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East Friesians are the Holsteins of the sheep world—they are the world's
highest producing dairy sheep that produce up to 4-5 times as much milk
as non-dairy sheep. They are a prolific, medium to large
sized sheep with calm dispositions and relative low hardiness.
Friesian breeders generally emphasize milk production over all other
characteristics. Consequently, purebred Friesians are a
poor choice for commercial lamb production. However, when used in a
cross-breeding system, the value of Friesians is tremendous.
In many flocks, the birth of triplets is viewed with skepticism and
anxiety - many people feel that if the triplet lives it will probably
need to be bottle fed. Even if it doesn't need to be bottle fed,
it will probably be a 'runt'. It need not be this way! What holds
the triplet back? It is lack of milk. Traditional breeds
only produce around 200-300 lbs of milk per lactation, which is enough
for two lambs. Friesians, on the other hand, produce around
700-1000 lbs of milk per lactation. Adding only 25% Friesian blood
to an ewe can double her milk production - that is the strength of the
Friesian to the commercial producer.
Many people I talk to are concerned about mastitis when it comes to
Friesian cross ewes. It is a legitimate concern, but I have not
found any higher incidence of mastitis between my purebred Polypays and
Friesian cross ewes. I believe the controlling factor is how many
lambs she has - triplets do stress udders more than twins. Of
course, it
always pays to have a mastitis control program in place.
For me, this includes good hygiene (clean pens) and proper weaning
provisions.
Performance data of my higher percentage ewes (3/8 -1/2 Friesian):
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Mature ewes average about 190 lbs.
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Mature ewe birth rates are 241% with 85% being weaned by the ewe
(2006 -2009 average - my first higher percentage ewes were born in
2004)
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Ewe lambs birth rates are 184%, with 87% being weaned by the ewe
(2005 - 2009 average)
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Average service life: too early to tell, but probably around 3
years.
NEW for 2010: I bought a new
purebred Friesian ram lamb, his dam's stats:
The optimal amount of Friesian breeding is still something I am working
on. I am currently of the opinion that about 25% is ideal.
In 2007, I started a group of approximately 25% Friesian x Polypay ewes.
I will monitor and publish the performance of this cross over the next 5
years. Preliminary results have been encouraging: 10 ewe lambs
weaning 15 lambs and (3) 2-year olds weaning 6 lambs. In the 2010
crop we should start to see the full potential of the cross as the first
3 ewes move into their third lambing.
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