While many of the country’s hill/mountain and commonage areas are similar in appearance, there are distinct differences between regions. For example, some areas are significantly more productive than others and are capable of sustaining higher stocking rates or larger-sized sheep, while others have harsher winters. These environmental characteristics have, over many generations, influenced and shaped the breed of sheep most suited to individual areas.
While many of the country’s hill/mountain and commonage areas are similar in appearance, there are distinct differences between regions. For example, some areas are significantly more productive than others and are capable of sustaining higher stocking rates or larger-sized sheep, while others have harsher winters.
These environmental characteristics have, over many generations, influenced and shaped the breed of sheep most suited to individual areas.
Changes to farming practices, through striving for higher performance, policy changes (incentivised and forced), and shifting market dynamics, have also in recent years had a pivotal role to play in determining flock breeding programmes.
While many of these alterations have improved flock performance, a potential downside in the absence of a planned breeding programme is loss of a breed’s unique characteristics or dilution of its genetics.
Protecting the breed
The Mayo Connemara Sheep Society has taken steps to guarantee the survival of their breed. Society members Martin Joe Kerrigan and Micheál O’Neill explain that farmers in the group moved to form the society in response to higher levels of crossbreeding and fear that the Mayo Connemara sheep would lose some of its natural characteristics or reduce its gene pool to critical levels.
“We didn’t want to end up in a situation where we might lose the best survivors and end up with sheep that may not perform or last on our hills,” said Martin Joe.
However, this is not to say that the breed is standing still. Martin Joe says that the group is still very much focused on continuous improvement within the breed.
“There is room to improve within every breed, if you record performance and continually select the top-performing animals with the characteristics you want. This will filter down across all sheep.”
There is also a level of crossbreeding taking place on farms which serves to quantify the strengths and weaknesses of ewes when sired to other hill and lowland breeds.
Database development
The starting point for the group was to develop a database of breeders and their animals. According to Micheál O’Neill, who farms in Derryveeney, Tourmakeady, Mayo, and also works regionally with Sheep Ireland, this database has expanded significantly since its formation and has now 79 breeders with 6,600 sheep recorded.
Breeders span right across Connemara and Mayo, with distinct characteristics varying from region to region depending on the environment or farmer preference.
“Some farmers like a smaller type of ewe or in some regions ewes with more black in their wool are more common. Irrespective of physical appearance, you can still tell they have the characteristics of Mayo Connemara sheep.
“When I started farming 17 years ago, no sheep on the farm had black heads and most had brockagh heads (speckled or black and white). I used black, clean-headed rams and through selection, 99% of my ewes now have a clean black head. The few brockagh-type sheep I have are still every bit as characteristic as the Mayo Connemara. It’s just a preference I had on the type of sheep I most wanted”, said Martin.
Performance recording
The breed society is working progressively with Sheep Ireland and Teagasc to carry out performance recording and develop €uroStar ratings for breeding rams and ewes. As well as farmers operating in the Sheep Ireland LambPlus Programme, there are six flocks, including Martin Joe’s, recording through MALP West or the West of Ireland Maternal Lamb Producer programme.
In MALP, the performance of all ewes, rams and their progeny is collected with a particular focus on assessing the maternal performance. This gives genetic evaluations greater accuracy and also helps to build better linkages between particular breed lines.
When visiting Martin Joe’s farm last week, breeding records were being collected. This included details of ewe and ram groups for single-sire mating and the liveweight of ewes, ewe lambs and rams on the farm.
Martin Joe joined the MALP scheme in 2007, and now has close to 10 years recording of his flock available.
He says new technologies such as electronic reading are facilitating faster and more accurate data recording and should hopefully see more hill flock recording at farm level, which will allow breeding decisions to be made with even greater accuracy. He adds that the requirement through STAP to purchase performance-recorded rams has also been a great incentive and payback to producers to encourage greater uptake.
