Finn sheep show the way in breeding prime lamb mothers

Summary

Finn and Booroola Leicester sheep have been successfully trialed in Western Australia to produce F1 mothers for the prime lamb industry.

Progeny of Finn sheep rams over Merino ewes have come up trumps as the preferred combination for new age F1 prime lamb mothers.

At two years of age in a WA trial they had produced 240% lambs and cut 7.05 kg of wool.

Dr Fred Wilkinson who worked on the Finn and Booroola Leicester project on behalf of the Beacon Prime Lamb Producers Group, said there had been considerable interest in the Merino-cross ewes from prime lamb producers at field days and other events where their work had been presented.

Objectives

1. Evaluate Finn x Merino and border Leicester/Booroola x Merino crossbred sheep for sheep meat production;
2. Develop management systems utilising legume crops and stubbles for sheep meat production; and
3. Extend results of the project to as wide an audience as possible and encourage implementation of efficient sheep production systems.

Key findings

At the first lambing of Finn and Booroola Leicester maiden ewes, both produced 80% lambs at 12 months of age.

At their second lambing they recorded about 160% and 140% lambs respectively.

The Finn-cross ewes produced fewer triplets which was regarded as a significant management advantage.

The Booroola Leicester-cross ewes produced more wool but this was four microns broader, while the wool from the Finn-cross was two microns broader than straight Merinos under comparison.

It was predicted that by the January shearing and by the time the current lamb crop was sold they would have produced $120 income per ewe from three wool clips and two lamb drops, using July-August lambing and weaning lambs onto lupin stubbles.

There was, however, little interest from Merino breeders in breeding Finn or Booroola Leicester first-cross sheep.

Among the reasons given for this lack of interest were:

• The information about the project’s second lambing was only available in September 1997. This was not long before mating for the 1998 lambing
• and after most breeders had bought their rams. Finn and Booroola Leicester rams were not readily available.
• Potential breeders weren’t convinced they would receive a sufficient premium for the twinning crosses.
• Government agencies had tended to ignore information about Finn and Booroola Leicester sheep.

The Beacon Prime Lamb Producer Group has attended many field days, conducted radio interviews and orga​nised feature stories in weekly newspapers to communicate their work.​