finnsheep.com

australia finn sheep finnsheep finnish landrace sheep east friesian sheep finn merino soft rolling skins SRS

WORLD'S MOST PRODUCTIVE AND PROFITABLE SHEEP
RESEARCH PROVEN 265% FERTILITY (LAMBS WEANED/EWE JOINED)
All the facts, research evidence, crossbreeding advice, endorsements and where to purchase them...

We are Australia's oldest and largest Finnish Landrace stud (flock established 1981)
supplying breeding stock nationwide and internationally.
(Contact information at bottom of page - Phone: Australia 51223328)

LAMB TONNES PER HECTARE: Even during the 2006 drought we produced over one tonne of lambs (liveweight) per hectare. (Approx 10 lambs per acre @ one lambing per ewe per year). Such is the productivity of Finn crosses on good country. On irrigation and lambing twice per year or three times per two years producers should be able to achieve nearly two tonnes per hectare liveweight or nearly one tonne carcass weight per hectare. At $4.50 per kilogram this works out at $4,500 per hectare per year! Our advice: give Finnsheep a try!

THE DROUGHT: We came through the drought with our ewe flock intact thanks to the doing ability of the sheep, having nearly adequate stored feed (though our 2006 hay/silage season was abysmal), implementing a small irrigation project, planting a summer crop (Millet/Annual Rye) and gaining access to a spare paddock across the road. Of course sales were not as good as usual as few people could buy breeding stock because of the drought, so unfortunately some of our ewe lambs were sold to slaughter at reasonable prices - but it was a pity to lose their potential. The drought ended here on 28th February as predicted by one of the long-range weather forecasters after pretty much zero rain for months. The sheep have been doing well ever since.

IMAGES: Check out our new Images page for more pix of Finns and Finncrosses than you can poke a stick at!

BUY: Our 2007 Finn-Texel ewe lambs now for $110 each. Approx 300 available. Orders taken on payment of 25% deposit. November delivery.

DELIVERY: We can arrange delivery anywhere for example to Central NSW or Tasmania add approx $50 per sheep, to Western Australia add approx $150 per sheep. Ask for a quote as numbers will affect freight cost, eg to freight 200 sheep to Central NSW may cost less than $10 per head.

TRIALS: A trial conducted at Kirra South Australia reported:
“Maiden Merino/ Finn cross ewes mated to a Texel sire lambed 180% lambs born mid October, weaned 160% lambs at 14 weeks of age. At weaning each lamb averaged 37.3 kg or each ewe weaned 61.2 kg of lamb”.

SURVEY: A Quote from a Survey of users producing 1st X lambs using Finn Sires
"we sold approximately 160 Finn/Merino wether lambs at the same time we were marketing the standard 1 st cross wethers (BL/M). The Finn cross were almost a month younger and the carcase weights were almost identical to the BL lambs. They were definitely leaner. The Finn cross carcases stood out against the BL sired carcases because they were very smoothly skinned. The muscle pattern and finishing ability of the Finn cross is quite satisfactory. Slightly more length of leg in the carcase but there were no deductions for the Finn cross in comparison with the BL sired first cross lambs."

EXPORTS: 2005 again saw exports of embryos to China and South America where there is increasing interest in our unique genetics. We again sold significant consignments of sheep interstate especially to Western Australia, Tasmania, Queensland and New South Wales. Client feedback indicates that our genetics are having an amazing effect on the nation's sheep flock. Farmers continue to report improvements in size of sheep, conformation, doing ability, six monthly shearing intervals, twinning, better milking and mothering etc.

LONG WOOLS: We have now successfully developed long wool Finns with fleece lengths (@ one year old) of up to one foot (30 cm) at @25 micron or less with thin, soft rolling skins (SRS) and typically able to raise triplets and quads. These genetics continue to be eagerly sought by the Merino industry in Australia to improve that breed and produce a Finn-Merino hybrid which produces two cuts of 5kg plus per year of fine wool and two good lambs per lambing.

In 2004 clients sold this type of Finn-Merino lambs' wool @ $5.50-kg off five months' old lambs as compared with their adult Merino wool at $7-8/kg. These producers observed that the length of their lambs' wool assured them that they could achieve two shearings per year as stated above. (Their breeding objective is to achieve two cuts of 8 kg per year and at least two lambs raised each lambing!).

