Rangeland Ready

Etiwanda White Dorpers are Rangeland Ready - What does Rangeland Ready mean?

Hardy, profitable, unpampered White Dorpers that have never been shorn, grain fed or hoof trimmed.

Grass raised on the rangelands of Cobar and performance recorded on Lambplan.
Rangeland Ready to go – bred like they ought to be!

Etiwanda's Ranageland Ready sale animals are not grain fed  - they are paddock born and reared and survival of thë fittest plays it part. So you can be assured that only the best rams are put up for you to look at for sale. All the Etiwanda animals are presented unshorn (why shear a White Dorper for goodness sake!!) - so what you see on the day in terms of wool cover is what you get - no guesswork here as to how much wool they will grow when you take them home.

Added to this is the Lambplan ASBV information provided for each and every animal.  LAMBPLAN provides practical information for sheep producers on the genetic potential of the animal. Sheep are ranked according to various production characteristics using Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs). ASBVs are available for growth, carcase and reproduction.. ASBVs are directly comparable across flocks within a breed and across breed in the terminal sire group of breeds.

How do ASBVs help in the selection of rams?

• They take into account the performance of the ram’s relatives as well as the animal’s own performance.
• It uses an industry standard language that means the same wherever you are.
• They allow you to compare rams on the basis of how they will breed (breeding value) rather than how well they have been fed (environmental influence).
• They can be used to accurately estimate progeny performance for specific traits and to predict the outcome of breeding programs.
• They identify genetic differences for "hard to see" traits such as maternal ability & reproductive preformance of daughters.
• They report differences in units of commercial value, eg. carcase yield, numbers of lambs weaned.

Information courtesy of the Sheep Genetics website -  http://www.sheepgenetics.org.au/InformationItem.aspx?ITEM=10


Important things to remember when selecting animals with ASBV's

• Balanced Selection is critical.  Check structure and rearing environment
• Don't chase excessive growth and risk unwanted side effects such as sheep becoming too big for the environment.
• No breeder in the Australian White Dorper Industry has more experience with or understands ASBV's better than Andrew Mosely - please see the information about Andrew's experience on the About Etiwanda Tab on our website. Andrew is also a member of the Sheep Genetics Advisory Committee for Lambplan Australia.