BREEDING PHILOSOPHY

genetic vision

As we continue to finetune and incorporate ASBVs into our breeding program and improve our accuracies, a core focus will be improving the fly strike resistance scores of the sheep with Early Breech Cover (EBCOV) and Early Breech Wrinkle (EBWR). We are making rapid progress on these with our breech and wrinkle scoring at marking. At the same time, we will carefully increase the selection pressure on condition scores (Yearling Eye Muscle Depth and Yearling Fat) to improve whole body body energy and drought resilience without losing the wool type and correctness our sheep are known for. 

We are excited to continue developing balanced, well-rounded Merinos and Poll Merinos, focussed on profitability and ongoing performance. With strong growth traits, heavy-cutting, high-quality wool and competitive ASBVs for carcass and welfare traits, balance is our priority, whilst maintaining doing-ability and structural correctness.

Combining visual selection with ASBVs 

In 2023, Haddon Rig received a 5-star rating from Sheep Genetics in recognition of our commitment to regular and accurate data collection. 2023 marks the 10th year of collecting and submitting data to Sheep Genetics for ASBV’s on the Haddon Rig stud.

DNA testing has allowed accurate pedigree recording on a large scale.  By having a greater understanding of both parents we've been able to understand the relative performance of both dam and sire. It is helping us to achieve our genetic vision of breeding balanced and profitable animals with superior fertility, wool, early-growth.

At Haddon Rig we believe that the combination of visual assessment for wool and structure and the use of ASBV’s as an additional tool is the best way to evaluate genetic potential. By using ASBV’s, genomics and raw data, we get a more complete picture of each animal’s potential and select the best rams for breeding. Scale and data ensures greater precision and accuracy, ensuring breeding programs are efficient, effective, and sustainable.

Given our continued focus on balance and ensuring a consistent line of structurally sound rams with excellent wool for our clients, we have been encouraged by the relative performance of our MP+ and DP+ indexes compared to the industry. Further we remain well above the industry average for Adult Clean Fleece Weight (ACFW) and finer than industry for micron (Yearling Fibre Diameter or YFD) which proves that our wool remains a strong advantage of our product offering. We continue to collect breech and wrinkle scores (EBCOV and EBWR) from all our stud lambs and this is assisting us for future selections.  

ASBVs that we are monitoring over time and considering in our breeding program are;

• Growth: Yearling Weight (YWT), Post Weaning Weight (PWT)

• Eye muscle Depth (EMD) and Yearling Fat (YFAT)

• Wool: Adult Clean Fleece Weight (ACFW), Yearling Fibre Diameter (YFD)

• Welfare: Sustainable Merino (SM) Index, Early Breech Cover (EBCOV) and Early Breech Wrinkle (EBWR)

• Reproduction: Ewe Rearing Ability (ERA) and Weaning Rate (WR)