Sheep breeding for us is now science not art
Is sheep breeding an art or a science? The widely accepted view is that it is an art and most if not all breeders naturally take a great pride in the appearance of their stock, writes Robyn Hulme.
For many ram breeders local shows such as the Shropshire Show are a great shop window and the winning of prizes for the best looking sheep is a very important part of the breeder's year.
However, we have given up showing and now concentrate solely on the science rather than the art of sheep breeding.
This means that we are actively seeking the sheep that grow quickest and produce the most lean meat at least cost. The difficulty we face is that of identifying these meatier sheep because by the time a sheep is sitting in a butcher's shop window his breeding potential has been severely curtailed.
Some 30 years ago ultrasound scanners were introduced. These produce the same sort of images as a pregnancy scanner. The machine is placed on the centre of the sheep's back and an image is taken showing the depth of skin fat meat and bone beneath the sheep's loin; that is a complete cross section of a lamb chop. This technique has been used for over 30 years and allows the shepherd to make an accurate estimate as to those breeding rams that will produce the meatiest lamb chops in their offspring.
Recently a more sophisticated approach has been used – the use of a CT scanner. I like many others of my age group will have gone through a CT scanner where pictures were taken of the whole of my body so 3D images could be viewed.
Exactly the same process now happens with our best rams. These are taken to a mobile CT scanner, normally set up on a university farm for the day. The sheep are then tranquillised before being put on their backs in a sheep shaped bed and gradually moved through the CT tube.
The resulting images show the total meat fat and bone content within each individual sheep and also within each part of the sheep i.e. shoulder, loin (lamb chops) and the back legs. Thus we are able to use the meatiest rams that will eventually allow the customer to buy meatier and tastier lamb chops.
The art of breeding sheep is to lift the wool from our eyes and follow the science.
Robyn Hulme, of Pikesend Farm, Ellesmere, is founder of Easyrams, the UKs only NZ Suffolk breeders.
