Performance Recorded Texels’ (PRT)
15 June 2007
Dear Texel Member,
C.T. SCANNING 2007
Because of sponsorship from
EBLEX, HCC and QMS we are pleased to advise
that CT scanning costs have been held at the
reduced rate of £25.00
plus VAT per animal. In addition we again offer
a transport subsidy for animal travelling from
outwith the Edinburgh area as follows: -
Within
100 mile radius of Edinburgh £0.00
per Ram Lamb
101 – 200 miles of Edinburgh £10.00
per Ram Lamb
201 – 300 miles of Edinburgh £20.00
per Ram Lamb
301 – 400 miles of Edinburgh £30.00
per Ram Lamb
Over 401 – 500 miles of Edinburgh £40.00
per Ram Lamb
With the increased importance of
muscularity in the Texel Index both the individual
breeder
undertaking CT Scanning and PRT as a whole will
benefit from participation in CT Scanning.
It is hoped to co-ordinate transport for breeders
in the Midlands, Wales and the South.
Scanning will take place from the 2nd - 13th
July.
Could you please let us know if you would
like
to participate by contacting Caroline Hadley
on 01676 533375 or by email
caroline@brackenford.plus.com stating which date
you would like to attend, and how many
you plan to take.
If you are considering CT scanning
please ensure that you have ultrasound
scanned prior to CT scanning.
Guidance on selection
for scanning:
Use the across flock analysis produced at eight
weeks as a guide to indicate which lambs
should be sent for CT Scanning. Send a minimum
of five lambs to the CT unit. These
should all have been reared in the same contemporary
group. Where possible, these lambs
should be produced by more than one sire. Lambs
should be CT scanned within approximately
14 days of having them Ultrasound Scanned. Do
not send lambs for CT Scanning prior to
Ultrasound Scanning, as this subset of CT Scanned
lambs are likely to drop back in condition slightly
following their journey and have lower Ultrasound
measurements as a result. Signetrecommend that
Texel lambs are Ultrasound Scanned as close
to 21 weeks of age as possible, although some
later lambing flocks will be scanned at a younger
age.
Standstills:
Sheep travelling from England or Wales will
have to observe a six day standstill before
they move to Penicuik and will trigger a
six day standstill on the whole premises
when they return to the farm of origin. The
move to Penicuik will be made under the General
Licence for the Movement of Sheep and Goats
and all conditions of the General Licence
must be met. The return journey will be under
a SEERAD General Licence. Sheep from Scotland
will be regarded as moving to and from a
place for veterinary treatment or research.
On return home they are therefore not under
any restriction regarding further movements
on to shows or anywhere else. However, owners
are strongly urged to adhere to
Code which indicates that returning animals should
be kept in isolation for 20 days. A movement
licence is required for both journeys to and
from
the CT Unit.
Cleanliness:
Farmers coming to the CT Unit to deliver and/or
collect lambs should ensure that they are
clean [not wearing soiled clothing or boots]
and that their vehicles and trailers are clean,
this
also applies to local farmers.
Itinerary:
They aim to start CT scanning at 08.00am each
day as usual. However, it is now possible to
allow staggered arrival of flocks. Farmers will
still be asked to wait after their lambs are
scanned before they can take them home as they
will need to be signed off the Home Office
Licence, by a vet as being fit to travel. It
is very time consuming, inefficient and expensive
to
do this for every individual group of lambs and
we try to only ask the vets to come once or
twice a day for this. So be aware that you will
have some hanging around to do.
F.E.C. (WORM SAMPLING) 2007
Due to the increasing level of wormer resistance
to the present drug range (now including
ivermectins) we feel that this is of increasing
relevance and importance to our ongoing
breeding program and hope that as many breeders
as possible will take part.
The cost will be £4.00 plus VAT per sample,
the greatest benefit is obtained from sampling
the
whole flock enabling Sire and Dam data to be
more accurately calculated.
Please remember to only sample after the last
worming treatment has come to the end of its
cover period and that each sample pot is full
(to ensure that there is sufficient sample for
analysis). When sampling please allow up to one
week for postage and processing of the
samples so that results can be incorporated into
the main B.L.U.P run. The laboratory cannot
guarantee the processing of any samples which
arrive within 24 hours of the B.L.U.P deadline.