In a normal year such sheep offer the prospect of $80-100 of wool and $150-200 worth of lambs giving return per ewe to $300 per year or better. On irrigation a well-managed flock might achieve two lambings per calendar year. A small flock of such ewes (1,000) has the prospect of grossing $300,000 per annum from a single lambing and can be run on less than 100 hectares of good land in South-Eastern Australia, land which could cost itself less than $600,000! These genetics are really on track to return profitability to the sheep industry in Australia.

Originally from Scandinavia the Finn is a relative newcomer to New Zealand and Australia, the first animals from selected flocks becoming available only in the 1980s. There have been at least four importations, and we are the only breeders with genetics from all of them. We are also the largest Finnish Landrace breeders in Australia, and are commercial sheepbreeders. Because of this we have been able to make considerable improvements to both Finnsheep and East Friesians and we note that our sheep are topping Department of Agriculture research showing that ours are the most productive sheep of all breeds used for crossbreeding in the prime lamb industry in Australia. (See: MATERNAL CENTRAL PROGENY TEST )

Our finnsheep are reasonably large (ewes usually around 70 kg to 90 kg). They are fast-growing, lean (fat is carried internally) medium-fine (22-28u) longwool sheep which can be shorn twice yearly. They have high fertility and research proven fecundity of at least 265% and outstanding mothering and milking characteristics. Our average sheep have normally been raised by their dams as triplets or quads in the paddock without supplements!

Finnsheep are an old breed having been in Finnland for over a thousand years. Because Finnland is mainly within the Arctic circle it is only above zero Celsius at night for about two months per year. Therefore the Finns have developed a number of 'landraces' which will produce the maximum offspring from the minimum of animals overwintering. People might remember the impact that the Landrace Pig had on that industry during the sixties where annual productivity was more than doubled by the infusion of its superior genetics. We expect that the introduction of Finnish Landrace sheep genetics into the prime lamb industry will have a similar impact over the next 10 years.

Finnsheep are not normally shedded or lot fed in Finnland and they are mostly browsers gaining most of their sustenance from the leaves of evergreen trees. Supplementary feed is mainly cabbage. They are a hardy race of sheep and will survive quite extreme conditions providing there is something to eat. Our own experience during the drought of the last five years is that no Finns died whereas quite a number of Border Leicesters in the same paddock did. While the Borders stood in the middle of the paddock starving and waiting for the next non-existent blade of clover to grow, the Finns were down in the bracken and dogwood, eating the dead leaves from under the gums and generally 'doing'.

Whereas the 100+ Borders raised less than one lamb each during the drought, the Finns raised twins or triplets in the same paddock! The only supplements we have given the sheep was ad lib access to fair quality hay and lately Olsson's stockblocks which have been magic! Our clients report that their Finncrosses have inherited this hardiness, but of course to maximise productivity it is more desirable to feed the sheep better. Our Borders have now all been culled.

ROLE: The Finns' role in Australia is in crossbreeding to produce elite lamb, as a milking strain and generally to improve other breeds with an infusion of Finn genetics. Our sheepmilking clients report that their Fincrosses are the only sheep they have which milk right through from early Spring to later Autumn.

A 25% infusion of Finn genes results in an increased lamb drop of 30% plus. Half-Finn animals drop 50% plus more lambs whose survival and growth rate is 15-25% better than that of traditional sheep.

FAT: Our pure Finns are very lean, in fact leaner than the Texel on the outside, and have fair eye muscle depth. Fat score is generally around 2 - there is a marked tendency to build up fat deposits internally. Our Finncrosses are as a consequence leaner than traditional crosses (usually 3-4) and more likely to store fat internally. This is a big saving to the works.

FERTILITY: The Finn ewe is sexually precocious (Finn ewes and rams will successfully mate from around four months of age!) and has a longer breeding season than traditional breeds - Finn-Merino hoggets usually produce 100-140% lambing! We have many clients with flocks of over 500+ adult ewes which have averaged around 200%. One client Michael James from Tasmania sold 210% Dorset lambs from his Finn-Merinos from 1997 to 2000 compared to 120% from his traditional first-cross ewes and achieved $1 more each for the Finncrosses! This client has also regularly lambed twice in one calendar year, six months apart and raised spectacular averages both times (210% in Spring and 100% plus in Autumn - 300% plus per calendar year! Of course this requires excellent sheep management and pasture.

Three lambings per 24 months which is still 300% per annum are easier, and routine in some flocks but some Finn-crosses such as the Polypay in the USA are being lambed twice every calendar year and their best ewes are producing 600% per year - again this is a quality derived from the Finn breed. This may be the future for the Australian prime lamb industry too, (See: FINNSHEEP LINKS ).

