Australia’s Foundation Finnsheep Flock
The First and Finest Finnsheep Flock
Five Finnsheep Importations
Pure Finnsheep or Finnish Landrace Sheep
Australia’s only genuine longwool Finns
Flock Est. 1981
Fifteen years earlier than any other.
Just some of our Finn-Texel
(mostly), Finn and Finn-Merino ewes
on our Hazelwood
Flats property - led by our old Maremma, Brandy
We have
the World’s Most Productive Sheep – Research proven 265% fertility
(lambs weaned per ewe joined). The sheep which lambs in litters. Our Finnsheep are quite simply among the world’s
best sheep. Finnsheep are the world’s most fertile sheep and one of the
world’s few fine longwool breeds. Our pure Finns normally have triplets
or quads and 6”+ long under 25 micron wool plus many other desirable
features. Crossing with them will boost your lambing percentage by 50-100% and
improve your crossbred wool, as well as perhaps making it long enough so you
can shear twice per year. Order yours today. Read more below.
(Contact information below - Phone: Australia
0351223328/0427041253 AH)
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LATEST NEWS & FOR
Finn ewe and ram lambs available by
order for December delivery. All our
2023 ewe lambs, stud ram lambs plus cast-for-age ewes have gone to new homes
already. As usual we have created nearly a dozen new flocks this year.
Contact Steve or Della on
0427041253 or email stevendella@finnsheep.com
Over the last three years we have
established dozens of new Finnsheep flocks. These are all commercial flocks.
Finn
ewe and ram lambs for sale by order (25% deposit) from our 2024 lamb drop (for
approx December delivery). All sheep $550 each. We have taken orders already -
you need to get in quickly now or miss out (again) this year.
As an indication all our lambs
were pre-sold in 2018, 2019 & 2020 before they were born. We took orders
(and deposits) for nearly all (projected) 2021 drop lambs at joining. 2022
& 2023 were similar. If you are thinking you should buy some of our Finns
in 2024 to improve your sheep flock, you should contact us now.
For
years our lambs have been pre-ordered up to a year in advance. They are in very
short supply.
For
decades we owned thousands of sheep but we can only create a small number of
new flocks per year of this unique breed now that we are retired to a smaller
farm (30 rough acres where we can only run around 100 sheep).
We
usually sell groups of approx ten sheep (eg up to 6 ewes + 4 rams) to satisfy
the most customers and create new flocks with a reasonable spread of genetics.
Such a combination also allows people to’grade up’ from flocks of
other breeds. Last year’s lambs went as far afield as Qld, NSW, Tas, WA,
SA - & of course, Vic.
It
is extraordinary how quickly those six ewes will turn into a larger flock. Just
breeding pure Finns you should expect twins from the ewes (if they are well
grown) at one year’s old, so that after one year you should have a dozen
pure Finn ewes. After two years you should have well over two dozen – and
so on. We know this from past experience and customer feedback. The original
four rams (and ewes) should last over ten years, so you will be able to create
multiple ‘lines’ of sheep.
We
have had several ewes who were still productive (in paddock conditions) at
fifteen years old!
Finn
sheep are an extremely hardy ancient breed which produce a very high proportion
of triplets and quads so their fertility is over 250%. Parkdale Merino stud
(20,000 Finncrosses) and many others have told me that the Finncrosses survive
and ‘do’ better in harsh conditions than any sheep they have
encountered – even West of Bourke! That is our experience too.
We
have owned pure Finn ewes who produced a lifetime record of 40+ lambs in paddock
conditions. Our Finnsheep will produce crosses which lamb at 200% and produce
superior wool. Finns are a short-tailed sheep which do not require tail
docking.Their crosses also eliminate wrinkle and the need for mulesing. You can
selectively breed Finncrosses to eliminate tail docking as well. We have.
Our
sheep are very long-lived - with the extended productivity that brings. It is
quite normal for us to have ten year-old ewes with sound mouths who still raise
multiple lambs. One group of ewes we sold in 2000 were all still alive and
lambing 20 years later (albeit on soft feed).
We
are
Here
in Australia our sheep have produced millions of Finn-Merino (and other
crosses) whose owners (flocks of 3,000+) are selling on average 185 % lambs to
market from them - plus improved wool often cut twice per year. Our Finns are
used in many different composite breeds all over the world.
Sheep
which produce twins are 1000% more profitable than sheep which have only
singles. All the costs are in that first lamb, but all the profits are in the
second.
30-07-2023:
The first two lambs for 2023 this morning.These two were only twins, but good
solid ones. Many more will be triplets and quads giving an average fecundity of
around 265%. None will be singles. We still have a few lambs available for
ordering for December delivery from the current drop.
Many
are triplets though:
Enjoying
the afternoon sunshine:
Quads are quite common – say 5-10%. Very very
rare: Finn ewe with Finn-Texel quintuplets (approx 1 day old – 13kg+ of
lambs) – in the paddock next to the race (for shelter).
About Our Sheep:
All our Finnsheep are from both
multi-generation sire and dam lines which have been raised unassisted at least
triplets in paddock conditions with just rough hill feed.
