2014 Drop hogget sale rams weigh in
Following another successful on-property ram sale in September 2014 and sales of surplus rams exceeding previous years, Rocklyn will again hold an on-property ram sale. The 2015 Ram Sale will be held on Thursday 10th September, at ‘Elon’ 343 Barker’s Rd Greenethorpe. Inspections of the rams will be welcome from 10am, with the sale to be conducted by Elders at 1pm.
Preparations for the 2015 Rocklyn Merino Stud on-property ram sale are well underway. There are several changes to the line up this year with 60 hogget rams to be offered at the sale including both horned and poll rams. Along with Rocklyn sires, the popular sire Roseville Park 090014 has been re-introduced for the horned rams as well as the high growth rate ram 03SP30 (Severn Park blood). Bundilla, Tuckwood, Poll Boonoke and Woodpark sires have been used for the Polls.
All testing of the rams has now been completed, with promising results. The rams were weighed, mid-side sampled and shorn in early March 2015. The rams displayed good early growth rates with post-weaning (8 months) body weights of the sale rams averaging 54.9kg and some rams weighing close to 70kg. The wool cut of the sale rams was also good, with an average greasy fleece weight percentage of 109 for the sale rams.
Mid-side samples were taken again in early August along with eye muscle depth (EMD) and fat. Body weights were taken again in late August. The hogget (12 months) tests showed that the rams have continued to put on weight at a good rate - the average body weight of the sale rams was 88.7kg (at 22 August 2015), with some weighing over 100kg. The hogget EMD of the sale rams averaged 31.9mm, with some recording an EMD of 35.5mm. Wool characteristics were also good, with an average fibre diameter of 19.7 micron, CV of 17.1 and comfort factor of 98.9 for the sale rams.
The data for the 2014 drop rams has been submitted to Sheep Genetics and Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) have been obtained. ASBVs for the 2015 sale rams are available in the sale catalogue. The ASBVs indicate that Rockyn continues to produce good dual-purpose rams, with the average ASBVs for the MP+ and DP+ selection indexes well above the current Australian averages.
Rocklyn will again be participating in the South West Slopes Merino Breeders field day to be held at St Clements Retreat, Galong on Thursday 3rd September so be sure to come along to view some of the 2014 drop Rocklyn rams.
Returning clients and new buyers are welcome to attend the on-property sale on the 10th September and join the Rocklyn team for lunch and refreshments, provided at the sale. Surplus rams will be available through private, on-farm arrangements after the annual ram sale.
For more information or to book a viewing of the rams, please contact owner/classer Ralph Diprose. To ensure you receive notifications of upcoming sales, please sign up to our newsletter below.