RAMS: The pure Finn ram is extremely fertile - able to cover up to 200 ewes - and will mate successfully at a very early age (close to three months!). Six month old rams can join 100 ewes if carefully managed. Giving mature rams 50-100 ewes would be more normal management. You don't want to kill him! These rams will produce first-cross ewes whose lambings average aound 200%. The same equally applies to other composites we produce (eg Finn-Texels) because we only sell rams who were triplets or quads. You can pretty much dial up the fertility you want from your prime lamb dams by using Finn genetics, eg by breeding Finncross rams to your specifications.

GROWTH: Finn cross growth is exceptional: 11 month olds have been weighed at 95 kilos! The progeny of our Finn ram No.96.85 have topped growth at Hamilton Research Centre in 1999 with lambs at 35kg at weaning (better than Border Leicesters, East Friesians, & etc)- and this was in a very ordinary season.(See: MATERNAL CENTRAL PROGENY TEST )

Purebred Finns and crossbreeds produced with Romneys and Coopworths have shown Suffolk growth rates - but with extraordinary leanness - especially their Texel cross lambs have been consistent carcass competition winners. Three quarter Texel lambs from Finn-Texel ewes have won many carcass competition in Victoria for the past six years.

PRIDE: First and foremost you can continue to feel pride that you are producing at least medium finewool sheep. It is also nice to know that you have the most productive sheep in the world.

MORE LAMBS: The Finncross lamb is leaner and livelier. This means greater ease of lambing and less fox predation, thus lower lamb and ewe losses. (Our Australian research shows that our Finncross lambs have had the best survival rate compared with all other breeds - See: MATERNAL CENTRAL PROGENY TEST ). More importantly having lively lambs which get straight up and follow the dam trains the young ewe to be a better mother. Most importantly more live lambs means more profit!

A flock of sheep which averages 200% can be 1000% more profitable than a flock of sheep which averages 100%! This is because all the biggest farm costs (capital, equipment, etc) have already been paid for. (See: FINNSHEEP NEWSCLIPPINGS )

LAMBS: The value and demand for Finn-Merino ewes makes this a desirable option. Ewe lambs have been bringing as much as $100, and it is unlikely the market will be oversupplied for a decade. Heavyweight Finn-Merino wethers have also sold at over $100. Pelt prices have usually been higher for Finn-Merinos and may get much higher - pure Finn pelts are worth over $50 in Scandinavia and they would take hundreds of thousands! It may be that certain Finn cross lambs will bring nearly as much for their pelts as for their carcass. It is desirable to sell Finn cross wethers directly to the works because their reduced back fat can lead buyers to mistake them for stores. (See: FINNSHEEP QUOTES ) Let's face it though: two lambs at whatever price are going to be worth more than one!

In Australia the Finn-Merino is the prime lamb mother of the future. Below we see the Finn-Merino cross compared to the traditional first cross:

Border Leicester:     160-180%
Plus Merino:             90%
= First Cross Ewe:     125-135%

Finn:                        260%
Plus Merino:                90%
= Finn-Merino:         175% PLUS

In other words 1,000 ewes will produce at very least 400 more lambs. If an average price were $40 (net), this would mean an extra $16,000 plus per year! And we all know that prices lately have been much better than that and that the net on the second lamb is much greater than on the first! This represents an improvement in profitability of 250% plus - see FINNSHEEP NEWSCLIPPINGS . Of course if you have superior fertility Merino genetics (such as Keri Keri @ 140%) an infusion of Finnish Landrace genetics at say 25% (eg by crosing with one of our Finn-Merinos) should lift your Merino lambing by about 30% to around180% plus. On excellent feed such sheep should be able to be shorn twice per year. If you can select for four-titters, you will have unbeatable sheep. The Finn-Friesian-Merino and Finn-Texel-Merino are also shaping up as superior breeds.

WOOL

Various Finn crosses (eg Finn-Romneys) have cut 5-6 kilos of wool every 9 months. The Finn-Merino's generally under-25 micron wool has been attracting prices comparable to that of similar merinos and some breeders have achieved better prices.