All our sheep live outside on very average
pasture alone all year round, lamb and raise their lambs without assistance
there with almost no shelter on very wet, windswept hillsides where it is often
sub-zero and snows in winter.
For over fifty years we have never kept a sheep
of any breed which wasn’t (at least) a twin and didn’t raise (at
least) twins.
For several decades we have been selling
hundreds of pure Finnsheep and closer to a thousand finncross ewes every year.
We are fifth generation Australian farmers. Our
Finn flock is over forty years old. That is fifteen-twenty years older than any
other flock!
We have five importations of Finn genetics.
Others have only one.
We are the only breeders who have the true
longwool Finnish Landrace. Our sheep grow 6-12” of < 25 micron wool.
Note: All
our sheep are pure white. Some other people have coloured sheep which flies in
the face of over two centuries of careful professional Australian sheep
breeding practice.
Coloured sheep and the like undesirable
features (undershot, cow hocks, devil’s grip etc) are always culls. We do
not have any such faults in our flock. We have culled heavily for over forty
years to eliminate all defects and inadequacies.
We never bottle rear; neither do we feed
concentrates. Some people actually shed their sheep during and after lambing.
Such people just don’t know what a sharp knife is for! All such practices
only create sheep which are unfit for purpose.
Even after forty years of owning Finnsheep we
still ‘chop’ some every year. We would not sell anything that we
did not think was the best.
We believe instead that your best sheep never
dies, but the worst ones need to!
Unless they sourced them from us, the
‘Finnsheep’ others have are probably not pure Finnish Landrace
sheep. Ask us first.
NB: This Finn
lamb’s 6” Fleece at exactly three months of age. Ram lamb
Number 2020-067 born 14/08/2020; Photograph 17/11/2020. The Micro Leatherman
tool is exactly 6 cm (2 ½” long). Nearly 6” (15 cm) of wool! We
sold this ram as he was not the best!
One year old Finnsheep ewe (2019-540)
with twelve months growth of 12”/30cm long wool. Photograph 17/11/2020. This ewe bore four lambs at
exactly one year old and raised three of them in the paddock by herself. One
died trapped between a fence and a tree. Within five years the whole flock will
be equal to that, and hopefully milking on all four teats. Those are our
breeding goals.
SRS (Soft Rolling Skin Merinos): This ‘breed’ was
created (from our sheep) mainly under the aegis of the late famous sheep
geneticist Jim Watts and his protégé, the late Patrick (Paddy) Brosnan using
specially selected (by Paddy) mainly UNSW derived Finns from our flock. He had
examined every Finnsheep in
These
two men were true geniuses of the Australian sheep industry and are sadly
missed, particularly Paddy who was so young. The UNSW Finns were previously
managed for the UNSW by Prof Graham Epplestone who also developed the White
We
already had some longwool type Finns and had been selling to the industry for
nearly ten years when Paddy organised the purchase of the sheep on behalf of a
consortium of approx 60 breeders who then went on to conduct 1500 ETs and 5000
AIs in just their first year of operation with them (2001-2). They aimed to
eradicate wrinkle and mulesing and to create sheep which could be shorn twice
per year – as well (of course) as increasing lambing percentages.
All
these aims were handsomely achieved. SRS merinos are today achieving lambing
percentages of over 130%. We are proud that most SRS sheep today have this
continuing percentage of our Finnsheep in their genetic makeup. There are now
(2023) over 1200 SRS Merino studs in Australia (eg the Parkdale Stud with approx 20,000+ of
them and Keri-Keri Merinos -
similar) meaning there are well over a million sheep which derive perhaps 25%
of their genetics from those sheep we sold to Paddy – eg ram Number
2001.012 - (and to Ken Duxson and his partners – eight ewes) back in 2001
- and others sold to individual farmers! More about SRS here: https://srsgenetics.com.au/
Short-tailed
Merino ewes (1/4 Finn) at Parkdale. Note also the erect (Finn-type) head
posture allowing the sheep access to a wider range of feed:
Of
course we have sold thousands of other Finns and Finncrosses into the industry
over the last twenty years as well, so that a significant proportion of the
sheep in
Paddy’s
2001 ram lamb (christened ‘Mini-Finn’ by its new owners – he
was only a 6 month old lamb), was a quad; his father was too - and his mother
was a triplet. Paddy told me he had a measured skin thicknesss of .28 of a millimetre!
This thin skin is one of the key bases of the SRS ‘revolution’.
That and the way the wool grows from it in ‘fibre bundles’.
Paddy
was kind enough to identify (for us) and leave us with what he considered the
very best sheep (when he could have taken the best - for all we knew). We kept
this guy’s siblings, after all! He also advised us how to breed the sheep
so as to improve them further - which we have done.
We
looked forward to working with him on this project for many years, but alas, it
was not to be as he was tragically taken too young. However, all that was over
twenty years ago now, and we have made considerable progress on our own with
improving our sheep still further so that we are convinced today that an
infusion of our Finn genes into your merinos will improve them even more than
the SRS team were able to do. Every year there is a bevy of breeders who agree
– and order early!
