Rare Breeds Featured In His Ram Catalog

Rare Breeds Featured In His Ram Catalog LIVESTOCK Sheep/Goats The Ram Catalog from Super Sire Ltd is a fast way to introduce new blood into your sheep flock or even start a new flock from an old breed The catalog offers semen from rams representing 42 breeds from the common Hampshire and Columbia to Isle De France and Rakka Vol 40 No 3 Rams included are from domestic as well as foreign flocks The one thing common to most of them is that Martin Dally has personally visited their farms and inspected the rams “We’ve brought in many different breeds and upgraded others ” says Dally founder of Super Sire Ltd “Karakuls were here but they hadn’t had any new genetics since 1954 Inbreeding was a problem And we imported the first Black Welsh Mountain sheep semen ” Sometimes once common breeds like the horned Dorsets need to be reinvigorated Dally recently visited New Zealand and Australia to locate Dorset flocks with characteristics desired by North American breeders Some breeds didn’t exist in North America before Dally brought them in One of these is the Gotland a Swedish breed “I fell in love with them and wanted to bring them in ” says Dally “The same with Kerry Hill ” About 70 percent of the time a new breed is someone else’s idea “They come to me and say ‘I love this breed Can you bring them in?’ ” says Dally Bringing them in means importing semen from an approved source and country Carefully selected ewes from a phenotypically similar breed are artificially inseminated using laparoscopic surgery Select F1s first generation are bred back to another ram from the breed This continues with each generation until the sheep meet the breed standards By this time a breed organization has usually become established Dally has personally been involved in establishing several breed organizations He was also a pioneer in laparoscopic AI for sheep in 1986 “I had been in university research in California and saw the need for new breeds ” says Dally “People would call me and I would go to where the breeds were and select rams ” The bureaucratic barriers such as handling protocols and disease concerns can be obstacles Two years ago he inspected and selected 18 rams from different breeds in Europe Semen from only 2 were ever imported due to a disease outbreak Changing uses for the breed can also affect availability When Dally first imported semen for Gotlands they were bred for garment pelts with finer fleece and tighter curls that fit the U S market for spinning wool In recent years the Swedes have bred for pelts with a broader curl and less fine fleece for the furniture market “We can select rams for growth rate and consistent coloring but then we will have to breed back in a finer fleece ” says Dally “It is part art and part science ” Dally can get as involved in the project as his clients wish from selecting the ram and arranging for the semen to be imported to selecting the ewes handling the breeding and advising through the entire process For those breeds that Super Sire already has semen for selecting the ram is as simple as going to the online catalog and clicking on the breed A photo of available rams appears with the cost per straw ram identification sire dam and a description However just because you see the ram and breed you are interested in doesn’t mean Dally will automatically sell it “I ask where they will raise them and if the area is environmentally suitable for the breed ” says Dally “Do they want a breed they can interact with? If so you don’t want a stand-offish breed ” Dally’s wife and partner Joy sums up the company’s approach “It’s not about selling semen ” she says “It is also about a good fit ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Super Sire Ltd 34503 Meridian Rd Lebanon Ore 97355 ph 541 258-2692 or 707 696-8472; supersireltd@yahoo com; www toprams com

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