Commenting on the workload involved, he says: “Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of work involved, but I can see the benefit of it more and more and any work involved is more than compensated for by the benefits. Last year, for example, I had what I thought was a fantastic-looking ram. He had size, power and all the characteristics I wanted. If I hadn’t been recording, I would probably have been biased and put all the good lambs down as being born to him. Single-sire mating, birth recording and performance of his progeny in early life gave a true reflection of his lower-than-predicted breeding potential.”
Every lamb born is weighed and electronically tagged within the first 24 hours of life, with tag numbers correlated to their dam. “At first it was an extra job to do, but I now do it as part of checking if lambs are ok. I had always used spray marking to link lambs with their mothers, so it is not actually too much more work. My son Martin and my daughters are a great help and I find the quicker you do it after birth the easier it is. Lambs are weighed again at 40 days of age and at weaning.
Best years on record
Martin Joe says the last 18 months have been among the best he remembers in farming. Ewes were in better condition at mating and lambing, a fact he says is critical for preventing lambing issues in hill ewes.
Breeding performance has also been very favourable, with most ewes mated inside two weeks. Breeding began on 13 November, with ewes predicted to lamb from 8 April onwards. Rams will be left with ewes for about four and a half weeks, with preference for a tight lambing spread.
The favourable grass growth has allowed all breeding to take place on 22 acres of foothills for the first time. Once breeding is finished, the 200-ewe flock will return to the enclosed hill ground of approximately 320 acres.
Ewes will remain on the hill until scanning, which takes place around 20 February. At that stage, twin lambing ewes will be retained on a lower hill area and start to receive a small level of meal feeding.
Martin Joe says the number of twin-bearing ewes has increased in the last three years, partly due to ewe numbers easing back by about 30 head and improving ewe condition and forage supplies.
If required, single-bearing ewes in poor body condition are also retained and grouped with twin bearing ewes for preferential treatment. All single-bearing ewes are brought down from the hill on 5 April and are stocked in one paddock that is used as a sacrifice paddock for lambing.
Ewes can be supplemented earlier in a bad year on a lower section of the hill (still have access to mountain grazing) with hay and feed buckets if required and this is continued when ewes are brought off the hill.
Post-lambing
management
Twin and any triplet-bearing ewes are lambed indoors and released to grass paddocks on the foothills immediately after lambing. Fertilizer is applied to this area in late February, weather permitting, to help build a fresh supply of grass.
Twin suckling ewes and any ewes in very poor body condition are grazed rotationally (moved every 10 days to two weeks) from lambing through to mid-July when ewes are shorn and twin lambs are weaned.
Ewes are returned to the mountain with single ewes and their lambs and given longer to recover before the following year’s breeding. Single-bearing ewes are weaned at the end of August/start of September, depending on weather and forage supplies.
2014-born lambs also benefited from the good grass growth. The majority of wether lambs (castrated before seven days of age) are sold as stores in August/September and this year sold for an average of €47 to €50 for lambs weighing 25kg to 28kg.
About 40 of the heavier wether lambs are finished and marketed through the Connemara Hill Lamb group. Martin Joe says the fact that lambs were in improved condition this year allowed lambs to be finished on ad-lib meals in six weeks, while in other years it has taken up to €30 of meal to get lambs ready for slaughter.
“This year it would have paid to feed lambs with lambs more than 50% on the way to finishing when feeding started. Lambs need to have average flesh cover and be above 30kg liveweight to have any chance of making a margin from meal feeding.”
Marketing ewe lambs
About 40 ewe lambs are retained as replacements each year. Martin Joe comments that the longevity of ewes could potentially reduce this number, but explains that retaining higher numbers maintains a young flock and allows five- and six-year-old ewes to be sold at satisfactory prices for further breeding.
The top pick of ewe lambs are marketed through the Mayo Blackface sales which take place in Ballinrobe. Martin Joe comments that farmers in the Mayo Blackface, Mayo Mule and Greyface and Mayo Connemara Sheep society deserve great praise for the foresight to develop and market targeted breeding sales.
As well as raising the profile of the breeds, he says the work carried out by the breed societies, Teagasc and Sheep Ireland is also helping to capture and attract the interest of younger members. He says this, along with sensible policy decisions, will be critical in ensuring continued survival of breeds and farming in hill and mountain areas.
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