For
example, we have had this sort of feedback from prominent merino breeders: that
they were ‘stuck’ with great sheep which they struggled to improve
further for 50+ years - until they introduced our Finn genes. Then they saw
(what they perceived as a well-nigh miraculous) increase in the size of their
sheep, a dramatic increase in wool length as well as wool quality (finer and
that they are able to shear them twice per year), and (at least) a doubling) of
lambing survival percentages to 150%+. The resulting sheep were also enormously
hardier.
Breeders
frequently describe this as ‘the very best decision they have ever
made’.
BTW: We
believe that you can by careful breeding also produce Merino (cross) sheep with
short (bare) tails like our Finns (3-5” long max) thus eliminating the
need for tail docking. We managed to do this with our Finn-Texels. Parkdale has
a short tail Merino family of 800 breeding ewes. 165% of lambs weaned. There is no mulesing and no tail docking in
this family, with 20 micron wool.
For
example, the sheep in the middle of this photo (with undocked tail) is one of
our (very few) remaining Finn-Texel ewes. The lamb on the left is one of her
Our
sheep now have (much) longer and better wool than the sheep we (first) sold to
the SRS breeders back in 2001. They are better sheep in every way actually, eg
being better muscled, better ‘doers’, better milkers, giving birth to larger lambs & etc.
15/01/2023: Unexpected second lambing. This fourteen year old ewe has lambed unexpectedly for the second time this year. I hardly expected her to live (She had been quite ill after her first lambing back in August), let alone do this. She has been a spectacular ewe with four working teats who has often raised quads (when she was younger).
She and another brilliant old ewe have been in a small ‘retirement’ paddock just in case they happened to raise a bonus lamb (in 2023) after a long and productive life (around forty lambs raised each - in paddock conditions).
I have had a very special young triplet ram in with them just so he doesn’t get hurt by the other rams as he has outstanding genetics and we really want progeny from him (later this year).
I was very surprised to see her with this (second, unplanned) out-of-season lamb at foot this morning. It is only one, but it is a four-teated ewe lamb - so somewhat like winning the lottery for us. We have named her ‘Magic’!
The proud dad:
Here she is with a set of quads last year at 13 years old.
Finn sheep can relatively easily be managed to lamb twice
per year. We have clients with thousands of our Finnsheep in air-conditioned
sheds eg in the
We do not usually lamb ours the second time because there is not enough stock feed here in summer to raise a second lambing well so it is too hard on the ewe and the lambs.
18/12/2022: The Sheep That Lambs in Litters: Just some of his year’s cohort of our amazing Finnsheep are about ready to go to their ‘forever homes’. We were just shearing their dams and sires yesterday and crutching all the lambs, some of whom are waiting their turn here:
They have grown approx 1” of wool per
Pure Finnsheep are the world’s most fertile sheep normally having 3-4 lambs. This fertility is carried on around six genes so that half Finns inherit (roughly) half of it, meaning that you can expect half and even quarter Finns to basically always have twins. They are also (unusually) a medium-fine longwool breed which means that they can also be used to improve the length and quality of your wool.
One longwool ram lamb (for example,
from an earlier year) we sold to a Qld breeder who measured his staple of
around 10”. The longer outer fibres were stronger but the inner fibres
were only 16 microns. This combination produced crosses of around 20 microns
with enough length to shear twice per year.
(02/08/2022) Just a couple (or six) examples
of the (triplet/quad) lambs you will be buying in 2022 (note the 30+mm wool
length (at birth) on the three nearest lambs):
10/08/2022: A bit of a crowd here.
Some
earlier news:
13th August 2021: Half way
through and our lambing is going even better than we anticipated this year. We
will have some unallocated ram lambs. Get them while they are hot! Three
beautiful ram lambs below from a hogget ewe. We kept one of these ram lambs and
sold the other two. This is a UNSW type Finnsheep. Black feet. At two years of
age she had raised six lambs:
Paddock scene – lots of lambs:
We have also put up an indicative
price for semen/embryos (eg per 50-100) below. We have technicians available
who are experienced at exporting to most countries including
NB. As (usual) all lambs/sheep are
pre-sold often before birth (or joining even) and clearly ‘sight
unseen’. Buyers have to accept
that we make every effort to ensure that all our sheep are of the very best
genetic quality. We cull them otherwise. It would be impossible to organise
that all buyers could turn up to pick up stock at the same time and on the same
day and therefore could take ‘picks’ in turn. We also do not want
to be responsible for ‘picking’ out stock for individual buyers.
Consequently (as all lambs will have
been ordered) sheep will be allocated to buyers more or less by ballot. For
example we will place the numbers of all rams/ewes in a container and for each
buyer we will take out of the container in turn the slips of paper equivalent
to the quantity of sheep they are buying. The numbers drawn will be the numbers
of the sheep they will take away, except that we draw again to
‘switch’ them if we draw siblings for the same buyer. This is the
only fair way we can think of to ensure that everyone gets a fair
‘choice’.