To order your sample kits, please notify Caroline
on 01676 533375 or by email caroline@brackenford.plus.com stating how many sheep you intend to test.
If you wish to participate, please register
your interest with Caroline no later than Wednesday
27th June.
Yours sincerely
Steven J McLean
Chief Executive |
Texel Sheep Society, Members conference,
Rheged.
Report by Mr Keith Stevens
The Texel Sheep Society president Victor Chestnutt
welcomed almost a 100 members who had journeyed in
January from all parts of the British Isles to the
Rheged Conference Centre, at Penrith to discuss the
challenges facing the Texel Society membership and
the future of the breed.
These challenges are centred
on the fact that producing a kilo of prime lamb without
the benefit of subsidy is loss making for most producers.
That lambing percentages have decreased in the average
commercial flock to less than 110 per cent, in a
national flock that has decreased by a quarter since
2001, and is continuing to decline in numbers.
That
too many lambs are not finished at the right weight
or grade and most important for those selling breeding
rams there is “a dramatic need for
an increase in objective recording of genetic traits.”
“There is also the need for increased information back from the abattoir
on whether those lambs sired by that tup fulfilled the grades and weights required.”
The
need for greater certainty that the ram put to the
ewes is producing the desired result to the satisfaction
of the commercial flock master means a new approach
is needed by the Texel Society, the chief executive
Steven McLean, told his audience.
So that the true
value of the pure bred Texel sire is easily proved,
when in the future, breeders are faced with competition
from breeding companies offering rams of a composite
of terminal sire breeds.
Fostering these objectives and recording them means
an investment by the Society of 30,000 pounds over
the next three years to support it, “but it
has to be cost effective and deliver the requirements
of pedigree Texel breeders,” he said.
An approach
made to the Society membership late last year to
take up objective recording through MLC Signet, at
a significantly reduced cost for Texel Society members
, had by the conference brought 82 replies. 31 members
were already recording with Signet, 29 have not previously
recorded.
Most of those attending this Members Conference
were already recording their flock breeding results
and carcase assessments with Signet, and will in
2007 benefit from the much lower price obtained for
members by the Society.
The Signet charge for the
year, for participating members, will be levied on
all females for which birth information is recorded
by the Texel Society.
A question was raised by conference
delegates as to when EBV (estimated breeding values)
details can be down loaded by a new owner, so that
better use can be made of the genetic qualities of
a purchased ram. They were assured that in future
that will be possible on the change of ownership,
and that may (will) in future include details such
as close related breeding.
EBVs will be published
in sale catalogues if the necessary information is
provided by the breeder, conference members were
informed, but whilst all details will be recorded
by Signet and the Society, only those details the
breeder wishes to be made public will be published
in Society publications.
Also whilst the Texel sires
lambs of superb carcase grades, often abattoirs will
only effectively pay for grades R2 or R3L. Whilst
it will soon be possible to create soft ware to emphasise
certain traits in certain flocks or families, it
was emphasised at the conference that “there
is no standard way forward; it is not the job of
the Texel Society to decide what breeders aim for
in their sheep.”
Footrot
Dr Joanne Conington of SAC discussed the importance
of foot rot. A disease that is found in every flock,
she said. Susceptibility is heritable, persistent
sufferers should not be kept and certainly not kept
for breeding, and she insisted do not breed from
lame tups. An affordable and reliable gene test will
be developed in the future, and the susceptibility
of a lamb’s dam is a trait the Texel Society
could choose to record, at birth notification time.
Susceptibility to Mastitis, another important disease,
might also be recorded by the Society in the future.
Affective
management techniques for foot rot control included
annual vaccination, and spreading the areas in fields
where sheep are fed to avoid contamination. Sheep
lacking protein in their diet are more susceptible
to bacterial diseases such as foot rot, said Dr Conington.
