We have been working on producing a consistent line of composite White Dorper/Poll Dorset cross rams for several years with the aim being to produce an easy-care, shedding ram with low to moderate birth weights with a strong structure that are able to do well in any conditions. The breeding has come from the result of using high performance Dorper and Ultra White sires over our best performing Poll Dorset ewes.
In 2010 with 120 Poll Dorset ewes, we made the decision to introduce elite White Dorper genetics into the Poll Dorset flock. At first just testing the waters, we joined 30 of the best Poll Dorsets to elite Dorper semen. This proved very interesting and at this point we knew we were moving in the right direction. 2011 found us keeping 40 of our best Poll Dorset ewes and moving on the rest. We had a new mission, the “easy care” composite animal was a new exciting concept.
Towards the end of 2011 we made a trip over to WA, interested to see what Hillcroft Farms had been working on with a similar breed mindset and vision for the future. This trip was very promising, revealing Dawson was very like minded and had a clear vision on what the UltraWhite would become. On this trip we purchased a ram from Hillcroft Farms in what would be a real springboard heading forward.
The years to follow we continued to show a great deal of interest in the breeding and production of the Easy-Care breed. We continued to purchase semen each year from Hillcroft Farms, along with using our own top preforming young sires. Each year moving forward we conducted extensive AI and ET programs to fast track our progress.
In 2017 and again in 2021 we purchased a number of embryos from Hillcroft Farms, looking to enhance the attributed of the UltraWhite breed within our flock.
We have classed and assessed our sheep with tough scrutiny right from the beginning and still continue to today. We believe scrutinizing them from the beginning has led us in an excellent direction when it comes to the quality of animal we present today. It is very important to us that the breed has exceptional structure, especially through the shoulders, feet and legs. At times the UltraWhites are run on tough conditions and must survive, giving us another avenue to observe and class on what is, the breeds outstanding do ability.
12 years on since the beginning of the “experiment” and we are still excited to continue improving the following objectives within our stud ewe base.
These include greater fertility, especially in tougher conditions where feed is scarcer, milking ability, fat cover, improved growth rates, increased muscle yield, small to moderate birth weights for lambing, vigorous lambs at birth for increased lamb survival, shedding ability to drastically decrease the need for manual labor including shearing, crutching and monitoring stock in humid months for flystrike.
Other important attributes when selecting stud sires are looking for a strong, clean head, outstanding structure through the shoulders, legs and feet. A stud ram must have large, firm testicals, fantastic muscling ability and fat cover. In most recent years we have endeavored to use rams carrying the short tail gene. We see an opportunity of the short tail gene being a great advantage to shedding sheep, this aim is to further reduce the need for manual labor, and increase sheep health and welfare standards, also allowing lambs to not get a check at tail docking time from stress related to this method.
We continue aiming to produce a shedding sheep with tremendous carcass attributes, sound shoulders, feet and legs. Along with correct structure, these animals also need to boast well balanced, accurate ASBV’s that our clients can count on. The UltraWhite breed is renowned for its ease of lambing over maiden ewes with survival rates that are hard to match. With improved survival rates of both lambs and ewes, this comes down to years of accurate data recording from birth and accurate ASBV’s to assist in selecting stud sires that improve the overall flock and UltraWhite breed. We continue to strive to produce lambs with good early growth, hitting medium-heavy weights quickly, providing exceptional fat cover and muscling ability, with a quicker turn around in the paddock.
At this stage we are running around 250 mature ewes and retain around 100 ewe lambs each year, this being a mixture of pure bred and our composite ewe portion, these have all be joined for season 2022. We will have approximately 120 rams in our sale this year.
In the future we are looking to expand as increased popularity in shedding breeds continue and the demand for UltraWhite sheep increases. We will still be classing and assessing with tough scrutiny on visual and ASBV attributes, only the best will be kept going forward.
With the UltraWhite Sheep Breeders Association of Australia now established, we now have definitive guidelines, rules and regulations to adhere to. We have found ourselves with a number our top breeding ewes still recognised as composite F1, F2, F3, F4 and F5. Therefore, moving forward these ewes will continue the grading up phase before their progeny can be classed as pure UltraWhite. This is not from a lack of us aiming to breed what we believe is the best Easy-Care animal on the market. This composite portion have been in the breeding program equally as long as the pure UltraWhite ewes we run and possess the attributes the UltraWhite breed aspires to consistently produce. We have put years of work and breeding into them and will continue to keep them as we progress and move towards a pure flock in the future.