Usually you can buy rams separately
but for ewe purchases we usually limit individual purchasers to a
‘package’ of not more than 6 ewes together with at least 4 rams
(you can buy fewer ewes or more rams) so that you purchase a viable
‘starter’ flock of our Finnsheep. We almost always have buyers who
want to take the whole drop (especially ewes) which is what we used to go with
(largely to the Middle East) because it was ‘less trouble’ in our
retirement, but we decided in 2019 to be more patriotic and spread the genetics
around a bit more even though the overseas people offer much higher prices
– and still want them. Organising it is a bit more difficult with Covid.
2019 was also (nearly) the first year (for a long time) we sold ewes into the
Australian market. We had a (perhaps mistaken) belief that we should control
the genes we had developed absolutely, but as this would be to the disadvantage
of the Australian sheep industry really we are now making them available. When
we had a larger farm we mostly just raised lambs from any which did not go
overseas until it was time for them to go to the abattoir or they died of old
age.
Over
the last three years we have established several dozen new Finnsheep flocks, though none is registered. (They could be if they so
chose). Most every sale is to commercial farmers who want our Finns to
‘improve’ their own (very) large commercial flocks (usually of
Merinos or Merino-crosses).
The ‘starter packs’ will
have come from ten different ewes and have 3-6 different sires. This
‘package’ has worked well to provide as many different buyers as
possible with the opportunity to purchase our genetics and to provide a wide
enough basis for beginning a viable self-replacing flock. There are often some
rams available separately. There may also be a small number of
‘cast-for-age’ ewes available too from time to time. These would
need some TLC but will contain superior genetics. Feel free to enquire.
All sheep will be of our true ‘longwool’ type of
Finnsheep (which only we have) though some will be longer than others
– as we are constantly improving them. We are adding more wool every
year. For example, we just measured one eight month old ewe’s fleece at
295mm! None of our 2020 drop lambs had
less than 15 cm + of wool at six months of age. As you can see in the
photograph above one young 2020 ram had 15 cm of wool at three months from
birth! He was not our best and was sold. The wool is around 23 micron. I will include
some testing results soon.
NB: Unless they bought them from us we do not believe anyone else in
2021 Lambing: Some pre-lambing photos. The ewes are expected to
start lambing within days of these snaps. A group of particularly gravid ewes
looking very content with life.
A
longwool mother and daughter team.
A good solid ewe.
30/07/2021 Lambing Day 2: The very
first triplets of the year (but there will be many more) from ewe 6059. Three
very sound ewe lambs (4.5, 4.0 & 3.5 kg). You can see they really do lamb
and raise lambs in the paddock. It is pretty cold and wet here in Gippsland
too. Someone will get lucky with 1-2 of these ewe lambs. NB Nice woolly eyes/ears.
BTW: We still have 4
Finn-Texel ewes (for our own ‘table’ use) when once we had around
1,000. Still think they are one of the best crossbred sheep you could own.
Always raise twins. Look at this lovely solid milky ewe:
This one had triplets
– notice that she has the short Finn tail. We believe you can do this too
with your Finn-Merinos.
Semen/Embryo
Sales:
We have been negotiating about this
with our vets (because it is impossible for us to keep up with the demand for
live sheep). We can now give you some ideas about pricing for these
commodities. Firstly, they recommend we do not take orders unless we have a 50%
deposit, the remaining 50% to be paid on collection. This is because they have
had so many problems over the years with buyers, particularly international
buyers of these commodities, and so have we! They also advise that a minimum
order size is quite large (approximately 50 embryos and 100 straws semen
– per ram). This is because all the associated costs are so great (but
particularly for export) that nothing else is viable. For local buyers it would
(usually) be cheaper to buy live sheep from us even though you will have to
wait – but maybe a long time.
You should realise that the returns
(for us) with genetic material are not very great compared with the trouble we
have to go to and the risks involved – particularly with embryo transfer.
We had a whole batch of precious ewes (nearly a dozen) spoiled (by another vet)
during a (failed) sale to
The ewes had been emptied of eggs and
about half could never lamb again and had to be culled! Fortunately we still
owned their mothers and daughters! We have had other ‘deals’ which
failed in the past (or we were cheated, sometimes ‘losing’ groups
of ewes and rams!) so that we had thought (once) we would never do this again,
but these new vets seem to be the genuine article and the payment terms should
guarantee us against failure – so we are willing to try again, as so many
people are asking. We are currently ‘talking’ with people about a
couple of large embryo orders 500+ each! Of course ‘talk’s
cheap’!
The cost of semen is likely to be at
least $50 per straw (local) and $70 per straw (export) with a minimum order of 100
doses with additional costs if more than one ram s needed. The cost of embryos
is to be $500 each (after collection, certified in the bottle) but you will
have to add transport, paperwork, customs clearance, insurance (if needed) & etc costs to that. More often than not
these costs add $5,000 (or more – for export, less for domestic) to an
order. A minimum order would be 50 which would come from more than one ewe,
probably 4-6. It will cost us over $1500 per flush (alone) per ewe – you
can see how the costs mount up!
