Our list of animals for sale has been added to the “For Sale” section of this site.
Please contact Paul to discuss anything of interest as many are sold direct from Farm.
Visitors are welcome with no obligation to purchase.
Visitor feedback is that a visit is “very informative and the only way to see the entire flock and the system they are produced in. It is far more relevant and three dimensional than just seeing a small selection of animals like you get at a normal sale.”
Once of the key benchmarking tools that are used extensively to manage our flock are regular measurements of weight and carcass quality.
Our regime of data collection starts with recording the birth weight within 24 hours (measuring straight after birth is too messy!), this is applied consistently each year to ensure year on year comparisons can be made.
Then following birth the lambs are weighed each time they are handled, so the next weights are done when they receive their Ovipast vaccination around four weeks of age. As this routine is repeated we begin to build up a picture of Daily Live Weight Gain which we can review in our farm software. Whilst this is crude as it doesn’t take into account birth/rear type (single/twin/triplet), it does provide an early indication of growth rates and allow actions to be taken on any poor performers. This allows decisions to be made about removing any lambs who mothers might be struggling to rear multiples, they can then be marked for culling.
Weigh data is then submitted to The Texel Society via its iTexel platform so that it can be evaluated in a statistical model that allows an “apples and apples” comparison between sheep and also between flocks and production systems.
Additional data is added following ultrasound scanning for muscle depth and backfat and then the “best” five ram lambs are CT scanned with this data also being included within the evaluations.
Once evaluated we then have reasonably accurate information to make our breeding decisions as we know about carcass composition and growth.
Obviously technology improves all the time and we are excited about the prospect of using genomics in the next couple of years to improve accuracy even further, particularly on ram lambs.
The pictures below show some of the ram lambs on their day out to the CT scanner.
Its always pleasing to see purchasers enjoying success with our genetics and we were therefore delighted to see Kimbolton Commander lambs being awarded Supreme Champion and Reserve Champion in the Texel section of the MacKenzie A&P show.
Congratulations to Denby Lawlor.
Full details can be found on the Texel New Zealand Facebook page: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02URc2JovDj2sEntBPpwbFgU4PfogBG1azTCKZJgMUVmcZ6ZLU5rjKsQo8pJ5AiK7Pl&id=100057173661107
2023 was a good lambing for us following a record scanning percentage. There are some exciting prospective lambs on the ground and we look forward to seeing how they perform in the coming months as they grow and mature.
Selecting for ease of lambing and good maternal traits is something we have done since the start of the flock and we have found now the families that are working well and removed those that don’t. Obviously we are dealing with nature and something unexpected always happens!
We have tested our colostrum for the last few years using a Brix refractometer that was bought cheaply on Amazon. This quickly shows colostrum quality and is a useful indicator of if ewe nutrition and is directly correlated to lamb survival. Also over the last three years we have taken the opportunity to tube every lamb with colostrum as soon as possible after it is born. This has significantly reduced early losses and also meant that lambs have had better early growth. Equally importantly it has provided peace of mind and meant that we can leave the lamb that was born before bed confidently knowing it has had milk.
At this time of the year, focus moves onto lambing and making sure as many risk are dealt with in advance.
Lots of cleaning of pens, sheds and general equipment to remove any potential biohazards, laying out lambing and maternal sheds to make this relentless time of year run as smoothly as possible.
The general public think that life is just busy at the point of lambing but anyone who has had a baby of their own will know that the birth is just the start of the work!
We focus on ensuring that the ewe nutrition is balanced with what is needed prior to birth to support the number of lambs each ewe is carrying. This is vital for the well being of the ewe and lamb but also financially important with the price of ewe feed at over £400 per ton.
We will begin to lamb on 22nd Feb and will finish on 4th April but thankfully there will be gaps in between the groups to allow for periods of rest and catch up.
Each lamb will receive colostrum from its mother at birth to ensure it has the best start possible. When lambs are born they have no immunity and the colostrum provides initial cover against the nasties that naturally are waiting to harm them. This is THE most critical time as if a lamb gets a bad start it very rarely recovers, as a result there is pressure to get it right during a very busy time.