Easier Management
After an excellent lunch included in the 10 pound
subsidised conference price, ways to make sheep
management easier were discussed. The first aim,
said speaker Dr Alistair Carson from AFI, Hillsborough,
was to reduce labour costs. Between 20 and 40 per
cent needed assistance at lambing, whilst lamb
mortality remains a major issue, as does the control
of parasites.
Getting ewes in the right condition
score for mating at 3.5 is important he stated,
the feeding of ewes from weaning determining this
factor, whilst in late pregnancy 2.5 to 3 is ideal
for lambing. Nearly 70 per cent of late pregnancy
ewes are found to have inadequate selenium levels,
he explained, whilst sheep respond to TMR feeding.
Sugar beet pulp and fish oils are good late pregnancy
feeds but excess fish oil can dangerously deplete
colostrum production.
If ewes are lambed late outside
as part of an easier management system, allowing
a ewe to choose its own spot in the field to lamb
is better than providing a communal shelter. Grass
at five to six centimetres in height all summer,
produces the highest growth rates, said Dr Carson,
and on good grass, work at Hillsborough suggests
that there I little response from creep feeding.
Regular faecal eggs counting, to define the real
need for worming is a beneficial practice, he said.
Chairing
this session, Steven McLean then introduced Dr Steven
Johnson to speak on the changing market for the pedigree
sector.
“Knowledge of the abilities of your sheep, and how they can rapidly be
applied and adapted” is the key to the future he told the Members Conference. “That
knowledge will deliver different markets, every Texel ram is not the same.” He
then suggested that a restriction on numbers at ram sales would infer to buyers
they were at a very select sale not a commodity market and that in Northern
Ireland sales of rams with above average EBV’s from Signet recorded flocks
had not only improved sale prices, but satisfied the requirements of the buyers.
51
per cent of buyers wanted the EBV statistics from
the rams for sale, 17 per cent wanted maternal traits
to be detailed, and 32 percent wanted ram and dam
details listed.
Roy Hughes amongst others, called
at the conference for the star system of merit to
be introduced for detailing EBV characteristics.
To the un-initiated he said a ram listed as having
a rating of 12, looks uninviting ,when in truth it
indicated a rating better than the average..
Presentation
For only the fifth
time in the history of the Society, the Presidential
Award has been given for exceptional service to the
Texel Society.
President Victor Chestnutt, presented
scientist Dr Mike Coffey of SAC, with the award at
the Members Conference.
Dr Coffey has worked with
the Society for many years to further the understanding
and adoption of new techniques to measure the beneficial
inherited characteristics of the Texel breed and
of differing characteristics within the breed.
Steven
McLean welcoming the presidential award said that “Dr
Coffey’s work, particularly
his work towards the creation of BASCO has benefited
all farmers, and he has shared my vision of the need
to move ahead and bring about changes, that are to
the benefit of all members of the Texel Society,
and every sheep producer.”
 The introduction by MLC’s Signet Breeding
Services of across breed BLUP to all Texel Flocks
recording with Signet, paved the way for a radical
review of the interaction between the Society, the
various Sire Reference Groups and within flock recording
Members.
After much deliberation and having carried out an
extensive survey of members which demonstrated the
need for an objective measuring system for the Texel
Breed, the Society, in agreement with its recording
Members and MLC Signet formed ‘Performance
Recorded Texels’. PRT is the forum for
all recording flocks to interact with the Society
and Signet.
After consultation with leading scientists and genetic
experts, PRT has agreed on a new index aimed at increasing
the muscularity, loin volume and growth rate of recording
Texels. The Texel Index is Breed specific and
is portrayed as a breed index. As muscularity
is an important component of the index, CT scanning
to identify sheep with good muscularity and increased
killing out percentage is an important part of the
recording structure.
Having had two sets of figures now, it will give
all Texel members a good opportunity to see
the development of recorded sheep under the Texel
Index, specifically developed for the breed.
MLC’s Signet intends to introduce accuracy
figures, as used and accepted in the cattle industry,
for each EBV in 2006.
Membership of PRT is free and automatic for
all flocks participating in MLC Signet’s Sheepbreeder
Service.
If you wish to discuss membership and recording
costs please contact Maurice Jones, Signet Texel
Consultant on Tel: 01785 284452
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