Introducing the East Friesian sheep to Australian farmers. The sheep were in quarantine in New Zealand for three and one half years having been imported from Scandinavia, and have undergone compulsory rigorous testing for Scrapie, Johnes disease & etc. During this time they were crossed with a number of breeds and had their progress carefully monitored. At the end of that time an auction of surplus animals was held. Six-month old pure Friesian rams sold to $28,000, and various Friesian crosses to $3,500! This surely indicates the extent of the interest across the Tasman at the time, and should be a reasonable guide to the potential of the breed both as a milking strain and as a maternal breed in prime lamb production in Australia.

The East Friesian is a large sheep (ewes 85-95 kg unjoined) from the Dutch-German border where it is the basis of a sheep milking industry as the best may produce 500-600 litres of milk over a 210-230 day lactation. It is worth noting that most of the world's milking sheep have about 3/8ths Finn and 1/8th Friesian. In France Finn-Friesian crosses' milk is used to produce the famous Roquefort cheese, and Pecorino in Italy. Australia imports approximately $10 million worth of sheep milk products per year and some industry figures suggest there is an untapped export market of in excess of $50 million.

It has a fecundity of around 150+ and its lambs growth and leanness are spectacular. East-Friesian-Romney crosses in New Zealand grew at an average of 412 g per day for the first twelve days of life, and thereafter averaged 360 g per day to 7 weeks when they averaged 23.3 kg! Friesian cross lambs here have been excelling in growth and leanness in various studies. This was over 100 g per day greater than the traditional Border Leicester-Romney cross over there, a fact which augurs well for crossing them with Merinos here. There is a potential to utilise this growth by producing meat-Friesian cross rams for use as terminal sires, eg 75% Texel+ 25% Friesian are becoming popular in NZ

Our Finn-Friesians grew at nearly 500g per day for the first month of life and weighed 20-25 kg at 28 days, and 40-45 kg at 75 days! Only our Finns have done bettter than that.Our Finn ram No.96.85 was 47 kg at 75 days on straight pasture. His progeny outgrew all others at Hamilton in 1999.

They are very lean on the outside of the carcass (moreso than the Texel) with most of the body fat inside. This factor together with their growth rate makes them ideal for producing three types of lamb: beta lambs with a carcass weight of under 10 kg at 2-3 weeks, sucker lambs at 6-10 weeks and heavy weight lambs at over 25 kilos with very little fat.

Purebreds shore 4.5-5 kg of 37 micron white wool. They have a thin, bare tail similar to the Finn: in effect they are naturally mulesed . Finns and Friesians can pass this characteristic onto their stable crossbreeds with careful selection, thus eliminating the need for tail docking.

Our Finn-Friesians have the following characteristics: ewes to 90 kg; milk production in excess of 2 litres per day, wool @ 4.5 kg plus and approx 30 micron, super-lean carcass, extremely fast growing, fecundity about 250% with superior lamb survival rate. Nearly all our Finn-Friesians had three lambs or better and most raised them quite satisfactorily in the paddock. Indeed the average triplet at weaning was exactly the same weight as the average twin and above 25 kg!

We believe that a flock of Finn-Friesians would produce as well as an average flock of diary goats. We have many who have raised a total lamb weight of 80kg plus at weaning at 12 weeks on very ordinary pastures (we have been in drought for three years), and this represents a lot of milk! Mind you, our best Finn produced 105 kg of lamb in the same time!

This cross is currently dominating prime lamb production in Europe. This stable cross was first developed in the Netherlands and there called the New Hollander, (an appropriate name for Australia if there ever was one). It combines the best of the two parent breeds. From the Texel we get excellent muscling, hardiness, good growth, and a dense protective fleece. From the Finn comes fertility, growth, leanness, good mothering, excellent milking ability, hardiness and a softer fleece. Thousands of these sheep are producing 200% lambing also in New Zealand in rough hill country, and their lambs (produced by mating them back to Texel rams) meet the highest carcass standards. These sheep are as hardy as Perendales and Cheviots but produce more and better lambs. They are great sheep for tough conditions and may be the most efficient and productive prime lamb producers in the world. One New Zealand studmaster is selling 1500 rams per year; his rams alone joining 3%+ of all NZ sheep! (See Sheepak and One Stop Ram Shop in GIPPFINN FINNSHEEP NEWS )

We suggest using Finn-Texel (50:50 or25:50) over other Finncrosses (eg Finn-Merinos to grade them up to Finn-Texels. The best mix to aim for is probably about 37.5 Finn: 62.5 Texel. This cross's heavy weight lambs produced from a terminal ram (in New Zealand Suffolk-Oxford Down and Dorper cross rams are a rising choices) have to be seen to be believed...

