15/07/2021
Congratulations to John Keiler, friend and master breeder, on launching the Nudies. Your name will go down in history among the great sheep breeders of recent times. Woolless sheep or "Cleanskins" as Denis Russell named them at the "Cleanskin Conference" at the Adelaide Showgrounds 20th Feb 2010 and earlier years ago at Parilla SA where he developed the fully shedding Meatmaster, is definitely a very profitable way to go, given a few caveats. (See me for Gross margin data). Breeds included in the name are Dorpers, White Dorpers, Van Rooys, Damaras, Meatmasters, Australian Whites and some might include Wiltie Polls and Wiltshire Horns as breeds that have a full or partial wool shedding gene. The US Khatadin might also get a mention. The shedding gene could be considered the default gene compared with a wool retention gene (Russell 2010), given that sheep in the wild did not always have shearers or were domesticated for shearing purposes as was the Merino, so there is an argument it should be considered dominant. Dorpers (and cattle) without wool exist in the snowy south Island of New Zealand down to 60 degrees south so a "Hair sheep" (with a second short wool coat), would and can weather cold climes quite well, given some basic shelter decisions. I base my Consultancy on shedding genotypes in Queensland where they have been adopted widely (now over 10% of Qld numbers), even north of Capricorn. So they can handle heat quite well too, without sunburn. The first 6 breeds mentioned above have dominated. 2 clients have bought Nudies in past years and after acclimatization from Portland, Victoria, performed well. They offer an out cross to clients unduly worried about inbreeding, compared with staying with any single or composite breed. So I encourage clients to adopt an "Open breeding " policy rather than join a breed society or a registration process that restricts the further input of genes. So the initial lift in body size, health, reproduction, the elimination of deleterious recessives and improved feedlot growth rates from heterosis (hybrid vigor) are eventually lost with a lifting of the coefficient of inbreeding. So the the adoption of strong, diverse unrelated outside genes, consistent with breeding and market objectives, in our view, should not be denied. Its called population genetics as we call back to more ancient genetics in the composite crosses. On the negative side you don't always get the benefit of a market lift in sheep prices common within certified Breed Society ancestries (eg recent Aussie White prices).
The great bonus of the new composites eg Dorper, Meatmaster, BB composites, Australian Whites and Nudies is the outcrossing of genes and the bonuses they bring in the paddock with improved animal health, maturity (earlier joining ages exploited by some), high conception rates and lambing performances, common to these breeds.
But of course lambs still have to conform to Market requirements on the hook and in the sale yard.
When Denis Russell and Alan Baron designed the Meatmaster and Australian White respectively, they also considered the paddock performance of the ewe for the Producer and the idea of exploiting polyoestrism. The selection of breeds that allowed this was paramount. They realized that this is where the next step forward in profitability for Sheep Producer was to be made. Not in growth rates, not in Lambplan measured performances all of which are significant, but in joining ewes twice a year to potentially double lambing percentages, lifting percentages for 150% joined once per annum, to possibly 400% with twinning, twice a year. Other considerations included whiteness (buyers on AuctionsPlus are still colour prejudiced, despite there being no difference on the hook at prevailing, prices and low skin values), hard wearing hooves, and conformation, all of which to the primary objective of polyoestrism, were minor issues. So not all composites are equal.
So welcome to the launch of the Nudie. They offer some interesting out crosses to our policy of composite, polyoestrus breeding, now and well into the future.
IF Merino wool prices doubled Glenthompson sheep producers Russell and Fiona Mitchell would not turn back from their flock’s progression away from Merinos, to composites and now to Nudie shedding sheep...Read More
