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
My final shots Why didn’t MAF check?Ask today’s sheep farmers My last call By Dr Clive Dalton My final shots It was not the threat of the exotic breed importation that drove the changes in New Zealand sheep from the 1970s and beyond. This is a standard old chestnut by those who lauded and still do, the exotic … Read more
Importation of exotic sheep breeds Second MAF importation Quarantine station at Hopuhopu Veterinary inspection MAFQual veterinarian Peter Hoyle Dr Clive DaltonHopuhopu quarantine station Hamilton MAFQual veterinarian Peter Hoyle’s memories I was new boy on the block and had some experience in quarantine while working in the UK as a state veterinarian. So I got … Read more
Scrapie suspected at Mana Island quarantine station Confirmation by international expert Dr J.T. Stamp Burning of carcases at Mana By Dr Clive Dalton Shock-horror at Mana Island. Scrapie A report in Surveillance Vol 5:4 1978 by MAF veterinarian Dave Collins reported that a clinical case of Scrapie was confirmed in an East Friesian ewe on … Read more
Finding sheep in UK and IrelandPurebred ewes on Somes By Dr Clive Dalton Finding sheep in UK and Ireland Without going back to the official MAF Research files (if anyone would know where to look), this is what Dr Neil Clarke, previously in Ruakura genetics remembers about the flocks he located that had sheep for … Read more
First MAF importation Selecting sheep for importation Organising the sheep before transport to New Zealand Summary of events By Dr Clive Dalton Summary of events Selecting sheep for importation Selecting individual sheep as a representative of a breed is never an easy task, as differences within breeds are always greater than differences between breeds. Sadly this is a much-ignored … 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
Pressure for importation Chance of a fast buck By Dr Clive Dalton When the pressure came on in the 1970s to import more sheep from UK, the memory of the 1952 Scrapie saga was still sufficiently fresh in the memory of a lot of folk to make them very nervous. So there was a clear acceptance … Read more
Scrapie in UK Cause of ScrapieScrapie history in New Zealand By Dr Clive Dalton Scrapie was a major importation risk and this certainly worried a lot of people both in New Zealand and in UK. Scrapie in UK Scrapie is endemic in UK, and we budding young shepherds used to see what must have been … Read more
Cattle, farming, husbandry, breeds, breeding, methods, stud breeding, performance recording, using records, crossbreeding, inbreeding, linebreeding, interbreeding, grading up, future developments in breeding By Dr Clive Dalton Who to believe?If you believed what some enthusiasts say about their particular breed of cattle, and the promotional advertising and literature produced by breed organisations, then you’d have to … Read more
General attributes of breeds on the import wish list Priority list Within versus between breeds By Dr Clive Dalton If you read the breed promotional blurb provided by breed organisations, you have to wonder why we bother to have different breeds at all, as according to their promoters, all breeds are good at everything and … Read more
Sheep as land developers Up to the 1960s, New Zealand sheep played a vital tool in converting native bush to productive pasture, so performance levels and especially fertility were not considered major issues. The national ‘lambing percentage (number of lambs docked/100 ewes to the ram) was around 90%, and if a farmer got 100% then … Read more