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Breeding Objective

Breeding for the Commercial Producer

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Low Maintenance Sheep that are Proven Profitable Performers

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Proven, Profitable Performers

Our objective at Deep Dene is simple: to retain the most profitable sheep throughout their lifetime.

 

We achieve this by prioritizing the best phenotype (actual performance) and the best genotype (progeny performance).

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Guided by these principles, we focus on income traits that directly impact your bottom line:

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  1. Fleece Weight: Maximizing the quantity of high-quality wool.

  2. Fibre Diameter: Selecting sheep with desirable micron ranges for premium fiber.

  3. Body Weight: Promoting optimal growth and market readiness.

  4. Staple Length: Facilitating free-growing wool and improved processing.

  5. Staple Strength: Enhancing the durability and value of the wool.

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4 C's Plus 1 more

At Deep Dene, we understand that unlocking the true income potential goes beyond these traits. That's why we also emphasize the following factors:

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  1. Constitution (Doing Ability): Selecting sheep with robust health and resilience.

  2. Confirmation: Ensuring proper body structure and muscling for optimal performance.

  3. Conversion: Promoting efficient feed utilization and weight gain.

  4. Coverage: Offering sheep with excellent wool coverage for protection and market appeal.

  5. Longevity: Retaining sheep that exhibit long-term productivity and profitability.

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Low Maintenance

We also prioritize traits that reduce costs and boost efficiency:

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  1. Low Body Wrinkle: Minimizing the risk of flystrike and associated costs.

  2. Open Face: Reducing labor-intensive shearing around the face area.

  3. Poll: Safer handling for you and your staff.

  4. Low Breech Cover and Wrinkle: Lowering the susceptibility to flystrike and dag-related issues and the need for mulesing.

  5. Wool Quality: Focusing on low fleece rot and flystrike occurrences for superior wool value.

  6. Worm and Dag Resistance: Breeding sheep with natural resistance to reduce treatment expenses.

  7. Evenness: Promoting uniformity in traits to optimize selling costs.

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At Deep Dene, our strategic sheep classing ensures that every aspect of your flock contributes to profitability. Join us in embracing a new era of market success and elevated returns with our meticulously selected and bred sheep.

Deep Dene's Breeding Aims using SGA Figures: Elevating your flock to new heights!

​At Deep Dene, our breeding aims are designed to deliver exceptional results. We prioritise the following marketable trait ASBVs to enhance your flock's performance.

  1. Abundant Wool Production: Yearling Clean Fleece Weight (YCFW) +30

  2. Finer more valuable wool: Lowering Yearling Fibre Diameter (YFD) to less than -1.2.

  3. Bright White Wool: Enhancing visual appeal and increasing resistance to fleece rot through selection of wool colour less than -0.2.

  4. Consistent Fiber Quality: Minimizing the coefficient variation in Yearling Fiber Diameter Coefficient of Variation (YFDCV) below -2, ensuring uniformity and consistency in fiber.

  5. Staple Length: Yearling Staple Length (YSL) exceeding 8, providing free-growing wool that dries out faster but less than 14 to reduce shearing costs.

  6.  Durability of your wool: Increasing Yearling Staple Strength (YSS) to more than 6 

  7. Lower maintenance sheep with less late Dag (LDAG): -0.2

  8. Reach marketable weight faster with Weaning Weight

  9. Maintaining body size for user handling through keeping Yearling Weight (YWt): Between 5 and 10

  10. More Resilient to worm burden through breeding sheep for YWEC: Less than -20 on average

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654 South Coast Road
Macgillivray Kangaroo Island
SA Australia 5223

©2017 by Berry Partners Deep Dene. Proudly created with Wix.com

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