The postman arrived with the ear tags today, this always focuses the mind as it confirms that the countdown in on to lambing!
Paul nervously anticipated this years scanning day. Local reports suggested that the severe drought in the summer of 2022 had negatively impacted earlier lambing flocks and reports of scanning being 15-20% were being talked about.
The first ewe went into the crate and Paul anxiously waited for the result, you could have heard a pin drop! “Twins” said John the scanner, then the next ewe went in, “twins”. By the time that the first ten had been done anxiety levels had reduced slightly (you always have a level of anxiety when working with sheep as they will always find a way to surprise!).
As the last ewe left the crate there was an enormous level of relief as the results were the best scanning that the flock has ever had 181%. This included two empty 6/7 year old ewes who were given the opportunity to go to the ram one final time due to what they have contributed to the flock.
Our breeding and selection decisions over the last ten years have been made very commercially. We want fast growing, easy fleshing progeny that are born easily to milky mothers and we want twins. It was therefore pleasing to see that over 75% of the ewes in lamb had scanned with twins.
Now time to focus on keeping the ewes in the best possible condition and getting them ready to lamb in February.
They still have time to provide a nasty surprise, the next risk is getting onto their backs due to being heavily in lamb, so a close watch will be needed!
The Texel Sheep Society was on winning form at the NSA Sheep Event at Malvern in July.
After a four year break the Kimbolton Flock was one of four flocks that provided sheep for the Texel Society tradestand.
Four gimmer ewes by 7,000gn Hilltop Cobra were provided and were much admired with some very pleasing comments received.
The trade stand was judged best trade stand and the sheep also triumphed being awarded the first prize for best pen of sheep at the event.
Speaking at the event Paul said “after such a long break from the last show, there was an excellent atmosphere and much positivity from everyone that I spoke to about what the breed and also the Kimbolton flock is trying to achieve”
One of the benefits of having a Texel flock is that you get to meet and interact with other Texel breeders not only in the UK but from all over the world. This provides an opportunity to learn and share experiences. A great example of this was that we were thrilled to welcome visitors from Argentina recently.
In 1977 José Plumet established the Cabaña EPU CLA Texel flock near Buenos Aires, this was the first Texel flock in Argentina and since its inception he has enjoyed great success, now being joined by his son Javier who is continuing to ensure the flock is at the forefront of the Argentinian sheep industry.
The superior carcass attributes of the British Texel have improved the quality of prime lambs produced in Argentina and the Plumet’s have a large number of loyal repeat customers to sell their breeding stock too who are also benefitting from their vision and hard work.
In the last two years they have spent time setting up a pioneering import of embryos and semen from some well known flocks in the UK. The first embryos are due to be born in 2023.
Contained in the genetics they selected was some Kimbolton breeding so we were honored that they chose to spend some time during their UK trip visiting us to find out more about what we do.
If you are interested to know too, feel free to get in touch.
Update – A recent YouTube video for Modo Ovis by José Plumet shows some of the video taken during the visit.
The flock is pleased to announce that the list of animals for sale is now available on the For Sale page of this site.
Stock will be available from home or selected sales (unless sold in advance) on a first come first served basis. We will endeavor to keep everyone happy and provide the best choice and value possible.
At Mondays NSA sale at Builth Wells Cefin Pryce and Family sold Caereinion Dan Dare at 8000gns.
This was a son of Granite Untouchable and was out of a homebred dam by Kimbolton Venturer and sold with an index in the top 1% of the breed.
Cefin purchased a half share in Venturer after placing him Reserve Champion whilst judging the Texel’s at Burwarton Show in 2016.
Congratulations to Cefin and Family, its very satisfying to see Kimbolton breeding performing and producing the type of sheep that are in demand.
The full report can be read here https://texel.uk/dan-dare-rockets-to-8000gns-at-builth/
