BREEDING A NON-MULESED, FINE WOOL MERINO, WHILST CARING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
We run a self-replacing flock of non-mulesed Merino’s, with emphasis on good animal welfare and at the same time caring for the environment. We are growing a minimum 85mm staple length every 8 months and our long term goal is to reach that length every 6 months. We produce around 30,000kg of 16-20 micron, 80-95mm wool per year.
Our latest flock profile DNA results can be found on our news feed/twitter. We are currenly in the top 5% of the Industry Flock for low Early Breech Wrinkle, top 10% for Yearling Weight and top 15% for Yearling Staple Length.
We are members of the Schneider groups Authentico Integrity Scheme and also Fox and Lillie’s Genesys RWS Certification
Our Practices
In 2008 we decided to cease all mulesing. In response to this our lambs did much better and we saw increased growth rates after marking and overall health. We now also use a local anesthetic similar to what dentists use, to provide pain relief to lambs during docking and castrating. Our goal is to treat our animals as best we can in order to get the best return from them.
All livestock are treated with an annual 6 in 1.
We do our own sheep worm egg counts and drench accordingly. And also get blood tests done to analyse any mineral deficiencies.
A full history of treatments can be provided on each animal.
We have traditionally lambed in May-June, however we are trialing a switch to October-November lambing for a number of reasons including; less risk of the “Dermo” bacteria Dermatophilus congolensis transfering to the lambs as it needs moisture to transfer, and in the past this has been one of our bigger problems.
We hope that other improvements will include a higher lambing percentage, due to more natural mating time of June for ovulation and being on a rising plain of nutrition as the feed starts to grow, we won’t be feeding heavily pregnant ewes througout late summer and autumn as they will be dry during that time, and it will be more productive to supplement feed the lambs directly during this time.
We will keep striving to improve our flock by continuing to use high quality Rams selected on A.S.B.V.’s (Australian Sheep Breeding Values) to suit our needs. We also carefully class our replacement Ewe Lambs each year, using electronic ear tags and data analysis. Data we take includes a wool style visual score, measured wool length, fleece weight, visual dag score, and average daily weight gain post-weaning.
Farming and the Environment
We believe farming livestock doesn’t have to impact the environment in a negative way.
23% of Wallaby Run consists of Native bushland which we do not graze, it is left entirely to the native flora and fauna. Any new fences around bush or creek lines are designed to let kangaroos and wallabies pass through without damaging the fence or injuring themselves.
In the Adelaide Hills we have planted thousands of native trees & shrubs, and have fenced off 30ha of water ways/gullies. We also have a fenced off 30ha bush block, which is one of the few remaining natural areas in the eastern Adelaide Hills. We often receive visits from various government, university, and private organisations to view and monitor the rare flora on the block. Both properties are home to thousands of native birds, animals and reptiles which are all fully protected.
Highland and Beef Cattle
We run Murray Grey Cross beef cattle at Mt Beevor Springs, our main calving time starts in March. With calves being ready for sale end of the year.
Another fairly recent addition to Atkinson Livestock is our Highland Cattle Fold “Clover Ridge Highlands”. For all information on this please contact Tarlee.