When we have had to import genetic
material ourselves as you can see we have had to simply accept the costs if we
wanted the material, then we have selectively bred (often employing AI/ET
ourselves) and heavily culled these sheep for forty years to make them the very
best Finnsheep in the world. This is recognised by breeders even in
For example, we recently imported a
small consignment of (Finn) semen from
For export the ewes/rams have to be
at the collection centre (for quarantine purposes) approximately two months
before and have to remain there for one month afterwards. This means that they
(ewes) would have to be there (after they have weaned their lambs)
approximately from Mid Nov, through Dec & Jan to mid Feb in order that they
could still be joined normally for a July-August drop. There is no quarantine
period for local sales so that the ‘window of opportunity’ is
slightly different. If they had to be flushed twice they would have to be away
for a further six weeks. All this costs, and entails risks.
Different countries have different
‘protocols’ so you should check your country’s own protocols
before sending them to us together with your orders. Some countries eg
Our collection centre is near the
NSW/Vic and we are near Churchill, Gippsland 400 km away. We are too old to be
driving up and back there lots of times, so we will want to try to co-ordinate
orders to only one such (double) trip per year whether it be ewes/rams. If you
want to order semen/embryos therefore there will be a considerable lead-time.
You need to place your
orders/deposits by the Australian Spring. By the same token, you can not
acquire these genetics (or anything like them) from anywhere else in the world,
so you should think about an early order. We can export to most countries
including the EU,
Lambing 2020: July 18 2020: Our ewes have begun lambing. Here are the very first
lambs for the season from ewe #4002: Four 3kg+ lambs born up against a netting
fence in the paddock this morning (so she can guard them from foxes), as you
can see. Still wet. We are taking orders now. First come, first served NB: This
is not our best sheep. She is just the first to lamb this year. Another approx
75 ewes to go. Lambing time is a lot easier now than when there were 1,000+
ewes! Ah, retirement!
We always tag the lambs in both ears as soon
as they are born (as you can see) and note down litter size, weights, gender
and other relevant comments, eg Nice wide mouth. Good wool at birth. Good ear/face
cover, etc. We have over forty years of such breeding records. We do not lose
track of any information about our sheep. These guys hurried straight under mum
looking for a drink.
August 7 2020: Here are the first three of
last year’s lambs with their newborn 4 kg each twins. These ewes are
exactly one year old – to the day! The closest is a longwool type which
we continue to work on - and so are the two ewe lambs especially the one on the
right. Note: good wool cover on ears/nose.
The next is wise enough to have lambed next
to a fence and right under the shelter of one of our ancient blue gums in the
torrential rain last night. One lamb is lying down. Again good instinctive
mothering.
We expect all hogget ewes to raise (at
least) twin lambs. If they did not we would cull them. See how the lambs are
sheltered by a fold in the ground? On my hiking/hunting blog I advise people to
walk around (in winter) in short sleeves if they want to learn where deer will
bed as then they will be able to feel where it is warmer.
Here is one of the previous year’s
ewes with her triplets. Again that is what we expect, ie from two year olds.
Again at least two long-wooled lambs:
This ancient 12 year old ewe (still sound
mouthed, but wool ‘going back’) raised four (long wool) lambs in
the paddock last year too as she is doing again this year. This old ewe is also
a four-teater. We would like to get embryos from her. Perhaps we still can. We
have several of her progeny however. I hope for a really good ram from her this
year.
NB: We have had a number of ewes who have
continued to produce and raise multiple lambs like this until they were over 15
years old. We keep such old girls because we believe that if we can increase
the average productive life of sheep there will be enormous financial
advantages – many people have a 20% replacement rate. Imagine if you
could reduce that to 10% whilst at the same time increasing the annual lamb
production from eg 100% to over 200%! We are also keen to ‘fix’
that four-teated gene. Perhaps my daughter will if I don’t.
May 2020: We exported (2019)
lambs again this year. One buyer would have taken them all but there was a
delay because of the coronavirus so many went elsewhere.
We have been exporting the bulk of our stud sheep to various countries
(Emirates,
A number of local buyers benefited this year too (at our
‘normal’ farm gate price of A$550 ea (ie 2020) – which we
needed to increase as the sheep are in such short supply) and there were some
large semen sales - as usual.
We are down to the base flock at the moment, plus a few special rams we
want to see grow out. Sheep will begin lambing again this year in late June so
if you need some, try to get in early with an order - and a deposit. We only
have a small property now we are ‘retired’ but previously we used
to run thousands of sheep.
We will be importing some more Finnsheep genetics this year to be used
in our 2021 breeding programme - along with some stored semen and embryos from
previous importations and other selected stock. Some of these embryos represent
a sixth importation! The new Finn genetics are from outstanding stock weaning
in excess of 260% in exposed outdoor situations on natural feed on NZ’s
This will be the fifth Finnsheep importation into our flock. All other
breeders have just a single importation which we have culled most heavily,
probably having eliminated them almost entirely by now.
All spare sheep are
usually sold the previous year, I'm afraid. You have to get in early as there
is competition - and it will only get worse. Order with a 25% deposit is the
best idea if you don't want to miss out. We always have a number of people
competing for these pre-orders, so do make contact (by phone at night) now and
get in early. First in best dressed.
