The Kimbolton Flock is pleased to announce that the 2014 sale season is now well under way. We have successfully sold at both the Welsh and English National Sales and customers have also begun purchasing stock direct from Farm too.

Further sales we are attending include:

6th September -Shrops & Borders Club Sale at Shrewsbury Market
29th September – Glocs & Borders Club Sale at Worcester Market
22nd September – NSA Main Ram Sale – Builth Wells
2nd October – Shrops & Borders Club Sale at Welshpool Market
20th October – Shrops & Borders Club Sale at Welshpool Market

Please get in touch if you have particular requirements, the stock list on the “for sale” page was updated today to reflect the latest availability.

The Kimbolton Flock is delighted with the results it has achieved in the second BLUP run of the year following Ultrasound and CT Scanning of its 2014 lamb crop.

Ram Lambs
The Flock has produced the 5th, 6th and 15th placed Ram Lambs in the breed with nine  animals being placed in the top forty.

Of particular note, following CT scanning PPK 1400440 recorded the second highest gigot score of all 2014 Ram lambs,

Ewe Lambs
The Flock has produced the 2nd, 4th, 7th and 9th placed Ewe Lambs in the breed with six animals placed in the top forty.

The 2014 lambs were sired by the following Rams
Avon Vale Real Deal
Cambwell Taurus
Wallington Special Brew (See Rams used page for pictures)
Alwent Untouchable

Speaking shortly after the results were published Paul Phillips said “2014 has been an exciting year for us as we continue to develop the genetics within our flock. This years breeding objectives have been quite specific;

• Further improve muscle depth/gigot size
• Move towards a positive EBV score for fat
• Maintain or improve growth rates
• Tidying up our easy lambing heads

In addition to tupping our home bred ewes we also selectively undertook some embryo transfer work using three proven donors (CNT 1100331, GGH 1000201 and HMF 1000100) and we have been delighted with the results.

With tupping not far away now some important decisions have to be made so we can ensure that our 2015 lamb crop continues to build on this years achievements and momentum.”

Entries are now being invited for the second sale which is taking place on Monday 8th September 2014 at 17.00 at Worcester Market.

To date we have had a good level of interest with around 60 Texel sheep being pre-entered, therefore we are now looking to attract the remaining 40 entries.

Last year’s sale saw buyers from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales and enhanced advertising this year will further target progressive commercial breeders.

SCHEDULE 2014 A4

ENTRY FORM 08.09

In a survey of English sheep breeders using Signet Breeding Services, 95% identified a rise in commercial interest in performance recorded stock; the majority of these credited the change to work done by Eblex’s Better Return Programme.

Over half of respondents said that a majority of their buyers asked for EBVs, and, although it varied by region and breed, 80% also reported an increase in EBV requests since the BRP began.

More than 90% reported better ram sales, increased profit on rams or a price differential for the very best tups.

Eblex Breeding Services Manager Samuel Boon says: “It is encouraging to hear that the BRP is having a positive influence on breeding improvement within the sheep sector. The findings of this survey are extremely helpful in enabling us to build on the aspects of the BRP that levy payers find useful.”

Today saw the Kimbolton Flock take eleven of its most promising Ram Lambs to the SRUC mobile CT Scanner that was located at the University of Nottingham.

The Rams taken had already been muscle depth and backfat scanned using ultrasound scanning earlier in the week and the animals selected for full body CT Scanning were those that had the most promising results.

2014 Ram Lambs enjoying some supper the evening before their trip to Nottingham

CT scanning allows us to more accurately identify the best animals in our flock for breeding purposes. This means that our buyers can be confident that the genetics contained within our rams will help them improve the carcass quality of their own lambs. This has a significant impact on their profitability as out of specification lambs are worth far less than ones that hit the required specification.

During the scanning process the sheep are sedated and fitted into cradles prior to being taken through the CT scanner.  Once they have been scanned they are left quietly to recover from the sedative before being returned to the fields that they recognise and call home.

The final results are anticipated in the next few weeks and will predict

• Carcass tissue weights and %
• Killing out %
• Muscle to bone ratio
• Muscle to fat ratio
• Gigot shape and eye muscle area

The Rams taken were

PPK1400385 view at BASCO Search
PPK1400391 view at BASCO Search
PPK1400395 view at BASCO Search
PPK1400397 view at BASCO Search
PPK1400403 view at BASCO Search
PPK1400406 view at BASCO Search
PPK1400417 view at BASCO Search
PPK1400419 view at BASCO Search
PPK1400423 view at BASCO Search
PPK1400440 view at BASCO Search
PPK1400444 view at BASCO Search

Please visit the “Sheep for Sale” page as this has been updated today with details of 51 Shearling Rams, Shearling Ewes and Aged Ewes that we currently have for sale.

If you are looking for Ram Lambs or Ewe Lambs please call as these will not be listed until later in the month.

Likewise if you are looking for something specific that is not listed please call as we could still be able to help.

Our preference is to sell direct from Farm as you can visit at your convenience, view the stock and our farming system to gain a valuable insight into how we produce our breeding stock.

So here’s my attempt to refresh the old website.

Not wishing to reinvent the wheel I chose to use WordPress and accept a vertical learning curve trying to customise it!

I hope as the months go by that I can continue to refine the site, let me know if there are any bits you would like to see that are missing!

The Kimbolton Flock looks well positioned with its 2014 lamb crop following the release of the results from the first run of the National Texel Breeding Evaluation.

Out of 115 lambs the average terminal sire index is 379 which is a result comfortably in the top 1% of the breed. In fact there were only two lambs outside the top 5%.

Included within these results are the 1st, 6th and 10th placed Ewe lambs plus the 4th, 5th and 7th placed Ram lambs.

Ultrasound scanning is set to take place in July which will provide additional data points and input into the next data run. This will have the effect of increasing the accuracy of the information as the initial run is based on parental data and also the birth and eight week weight data.

Whilst these results are very encouraging there is a long way to go before these animals mature and can breed. Like the financial markets their index can go down as well as up (or stay the same) but its a good starting point. Some sun and continued grass growth would be appreciated to help things along!

The second sale will take place on Monday 8th September 2014 at 17.00.

Email invitations have been extended to other performance recorders to participate and currently 70 sheep from 10 Flocks have been pre-entered.

Whilst formal entry forms will not be sent out until July, to assist in planning, priority will be given to pre-entries notified on a first come first served basis.

If you would like to participate or receive a catalogue please let me know.

Sale Flyer

Paul Phillips has joined the PRT Committee for the Texel Sheep Society serving a term until 2016. He will be joining Arnold Park (Drinkstone) and Aubrey Andrews (Miserden) under the Chairmanship of Peter Sutton (Colwood and High Weald).

Paul said “I was honoured to be nominated for this role and will strive to support and expand the number of PRT members. 2014 is the 40th anniversary year of the Society and this will provide a great opportunity to both look back and reflect, as well as to look forward and understand the genomic  opportunities that are developing.”

Below is a copy of the manifesto submitted with the nomination

Manifesto