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Brettles Charollais Sheep
Champion Flock 2009 - Central Region Southern The Brettles flock was awarded the trophy for the Champion Flock for the Southern section of the Central Region in the 2009 flock competition. This is a wonderful result for the flock but even more encouraging was the fact that the Brettles ewes achieved the highest points score of any ewes in the whole Central Region.
This result shows that while the overall Breed Index figures for the Brettles Flock have continued to rise (see Performance Recording) the equally vital aim of improving conformation has also been achieved. The main aim of the flock is to produce Brettles Charollais rams that will perform in commercial flocks and produce fast growing meaty lambs that don’t carry too much fat and have good conformation.
Not every ewe takes to the early December lambing and those that don’t hold to the first or second matings are remated to lamb in March and the best of their male progeny are kept to be sold as shearling rams. Ram lambs and shearling rams are sold from home and at several specialist ram sales at Ludlow, Bakewell, Builth Wells and Worcester each autumn. It pays to come to the farm early to chose from the best selection.
Pedigree breeding quality ram lambs and shearlings are sold at the Premier Charollais sale at Worcester in early July. Performance recording is a key part of trying to improve the quality of the rams that are selected for sale. Huge progress has been made over the past 10 years by the Brettles Charollais flock. Please click on “Performance Recording” to see the details. Figures are a very helpful guide to the breeding potential of any animal but equal if not more weighting must be given to the animal’s own conformation and correctness. Management must aim to achieve a high health status and a hardy animal that will thrive and survive for many years.
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