These are simply the best
sheep (of any breed, and definitely the best Finns) available anywhere in the
world. They will boost your lambing percentages by approx 1-2% for every
increase in Finn genetics of 1%. We suggest you aim for 50%, eg 50% Finn + 50%
Merino – or whatever the breed is you want to ‘improve’. That
50% Finn will boost your lambing percentages between 50-100% ie most eg
Finn-Merinos raise just under 200%.
This will also boost
your wool production, increase the value of your wool and make it possible to
shear twice per year. Finns and Finncrosses can also be managed to lamb more
often than once per year (eg 3 times/2 years or even twice per year! Special
care is necessary to achieve this, but it is being done routinely eg by our
clients in
You should always ring
at night. It is always possible we will still have some eg rams for sale.
Note: I am pretty deaf
and usually can’t understand messages left on answering machines. Ring
until you get one of us, or send an email, but a phone call is best.
A very nice 2019 long wool Finn ram
This
guy is nearly 50% bigger than our other rams. He was one of the very few Finns
we have ever raised as a single. He was one of four, but when I belatedly
discovered the very old ewe she had one lamb stuck which had turned black. The
next two were practically rotten, yet this one (the last) was still alive. A
survivor! However, he showed me that the sheep are genetically bigger than I
expect them to be just that they (practically) never grow out to that potential
as they are (for us) always raised as triplets or quads by their dams in the
paddocks. It has always surprised me that feedback from buyers is that their
progeny are usually bigger than the sheep they cross them with. I guess this is
why.
International
Buyers:
We have
a a number of forwarding agents now who handle all our international orders. We
have used them several times to successfully export sheep to a number of
countries. Make your enquiries to us first and we will forward your business on
to them if we can help. Sometimes it is better to take semen/embryos.
Retirement
2012:
Oh such a lovely word!
With considerable sadness we sold our main flock of Finn-Texel ewes (over
1,000) which had been weaning 200+% and the main farm, retaining just a small
farm (25 acres) and our nucleus flock of pure Finns - so we will still have
Finns for sale, but they will need to be off the property well before Xmas each
year so: first come, first served.
And now we will have
much more time to pursue those other interests: hiking, white water canoeing,
hunting, craft etc. See above: The
Ultralight Hiker Wowee! The
good news for you: You can continue to purchase the best Finnsheep genetics
here.
Footrot Cure: This was developed by the late
These are Mike’s
instructions: ‘Cull any sheep whose hooves are under-run to the bone etc
for animal welfare reasons. The remainder are to be stood in 6” of this
mixture for ten minutes. It will penetrate the hooves and continue to kill any
footrot micro-organisms for longer than they can persist in the soil. One
treatment will eliminate it from your property completely forever –
unless you import it again. It can only survive in soil for a little over a
week. The treatment chemical will persist in the hooves for more than two
weeks.
Per 100 litres of water
mix in 8 kg of Zinc Sulphate and 3 kg of Sodium Laurel Sulphate, available here.
Place in foot bath. Stand sheep in it for ten minutes each. While Zinc Sulphate
alone does not work, this mixture does.
We did this (once) to a
mob of sheep c1990 who had ‘benign’ footrot. No foot problems of
any sort ever returned. NB The sheep improved in condition astonishingly in the
two weeks after the treatment – like feeding them several kg of grain a
day would do!
Pregnancy Toxaemia Cure: This is usually a minor problem with Finncross sheep as Finns for some
mysterious reason are not very susceptible to it despite the multiple births,
however during the drought we had some ewes with it and have worked out a cure!
This is really good as it turns it from a 100% fatal illness to something which
is about 10% fatal.
Just like everyone else
we too have been dosing sheep with the recommended treatments only to see them
die anyway but we now realise that if you give at least FOUR TIMES the
recommended dose of BOTH the two main treatments they will most likely recover
and be up and gone in half an hour. We don't want to be held liable for this
but it worked for us and the only other alternative is a dead ewe and lambs.
So that's four times the
recommended dose (50 ml) of propylene glycol Orally (ie 200 ml) and four
times the dose of Minject 4 in 1 (mainly sodium boroglutamate I think) Sub-cutaneously
(so a total of at least 100-200ml
injected in multiple sites). It is probably impossible to overdose
sub-cutaneously. Sometimes (rarely) daily or twice daily dosing is required.
Some sheep will still die but our experience is that 90% will get up and walk
away within minutes and then lamb normally!
I have since been told
by a buyer that you can inject the 4 in 1 directly into the milk vein (in front
of the udder) if the ewe is comatose with miraculous results. I have not needed
to do this. I would probably try a smaller quantity intravenously –
probably 50 mls.
Sheep cannot metabolise
sugar (glucose) so it is no use at all giving them sugar of any kind orally.
