Today we undertook ultrasound scanning for muscle depth and backfat. This provides a key reference point for data collection and the generation of breeding values.

Ideally this should be undertaken when the lambs weight on average 40kg but as lambing this year was extended over three months it was more of a challenge. So in the end Paul created a spreadsheet that forecast when the suitable date was. This worked well and on the day the average weight turned out to be 42kg, due mainly to some better weather and increased daily live weight gains.

All data was collected and will be included in the next BLUP run which is due on 28th June.

Lambing is always both an enjoyable and emotional time and this year was no exception, but it was also longer due to the decision that was taken to unsucessfully flush three ewes in 2018.

We started lambing on 21st February and carried on until 15th April which is considerably longer than the 19 days we usually strive to achieve. We were fortunate though to have had the additonal help of Molly Hobbs from the Elkstone Flock in the Cotswolds and this really helped move things along and ensure losses were as small as possible. Thank you Molly!

The weather was much kinder than 2018 and it was nice not to have had snow blowing in the buildings!

Each year you always have some comedy moments and one of this years included this ewe who wouldnt move when the shed was being bedded!

Well the grass is starting to slowly grow and the lambs are beginning to bounce which makes you think all the hard work is worth it.

Wont be long now until they have their eight week weights. How time flys when you are having fun!

If you are looking to buy a performance recorded Texel this year then you need to have looked at a copy of the breed benchmark.

You can download one at the link below:

Fortunately all of the sheep within the Kimbolton flock are at the top end of the benchmark so you can be assured that we have taken much of the hard work out of choosing your next Ewe or Ram. We have been selecting for commericlal traits of importance for over a decade.

Please contact Paul and discuss what you are looking for and he will do his best to help interpret all the data so that you can find something that will do the job for you.

April 1st 2019 will see some big changes to how performance recording is undertaken and delivered, this will mean a number of changes that users of this information need to understand.

1. The Texel Sheep Society are now providing the recording service directly rather than through Signet (AHDB). This has been done to allow the Society to develop and integrate data collection with its registry services as well as to integrate the outputs from its £3M R&D projects. The service delivered will still use the National Terminal Sire (NTS) evaluation that Signet undertake as its base but will allow TSS to add new Texel specific breeding values as they become market ready. This is a benefit as previously the Texel breed could only move as fast as the slowest Signet customer, but inclusion in the NTS means that both Signet and Texel benefit from data sharing but the Texel breed can move at the speed it chooses to. As the UK’s leading Terminal Sire breed and the UK’s second most popular maternal breed this is really important for the Industry.
2. The method used to calculate the BLUP evaluations has changed and animals now have their muscle/fat EBVs predicted for a fixed 40kg live carcass weight rather than at a fixed age. This removes double counting within the evaluation and as a reult made the traits more accurate. This has been done to make these traits more commercially focussed as lambs are more commonly drawn for slaughter once they hit the specified weight and fatness cover, rather than at an age. This has resulted in animals being reranked based on the new calculations.
3. The terminal sire index has been reset to the average performance of the breed in 2010 rather than the base set in 1990. This has resulted in all terminal sire indexes reducing as the influence of 20 years of genetic gain has been removed. A new breed benchmark has been created so buyers can clearly see the changes and understand how an animal is ranked.

In summary, the information provided will be more relevant to commercial producers who wish to produce a 40kg lamb and it will be more accurate, but the overall index will be smaller as a result of 20 years of genetic gain being removed.

If you have any questions about this please contact Paul and he will be happy to talk you through them.

As the leaves on the trees start to turn in what has been a funny old year weather wise, the Kimbolton Flock is pleased to report that it has sold out of sheep for 2018,  earlier in the year than ever before.

We have been delighted at the global demand we have seen for our genetics and have sold yearlings to a top of 3,400gn and lambs to a top of 1,500gn in the UK this year. Additionally we have exported shipments to Germany and Holland to both new and existing customers.

As a result we would like to take this opportunity to thank all customers and underbidders for their support and wish them well with their purchases.

