A NEW DIRECTION FOR THE OLD RAM

[Mini Horses]

We lost her twice, once when she no longer knew us, and again when we laid her to rest. It is a hateful disease, and causes the most grief to a person's loved ones.

I fear myself one day will succumb to it. It is something that scares me

Old Ram...you will need a break. These are hard times with this disease 5 yrs with mom & Big A seemed like 25! I know your pain at watching and coping. At some point it will require 24/7 by others This was worse than caring for my DH with terminal cancer. A terrible disease.

Please try to get a break....even a day makes a difference. No guilt for feeling anger. NONE!! They can't control their issues. We are here to let you vent. We understand.


Glad to hear your lambing is going well. Soon you will have more lambs to enjoy. I hope you do try to enjoy them. I found my animals were a true source of relief for me, emotionally.

How are your dogs doing for you?

 

[greybeard]

Modern composite's seem to have all come from similar starting points, in the case of the Aussie White the developer refuses to tell exaltly how he did it,but i think their is a lot of Van Rooy,Dorset,White Suffolk and East Friesain along with some others which i cannot identify at this point of time.

He's not the first or only breed developer to keep the genetic makeup to him/herself.
The US 1st cousin to your fine and hearty Droughtmaster breed of cattle is the composite Beefmaster breed, and the guy (Tom Lassiter) that developed them never really divulged exactly what the makeup of the foundation herd was, tho it is generally believed to be 50% Bos indicus, 25% Hereford, and 25% Milking Shorthorn, but others think it was closer to 50% Bos Indicus, 3/8 Hereford, 1/8 shorthorn. No one knows for sure either, exactly which Brahman was used as Lassiter experimented with 3 different types...Nelore from Brasil, Gir & Guzerat from India. He took the true makeup with him to the grave.

 

[Ridgetop]

It takes a lot of money, determination, and life devotion to develop a new breed. If they gave away the recipe to everyone for free where would be the point in developing a better widget?

The trick in any composite makeup of a new breed is to get it to breed true. Even if repeated with the same exact percentage of breeds, that mix may not give you the same results. The individual animals' genetics are different than other animals of the same breed - it is not like following a cake recipe. The trick is to choose and develop those individuals that give the results you need and breed them into a steady herd nucleus that continues to breed true and perform. Thankfully the rest of us can cash in on these guys forethought and work instead of having to repeat it all.

The good thing is that by using breeds that have been successfully developed those who follow can use new bloodlines to affect new changes they need for their own situations. Continual improvement.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day, it is worth noting that "i" am breeding an animal which will perform on "my farm" and in the surrounding district,rather than a sheep for the masses (i am way to old for that path).The changing weather and climate patterns mean that local sheep farmers will need to change and the fact that i think raising cattle locally will become a more and more expensive exercise along with increasing environmental damage to boot will dictate the swing back to sheep ,but not for wool, but for highly productive and easy management meat types...T.O.R.

 

[Baymule]

The sheep you develop may only be advantageous locally, but I'll bet that your neighbors will be quite happy that you did so.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

It took our near traditional neighbors 10 years to get over the black-pointed Suffolk's,who knows what the make of the Hair breeds we have now?....T.O.R.

 

[Baymule]

It's like this, move with the times and adapt, or get left behind. You are not only moving with the times, you are getting out in front of the crowd and developing your own composite breed, adapted to your own particular property and climate.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day folks, a purchase this week has opened the door for a "new" sheep venture which will run along side the composite ewe program.

Details and pic's will be posted soon !........T.O.R.

 

[Baymule]

I can't wait to see what you are doing now!

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day folks,down here we have a site called "Gumtree" i assume it's something like your "Craig's List".

It's a site i keep an eye on for sheep "bargains" and on page 28 there are some pic's of the last lot we purchased.So this week an add came up for Dairy X ewes (35 + 4 Rams),the ewes were described as Awaasi,East Friesians,Van Rooy and other Fat Tail x's,the rams are pure bred Awassi's.

What an opportunity !So i ring the guy and he says a chap is coming tomorrow for look ,but only wants the pick,the seller wants them to go as one lot,i tell him we are prepared to take the lot.Sunday morning we "rock up" with our trailer in tow,they have started lambing and there are 8 lambs on the ground,which are included in the asking price.Now this flock is "not cheap",but the chance to get pure bred Awassi rams is not to be ignored,so in spite of their "extremely light condition",we "take the plunge" and buy them,we borrow his large trailer and we get the lot home in 2 trips (1000 kms).

Now it turns out he is a stud breeder but has a huge market for Fat Tail whether's to the Arab market in Sydney,i tell him we are not interested in breeding Rams,but is he interested in wether lines grown to his specs? "Yes",says he and he will pay a premium for spec stock delivered to his farm (500 km round trip).

So now we have two flocks and the Composite flock will have the advantage of a dairy infusion and the Dairy flock with be infused with our heavy meat Composite flock.Sounds like a great "win/win " for the program going forward.

The first pic shows the very tough conditions they were on ,the guy was renting the block at $500 a month and was hand-feeding the stock because he had run out of grass.
The second pic is them at home,it seems that these Fat tail's are pretty "flighty" like the Damaras and so it will take a while for them to settle in.I have started them on Alfalfa chaff and rolled Barley along with Seaweed Meal and our mineral mix.In the next post i will show some updated pic's of the previous 3 lines .......T.O.R. [/ATTACH]