They metabolise the glycol into glucose (sugar) in their blood stream. If you
drink glycol by the same token you will die. Back in the 1920s there was a very
famous poisoning case in the
Vermin-Proof Fencing: We long since grew tired of a variety of vermin eating our pasture or
eating our sheep. We are currently completing or new boundary fence around our
retirement farm – just in time for lambing. This is the third farm we
have done this on, so we know it works. On our last farm we used to have nearly
2,000 lambs a year. In ten years there was only one single lamb we could not
account for. One! Foxes took zero! I have written a more detailed description
of it on my other page here: Wildlife
Proof fencing If you have not yet visited any of the 1400+ posts there it
may be time you did! Basically the idea is electrified Ringlock. It maybe costs
10% more to set up when you are building a new fence (and less to maintain!)
yet it keeps pretty much everything on the correct side. Creatures learn very
quickly from 5000+ kilovolts!
Planting Trees in Sheep Paddocks: We have been doing this for many years and have
by now pretty much perfected a system (which costs about $1 per tree!) and no
pasture loss or weed problems. Within two years the trees are out the tops
(from tube stock – much quicker from large eg willow/poplar
cuttings)– and the sheep don’t harm them. Cost less than $2/tree.
You can read about it here: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/10/16/trees-and-tree-guards/
You can see some more of them here: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2020/05/03/the-creek-1/
For example here is a weeping willow we planted from a cutting just a year ago.
(PS: The green tre guard is 5’ high)
$50 No Spoil Sheep Hay Feeder:
The big round bales are definitely the most economic source of hay but
there is much wastage if they are not feeding enthusiastically so this is the
way around that problem:
I cut a 2.4 metre (8′) piece of
concrete reinforcing mesh (about 6 mm or 1/4″ steel diameter and in 8″
or 20 cm squares) in half with the angle grinder or the bolt cutters –
whatever is to hand. They cost around $60 each for a 6 metre or 20′
length so this gives me two feeders. I overlap the squares one or two spaces
depending whether feeding out silage (which is smaller in diameter) or hay and
simply join them with lots of cable ties.
A simple 8’ x 5’ tarp works fine too:
Good shelter too!
I source used pallets for free from behind
local stores (asking first of course) to sit the bale on, then I cut down a 6′
diameter (if I can get it) beach umbrella to use as a roof and cable tie the
ribs to the outside rim of the weldmesh feeder so that the hay does not spoil
from rain if the sheep are not feeding very enthusiastically. Read More: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2021/06/17/50-no-spoil-sheep-hay-feeder/
Finn-Texel – World’s Best Prime Lamb Sheep:
(click
here to view images of Finn-Texels)
This cross is currently dominating prime lamb
production in
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
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
We had 800 of these
beauties on our Hazelwood Flats farm (see cover photo above). We have not kept a
sheep for forty years which wasn’t at least a twin or did not give birth
to at least twins. Those 800 Finn-Texel ewes used to produce
around 220% three-quarter texel lambs each year which we helped grow out on big
round bales of silage. We had a contract to supply these prime lambs to local
supermarkets/s where we were able to see and examine their carcass
characteristics.
The butchers told us
they had never seen lambs as good in half a century or more in the trade. One
(Alex) was cutting one up as we spoke one day. First he cut up the forequarters
then said, ‘Look, this is worth more (dollars per kilogram) than the hind
quarters of any other sheep’. Then he cut up the hindquarters and said
‘Nothing I have ever seen is anywhere near as good as this’. He
then held out a small (less than half a hand full) of waste. He then showed me
a ‘normal’ bucketful of waste off another type of sheep - worth
maybe 20 cents a kilogram. ‘Nuff said’?
Finn ewe ready to deliver quads, like this. Like these guys - definitely less
than a week old:
Originally from
Scandinavia the Finn is a relative newcomer to
Our finnsheep are
reasonably large (ewes usually around 65 kg to 70 kg). Finn animals have a long
lean carcase (fat is carried internally) . A proportion of Finn genes within a
composite ewe breed will generally decrease fatness in lamb carcases, a
desirable trait. They are fast-growing, 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 been raised by their dams as
triplets or quads
in the paddock without concentrates or supplementary feed!
When we first got some
‘Finnsheep’ they would have heaps of lambs but pretty much none
that were any good. I guess we culled 90% of them several times over for the
last 30 years to get the flock we have today who have 3-4 good lambs (3 kg
each) and enough milk to raise them on just pasture even in the wettest,
windiest, coldest conditions. One of the main reasons the original ones
weren’t much good is that they weren’t actually Finnish Landrace
sheep, and what there were of them had been ‘ruined’ by
hand-raising cull lambs and feeding the mothers on concentrates. It has taken a
lot of expense and a lot of selective breeding to get where we are now, believe
me. Too many sheep breeders don’t realise that the abattoirs is the best
place for most of their sheep instead of breeding on with them. Pretty much
no-one else in
Below some sheep
‘porn’ taken on June 1st 2020: Healthy contented sheep
fed only pasture. The pure Finns have those short tails and clean breeches.
There are still a handful of Finn-Texels (for our table). Can you spot them?
This ewe and one of her daughters (last year’s lambs) to
her left have obviously got 3-4 good lambs each inside them. Still at least a
month off lambing.
