With the deadline for eliminating mulesing fast approaching, one
Dubbo-based Merino breeder is forging new territory with Finn-infused Merinos.
The infusion has accelerated the
development of bare breech sheep in Don Mudford’s commercial flock and has put him in
good stead to cope with the ban on mulesing.
Mr Mudford runs about 6000 flock
ewes and 800 Parkdale stud ewes at his Collie, Dubbo and Enngonia properties and is
confident Finn infusion to his Merino commercial flock has shortcut generations of
breeding changes.
“We are breeding Poll Merino
sheep with a bare breech and heavy wool weights with low microns,” he said.
The enterprise, conducted by Mr
Mudford, his wife, Pam, and their two sons, Robert and Scott, will use one outcross.
“We don’t intend to
keep the Finn at all, we’ll leave it behind, but the Finn is the most economical way
of getting to where we want to go.”
His first-cross Finn/Merinos are
at the same micron and greasy fleece weight as his traditional Merinos were 10 to 15 years
ago, but none have to be mulesed.
“That was 6.5 kilograms of
wool at 22.5 microns,” he said.
Mr Mudford’s goal is to cut
10 kilograms of 17-micron wool from each ewe without the need for mulesing.
“At present, the third-cross
ewes are cutting eight kilograms at 19.8 microns.”
The Mudfords’ soft rolling
skin (SRS) Parkdale Merino stud stopped mulesing in 2004 and its first bare breech came
with a sire they bought for it.
“He has passed this gene to
more than 90 per cent of his progeny,” Mr Mudford said.
From The Land, April 3, 2008.
