Performance Recording

Charollais Australia has been performance recording with Lambplan since 2006.  We regularly use the services of Stefan Spyker ALS.  All our lambs are reared on grass and or forage crops, no cereals are fed.  We aim to rear our sheep using management practices that are as close as possible to those of our clients.  Our rams and their progeny should then perform at least as well on your farm as they do on ours.

All Charollais lambs are:

• Weighed at birth and any birth assistance recorded (very rare as Charollais is very easy lambing).
• Weighed at weaning
• Ultrasound scanned at 6-7 months of age for eye muscle depth and fat depth
• Visually assessed for hind quarter muscling
• Visually assessed for length – we aim to breed long sheep with a large EMD
• Culled if excessively daggy
• Culled for poor testicle size. Check out the testilces size on ram lambs opposite!

Charollais ewes are scored on the kilograms of lambs weaned and this is related to their body weight.

We have begun genotyping for the presence of the myomax gene which equates to extra lean meat in the carcass.

Progeny testing

From 2011 selected young rams will be progeny tested each year and their progeny put through the viascan.

CT Scanning

Our New Zealand Flock will be SIL Recorded, CT scanned (whole body scanning for muscle, fat and bone content) and recorded for maternal traits.  This information will be used in future for our Australian flock breeding selection decisions as both flocks will be genetically similar.  We aim to breed sheep that are very functional AND full of meat.  CT Scanning should enable us to breed more meat where it is worth most - in the loin and hind quarter.