Sheep, husbandry, breeding, records, official recording schemes, Sheep Improvement Ltd (SIL), explanation of indexes, sub indexes, breeding values, goal traits, predictor traits, using records to select rams By Dr Clive Dalton Flock recording in New ZealandIn New Zealand the national performance recording services is now called Sheep Improvement Ltd, (SIL) which is run from within … Read more
Sources of information from text books, research papers, technical leaflets & reports, sheep industry organisations‘ publications By Dr Clive Dalton Dalton, D. C. (1980).Introduction to practical animal breeding.Out of print. Photocopies of First edition available from Dr Clive Dalton, 12 Maple Avenue, Dinsdale, Hamilton 3204. Price $45 which includes GST and postage within New ZealandBlackwell Scientific … Read more
Personal hygiene is especially important at lambing time for both humans and sheep. Public health officers report that New Zealand has the highest number of campylobacter cases per head of population in the world, and rural people are most affected because of the large number of animals around. Campylobacter is one of a group of … Read more
Introduction to Blog series Early sheep imports to New Zealand Renewed interest in ‘exotic’ sheep breeds Disease concerns Recent imports Why the need for new sheep breeds? Where are the official records? The national archives By Dr Clive Dalton Introduction to Blog seriesThis is the first of a series of blog posts on the importation … Read more
East Friesian sheep importation from Sweden, 1992Transport problems from Sweden to New ZealandQuarantine on Somes IslandEast Friesian importation 1992 Information obtained from paper presented by Dr Jock Allison to NZ Institute of Primary Industry Management, December 2006 By Dr Clive Dalton From trials undertaken by MAF’s Research Division after the first importation of exotic sheep … Read more
Links 1. Knol of Clive Dalton’s NZ Sheep Research Bibliography listing Authors A-M2. Knol of Clive Dalton’s NZ Sheep Research Bibliography listing Authors N-Z The beginnings of Online search in the 1970s In the late 1970s, librarians at the Ruakura Agricultural Research Centre, Hamilton, got excited about a new development called ‘on-line searching’. From a tiny narrow … Read more
Sheep, farming, husbandry, management, crutching. By Dr Clive Dalton In New Zealand sheep are ‘crutched’ by removing various amounts of wool from their belly and rear end. Kinds of crutchingThere are basically three kinds of crutching: Ring crutch Full crutch DisclaimerThis material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does … Read more
Sheep, farming, husbandry, disease, animal health, worms, internal parasites, resilience, resistance By Dr Clive Dalton Resilience & resistance There are three parts to the story. You can have: 1. Resilient animals 2. Resistant animals (host resistance) 3. Resistant worms Changing from resilience to resistanceThere’s a lot of conjecture about this. Here’s some points you hear … Read more
Sheep, farming, husbandry, animal health, worms, internal parasites, drenching, drench resistance By Dr Clive Dalton Drench resistance Four types of resistanceFour types of resistant worms have been identified. This may seem a bit academic but it could be useful to appreciate the situation on your farm. It’s not a simple picture as there is: Key … Read more
Sheep, farming, husbandry, health, disease, worms, internal parasites, testing methods By Dr Clive Dalton Faecal Egg Count (FEC) Limitations of a FEC Sampling tips FEC for genetic selection programmes What ‘trigger levels’ should be used? Faecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT)This is used to test for drench resistance. It’s a ‘drench check’ where you first … Read more
This blog series is drawn from the successful plain-language farmer’s handbook – Internal parasites of sheep and their control by Dr Clive Dalton (Reward Publishing, ISBN 978-473-12133-4 now in its 3rd edition). Copies can be obtained from www.lifestyleblock.co.nz or by emailing clive.dalton@gmail.com. Drench resistance is not just coming – it’s here The ‘Wormwise’ programme Disclaimer This material is provided in … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton. The story starts at Leeds This bit of Australian agricultural history has turned out to be a fascinating tale – and it’s necessary to tell it backwards! This is because it developed from my lecturing years at Leeds University Department of Agriculture, when some funny looking sheep arrived at the University … Read more