Quantifying and understanding the reproductive performance of Australia’s shedding sheep flock
The University of Adelaide is leading a five-year, MLA funded project to quantify the reproductive performance of Australia’s shedding sheep flock, and establish when and why reproductive wastage occurs. Reproduction specialists working alongside industry consultants with considerable experience of shedding sheep production systems (including Tim Gole and Anne Collins), will seek to identify management options which improve weaning rates, and ultimately demonstrate these management practices on farm.
We are seeking collaborating producers across Australia to be involved in this project, with representation from different system types, regions/environments and breeds. If you are running a shedding sheep flock with at least 200 breeding ewes, please register your interest by completing the questions in our short survey: https://forms.gle/FBJ615dqZPhWmn798 Note: All responses will remain confidential. We will be selecting a number of properties based on the answers provided. Your options for project involvement are either a core site or self-reporting site.
- Core sites must be able to record individual ewe data, implement controlled joining strategies and be prepared to pregnancy scan for fetal number. Core sites will have direct involvement with the project team who will interact closely with you and your flock to facilitate data collection and discuss factors impacting reproduction in your system.
- Self-reporting sites are those who are willing to contribute reproductive data towards the project, either at an individual or flock level. As a self-reporting site, you are expected to keep reasonable performance data records and will have some contact with the project team with regards to managing your system.
- Alternatively, if you just want to find out more or stay informed, please fill out the attached survey so we can keep you in the loop. This is a good option if you are happy to provide survey-based information throughout the project, too.
Thank you, we look forward to working with you.