Sheep Ireland and the Mayo-Connemara program
The aim of Sheep Ireland as an organization is to add value to the Irish sheep industry by identifying and promoting the very best sheep genetics that we have. The only way in which we can identify these better genetics is through the recording of data. Ancestry information is the foundation of all genetic improvement program but the extensive nature of hill farming means the collection of this information can be seen by many farming these hills to be an almost impossible task. The Mayo-Connemara group has helped to prove this theory wrong through the design of a simple flock book model that is amenable to all breeders of the Mayo-Connemara sheep.
In time Sheep Ireland hopes that this ancestry recording will become routine for Mayo-Connemara breeders and develop further into a widespread program of performance recording of the important traits that will help sheep farmers improve their returns from farming the hills. It will only be through performance recording that the better genetics can be identified and promoted across the breed through the €uro-Star evaluations. There is now a solid foundation in place for the Mayo-Connemara breed improvement program and if breeders remain committed, there will be major future benefits for all involved.
A farmer’s story
Micheal P Conway farms at Knockmoyleen Ballycroy with an enterprise comprising of 25 autumn calving sucklers and a midseason lambing flock of 400 mayo blackface ewes and 80 hilltex ewes
The sucklers calve in September /October and the weanlings are sold in May with later calves held on and sold in September. Cows are fed round bale silage indoors and 3kg concentrates until they are 1 month in calf again. All cows are artificially inseminated using bulls including RGL/CF71 and FWO. Calves are fed 2kg creep meal/head/day from a month old.
The hilltex flock (mayo blackface x texel) are lambed in late February /early March and scanned 1.7 at scanning time. These lambs are finished reaching carcass weights of 18-20kg mostly off grass with smaller doubles receiving creep pre sale and are slaughtered at Dunleavy Meats. The pure mayo blackface flock scanned 1.4 and is lambed in late March/early April.
The majorities of the male lambs reaches carcass weights of over 16kg deadweight, and are killed in Dunleavy meats or Kildare Chilling. Smaller doubles receive creep and good quality grass and reach similar weights later in the year. The best ewe lambs are selected to be retained as replacements while the remainder is sold to a regular buyer or through the annual mayo blackface sale. Aged ewes are sold to lowland producers for crossing with blueface Leicester rams for producing the Mayo Mule.
Micheal is a member of the Mayo Connemara blackface ram group and retains up to twenty elite ram lambs for sale as hogget’s the following year to local buyers and through the annual sale.
Micheal has great hopes for the new recording program stating “it will improve all stock nationally; better quality stock coming off hills and will gear producers to breed stronger bigger ewes that will have bigger framed lambs to reach higher carcass weights”.