The Oxford Down Sheep Breeders Association had a stand at the NSA Sheep event in Malvern.
2 Pens of Oxford Sired lambs were kindly provided by Mr and Mrs Sturgess, Leicestershire to show any potential tup customers what an Oxford can produce commercially.
We welcomed 20 keen breeders who are interested in helping progress the Oxford Breed. We had a very interesting talk from AHDB Beef and Lamb about the use of EBV's and also heard from breeders of performance recorded polled Dorsets and Shropshire who wish they started years ago! My lambs were weighed and ultrasound scanned for fat depth and muscle depth and the results are very interesting the information will now be analysed by Signet who will send my full results.
Starting to performance record has been very easy and interesting. Weighing the lambs at birth then 8 weeks has allowed me to calculate a daily live weightgain (DLWG) this is both useful for selecting replacement ewe lambs and ram lamb selection and also enabled me to spot any problems early.
I have only kept one ram lamb this year, I did not choose him on his figures alone but it just so happens he had the best growth rate. I chose to retain him as he was true to the breed type and over all correct (Teeth, mouth, testicles, straight back, no scurrs, good colour wool etc) his mother lambed him easily and he was up and about in no time!
I'm very much looking forward to next years lambing and seeing if I can improve growth rates and muscle depth. This is a long term commitment but more people are seeking figures as proof of a rams performance and I think we shouldnt be left behind!
If you have any questions drop me an email lindsayrumming@outlook.com or see the Signet website for more info
A pen of pure Oxford prime lambs topped the sale of new season lambs held at Rugby Farmers Mart, Stoneleigh on 9th April, making £161 per head. Consigned from Martin Johnson's Longfriday flock at Wollaston, Northamptonshire they weighed in at 49.5kg. This excellent sale result demonstrates the outstanding weight for age performance that the Oxford is capable of and shows that the breed can compete with, and indeed, outperform the Texel, Charollais and other terminal sire breeds.