The Finn has been the most studied sheep in the world over the last twenty years...

We include here excerpts from some studies done and indicate where these may be found. The unanimous conclusion of this huge body of research is that the Finnsheep is the most productive sheep in the world.

1. Maijala, K.A. Review of Experiences about the use of Finnsheep in improving fertility. Proc. 2nd World Congress Sheep and Beef Cattle Breeding , Pretoria, 16-19 April 1984. Eds Hofmeyer, J.H. & Meyer, EH, South African Studbook and Livestock Improvement Association, Bloemfontein. This is a summary of 120 studies on Finnsheep from 18 countries. "Finnsheep and their crosses were compared with approx 40 different breeds and their crosses." 80 studies here from the British Isles and USA for example showed that Finncrosses weaned an average of 167% more lambs per ewe joined than non-Finn sheep and their crosses . They were 141% more fertile (ie ewe lambing per ewe joined) yet their lamb survival was 105% & their weaning weights were 105% of other breeds.

2. Hofmeyr, JH, 1982 Implications of Experimental Results of Crossbreeding Sheep in the Republic of South Africa, Proc. World Congress Sheep & Cattle Breeding Vol 1, Technical, New Zealand, 28 October- 13 November 1980. Eds Barton RA, & Smith WC. Dunmore Press, Ltd Palmerston North, New Zealand. "In spite of having the lightest birth weight the Merino-Finn lambs grew comparatively faster than all other breeding groups....Merino-Finn wool was more like Merino than all of the other crossbred wools...The Finn-Merino crosses show favourable heterosis in fertility, early maturity, survival rate, and some fleece characteristics...Merino-Finns had the best crossbred carcasses both at first cross (yield 43.4%) & second cross (yield 57.8%)...Merino-Finns lambed @ 181.4% and Border Leicester-Merinos @137.2%... fertility in the Merino can be effectively increased in a first cross to a level which might be achieved after more than 50 years of selective breeding. "

3. A comparison of Dorset and Finnish Landrace crossbred ewes, Cochran KP, Notter DR, &McLaugherty FS, 1984, Journal of Animal Science Vol 59, p329. "Average total income/100 ewes lambing was higher for 1/2 Finns ($8996) than for 1/4 Finns ($8246) and Dorsets ($7144)...If an increase in lamb marketed/ewe joined is a primary goal in improving efficiency, the Finn is an excellent choice for the prolific ewe breed. Finn crossbred ewes have a higher reproductive rate and greater lifetime productivity such that an increase of 40% or more in number of lambs born ...seems to be a reasonable expectation.."

4. Lifetime meat production from six different F1 crossbred ewes, Greef JC, Roux CZ & Wyma GA South African Journal of Animal Science ,1990, Vol 2, p2. "The Finnish Landrace - Merino had the highest productivity owing to their exceptionally higher fecundity, and the higher mean survival rate of their lambs from birth to weaning...than the mean for other groups."

Many people are booking our sheep up a year or two in advance on a 25% deposit.
The rule is: get in early and don't be disappointed!

We usually have for sale Finn and Finn-Texel rams, but also make to order, for example: Finn-Merino, Finn-Friesian, Finn-Dorset, Friesian-Texel and a variety of three-way crosses, eg Finn-Friesian-Texel in a variety of combinations, as well as 25% Finn-75% Texel for grading up or as a meat sire, Texel-Dorsets, etc.

Many of our animals make excellent maternal sires for the prime lamb industry; some will be used as terminal sires and some will form the basis of a sheep milking industry where their progeny should more than double present average yields.

We also make a variety of ewes for sale: eg Finns, Finn-Friesians (popular as a milking strain), Finn-Texels, Finn-Friesian-Texels, 75% Texel- 25% Finn, Finn-Dorsets, etc...

We sell our sheep at normal commercial prices.
RAMS from $330.00. (Finn crosses) Finns: $440
EWES from $110.00 for Finn-cross weaner ewes. Finn ewes from $440. All prices include GST.

Clients need not worry that they will have to sell their farms to buy them. We would rather see them out there working than attracting the highest prices in the world. These are simply the best commercial sheep in Australia!

We can arrange delivery almost anywhere!
For example:
To Central NSW or Tasmania add approx $50 per sheep.
To Western Australia add approx $150 per sheep.

Ask us for a quote as numbers will affect freight cost - larger lots will be much, much cheaper.