@conference {40754,
	title = {Ewes for more dollars and flexibility},
	booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	volume = {55},
	year = {1995},
	month = {Jan},
	pages = {326-327},
	publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	abstract = {New Zealand{\textquoteright}s national lamb weaning percentage has hovered around  100\% since 1960. This is a disappointing figure considering the number  of sheep recording and performance analysis packages that are available  to ram breeders. The present "average" NZ ewe probably drops about 1.20  lambs. Assuming 14\% lamb losses from birth to weaning, and 6\% ewes that  die or are dry, each ewe mated weans about one lamb that grows at about  200g per day. One obvious way of improving these figures is to increase  lambing percentage. For example, introducing 1/4 Finnish Landrace genes  into the base flock has the potential to increase lamb drop by 20\%.  However, lamb growth rates must also be improved. Incorporating  genetically superior milk producing breeds into the dam side as well  will also increase lamb growth rates, resulting in lambs with the  ability to grow at 250g per day or better.    Ewes that produce 30\% less wool than their contemporaries, but at the  same time wean an extra 0.2 lambs that are 20\% heavier than the flock  average, can increase nett sheep-derived income by around 20\%. The  advantages are not just an immediate improvements in gross margins.  Additional to this is the increased flexibility in management policies  that result from having faster growing lambs that can be weaned earlier  to provide better carcass weights or bigger replacements. This  flexibility can be enhanced by introducing breeding programmes that  utilise terminal sire breeds to further improve profitability. The  major advantage of this more productive ewe is that it breaks the 100\%  lambing "poverty trap".   },
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {Walpole D}
}
