Selection objectives for Stonehill Romney Stud
Structurally sound
Correct teeth feet and teat placement
Moderate frame deep bodied sheep with longevity
Mature weight of 60-70kg
Twinning
Only ewe lambs born and reared as a twin are selected
Shearlings must scan twins
Ewes are permitted to have two singles in their life time
Scanned triplets ewes are demoted to the B flock
We aim for 70% twinning
Maintain good body condition score
The ewe is required to have a BCS of 3 with only a variant of 0.5 throughout the season
Mothering ability
All ewes are lambed outside on pasture in a range of stocking density.
The ewe must be capable of lambing and rearing her twins unassisted (she must be able to count!)
Good ewe efficiency
Weaning between 80 to 100 days post lambing the combined weight of the lambs should equal the ewe's tupping weight (65kg at tupping wean weight of lambs 66kg ewe efficiency 101%).
High resistance/resilience to parasites
We are working very hard to reduce our reliance on anthelmintic
Mature sheep are not wormed
We monitor daily live weight gain and routinely faecal egg count
Only lambs not achieving target DLWG are treated with anthelmintics
Good converter of forage
We graze a wide variety of forage and forage quality from poor environmenta; stewardship grazing to red clover and plantain swords. Fodder beet and stubble turnips for over-wintering ewes.
The Stonehill Romney transitions well between the different crops with good utilisation.
Well mannered
When working with large numbers it is imperative the flock move freely and adapt to their environment without stress.
Ram lambs
Ram lambs are selected from the top 5% of ewes with actual figures of the above performance.
Then ram lambs are run in a highly commercial environment for further selection pressure.
Phenotype
We have totally embraced electronic identification, enabling us to collect vast numbers of individual breeding characteristics, resulting from its interaction within the commercial environment, breeding a more sustainable sheep.