Now our thoughts turn to 2019 and lambing, and in the last few days we have AI’d the ewes so lambs will start to appear from around the 24th February.  Stay tuned for updates.

What ever Brexit brings in 2019, the Kimbolton Flock will be here with genetics to help you make your sheep business become more efficient, by helping you produce tasty lean meat as quickly as possible.

A busy Bank Holiday weekend saw Kimbolton genetics fiercely competed for at the National Texel Sales.

We were delighted that our Rams were in demand as this validates the breeding decisions that we make. We focus on commercial traits of value (growth, loin muscle, positive fat, gigots as well as maternal ability and we try to avoid following the fashion of the showing world as we don’t believe that those attributes are relevant to the progressive commercial producer.

We would like to wish all of the purchasers well and also thank everyone else that was involved with helping, especially the under bidders.

We have an excellent range of rams and semen still available to purchase. The latest for sale list can be downloaded from the for sale page on the tab above.

A video of Kimbolton Ace being sold for 3,400gn can be found at the link below: https://www.facebook.com/britishtexel/videos/2246491465381002/

Today we ultrasound scanned the lambs. The reason why we do this is to understand how much muscle and fat depth each animal has. This is important if you are breeding animals that Commercial Farmers will use to produce prime lambs for the food chain as it ensure that the right genetics are selected for breeding (ie more meat and less fat under the skin).

Our heaviest lamb weighed 66.5kg and he was born on 19th February but just because he is the heaviest it doesn’t mean he is the best. The breeding values that will be calculated on our animals will take into account rear type (single/twin or triplet), eight week weight, scan weight as well as the results from the scan itself.  This information will allow animals to be compared on a like for like basis.

It is interesting to me that the best animals are usually not the biggest as they can be born later and therefore could easily get overlooked. Imagine what would happen if you were to inadvertently sell (rather than breed from) your best animals just because they weren’t your biggest. Your genetic gain would be slower than it could be and this would have a big effect on your profitability!

It surprises me that more people don’t do more recording as we all know that the devil is in the detail! 

The picture above shows the raw data captured during Ultrasound scanning.

Next job will be to CT scan the best 8 ram lambs to do further analysis of their carcass attributes.

Lambing 2018 came and went successfully. For the first time ever we had external help which was fantastic and it proved that lambing could be less stressful and fun!

The lambs were kept inside for the first four weeks due to the dreadful weather conditions but following turnout the February lambs got badly battered by the weather that followed. As a result the March born lambs initially grew the best. However the cream always floats to the top and the February born lambs are recovering fast and it will be interesting to see the results at scanning time with weights.

At times like these I never fail to be impressed with nature and how resilient lambs can be  to environmental factors.

Well despite the worst snow we have had in 15 years we managed to scan the ewes today!

The girls didn’t like being up to their waists in it and the dogs were not impressed either but we managed to get it done and we now know how many to expect. This makes life easier for us as we can divide them into relevant groups and ensure they get the right levels of nutrition to hopefully avoid problems later on.

We were pleased with the results overall, but in particular we had an exceptional scan with the embryos with 17 out of 19 holding (the two that slipped were in one ewe).

Junior stock sires used include:

Kimbolton Ace
A very high index Hollyford Vroom Vroom son out of a much admired ewe from our Grey Peel ewe line. Ace was one of the standout lambs of 2017 and is very correct and shapely.

Kimbolton Adventurer
A very high index Avon Vale Real Deal son out of our successful Ettrick ewe line.  Adventurer is a correct, fast growing naturally born twin who’s sister was exported to Holland.

Senior stock sires include:

Kimbolton Va Va Voom
Gaining a following for consistently breeding. Yearling Rams sold to 5,500gn in 2017.

Kimbolton Yeoman
By Goldies Supreme out of Kimbolton Warrior’s dam, a great combination whose first son sold for 1,850gn.

Duhonw Your The One
Purchased jointly for 8,000gn after standing Champion Texel at the NSA main sale.

Not long now until lambing, which is due to start on 29th February!