day weaning.
- Aim to reduce dags on ewes by at least 50% and cut out pre-lamb crutching. A bare breech under the tail is sought after for low-input once-a-year shearing in February.
- The target for meat yield is 90% plus of lambs finished to receive the maximum yield payment.
- Achieve growth rates that will finish 95% plus of all lambs by the end of march.
- The ewe will need to put on good condition over summer and before winter, then lose minimal condition over a long cold winter.
- Animals must be structurally sound.
- Reduce drenching of ewe lambs to three times by 1 May.
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