Breeding philosophy

Our breeding philosophy is based on selection from the best and culling the worst.  We do not show our sheep; we manage our Charollais flock in much the same way our customers manage their commercial flock.  We do not supplementary feed our sheep grain to speed up their growth rate or to make them look “beautiful”.  We think that the ones we select off grass look beautiful and don’t really “get” that fat and flabby cereal fed look.  So yes, all our stock is presented and sold “off grass”.

Our aim is to breed sheep of medium size, ewes with the ability to have and rear two lambs and wean equivalent to their body weight at joining.  Ewes must have sound udders and have a long and productive breeding life.  

Rams must have the capability to mate a large number of ewes over their lifetime, so large testicle size is selected for.  We steer clear of rams that sire large lambs.  We like rams that have a wide bare breech and that perform well in different situations and over different ewe crosses.

To achieve the above we aim for structural soundness: good feet and legs, a streamlined shape to aid easy lambing, length, good muscling especially in the loin and the rump, fineness of bone and a bare breech and clean points.  

Any Charollais that suffers fly strike is removed from the stud flock.  The fly wave of February 2011 revealed to us that Charollais are not very attractive to flies – the incidence of fly strike in our Charollais was very low when compared to other breeds on the farm or in the locality.

Ultimately we want our rams to perform for you – for lambs sired by our rams to grow very quickly off grass and produce a quality carcase with a high meat yield.  That way you and others may be back to buy more…….