The green things are our
tree planting system. Within two years the trees are out the tops – and
the sheep don’t harm them. Cost less than $2/tree. You can read about it
here: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/10/16/trees-and-tree-guards/
You can see some more of them here: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2020/05/03/the-creek-1/
We do still have five Finn-Texels just to raise our own meat, but no
A bit of a closer view.
The sheep have a bit over six months of wool. You can’t imagine how many
foxes there are in that patch of bush behind us. We once shot 34 foxes on our
25 acres in a single night. One year we poisoned over 500 of them! All
‘Land for Wildlife’ & etc people behind us. Vermin and weed
lovers! We also have a (major) eagle problem. A pair nest every year about 200
metres further up the creek behind. They love lamb! I am very reluctant to
shoot them though.
And a closer up view of
some ewes. We have tried hard to get hair (cover) on the ears and around the
eyes to prevent sunburn. Some are still a bit pink Working on it.
This is one of or longer
wooled hogget ewes. We will be making more of them. Six months’ wool! It
will nearly be touching the ground at shearing! Nice wide mouth.
A couple of 2019 ewes (centre)
and one behind them – again 1 June. All the adult sheep were shorn at
Xmas but not these lambs. The two with the yellow RF tags (and others) were
supposed to go to
That is what nine-ten months of wool looks like on our Finns.
I do like big-bellied
sheep. Plenty of room for tucker and lambs. This ewe (8046) is one of last
year’s lambs so she is ten months old.
Here’s a couple
more
And another one
(big-bellied ewe that is).
Here (1 June) are four
quads from an old ewe born early last August. They are a bit undersize but she
has raised four of them in the paddock. They will lamb this year, probably in
August and will (likely) produce twins. Of course four will not grow out as
well in their first year as a single or twin will – but an unusual thing
about Finns is that they are never stunted by early experiences like this. They
will still grow out to their full size. We have even had lambs which became
separated and appeared to survive without ever having had any milk at all! For
weeks they appeared to be dwarfs (compared to the others) but gradually they
recovered from the experience and after a year you could not tell the
difference. We are doing some pasture improvement (now 2021) on this awful hill
farm – we have bought an old Antonio Carraro tractor – marvellous
on steep country! We should be able to run more ewes in the future and grow
them out better - with some more subdividing fencing – so much for
retirement! With the tractor we will also now begin to be able to offer the
sheep ad lib big round bales of pasture hay from feeders this winter as we
could on our Hazelwood Flats property. We will have to buy it in – it is
far too steep for hay here. It will make such a difference to them.
This ewe (again 1 June)
is their sound ten year old mother again full of lambs. She has a strange
expression on her face because of the dog which is with me. You can see she is
about ready to stamp her right foot. Most ungulates are also right-footed I
have noticed. We like old sheep which are still productive.
Postscript: We did not expect them to do so
well on the fox-ridden hillside where they now have their home, in our
retirement, an area where (due to the proximity of so many 'conservationists'
and nature 'lovers') it is impossible to bait for foxes, but where, in the past
I have shot 34 foxes in a single night on 25 acres! Our mature ewes still
managed to raise 200%+ though - out of a drop of about 350%. Other sheep in the
same conditions are struggling to raise 50% - they are such good mothers. Some
old gals just insisted the foxes weren't going to eat any of their lambs and
raised their triplets or quads anyway. God alone knows how!
We are currently
building a fox-proof boundary fence (finished 2020). Hopefully it will be
finished before the end of June so they can lamb this year free of foxes. Here
are the details about it: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2018/07/06/wildlife-proof-fencing/
We have built one around two previous farms so we know it works, but it takes
so much longer now we are old, and on such steep country.
More: The Finnsheep is an ancient breed,
having been in
Here in
Because
When the time comes for
all the sheep to disappear into sheds (just as the pigs did, long since) the Finns
will be well represented there: producing two crops of lambs per year or three
per two years and achieving annual lambing percentages of 600% or more! The
increasingly wealthier Chinese and Indians will pay well in the future for such
lambs, believe me.
Trials carried out in
recent years here and overseas have shown Finn cross ewes to be clearly more
productive than ewes in traditional flocks. This is due to dramatically higher
lamb production. When imported into this country, it was expected the wool weights
of cross bred would be down by 15% on the wool breed dams. Results so far from
OUR sheep have proved that there is often no loss in wool weight, which is more
than compensated by being a finer wool of high lustre, yield and value. We have
increased the wool weight on our Finns enormously. Finn-Merino crosses made
with our genetics generally have more wool than the original Merinos; the wool
is longer, has a lower prickle factor, better character, and is able to be
shorn twice per year!
Most of these lambs are
Finn-Texels, some second-cross Texels, eg second from left. I can see a
Finn-Merino on the left and possibly a Finn lamb right/
As part of a composite
high fecundity ewe breed, the Finn is the best breed anywhere in the world for
obtaining an immediate lift in lambing percentage. The Finn is the only breed
available where the fertility genes are stable (and where as many as six genes
are involved), and from which major increases in lamb production can be
achieved in first cross animals. The Finn is sexually precocious (keep the
suckers AWAY from the rams!) and will 'cycle' for several months longer than
standard British breeds. The ability to extend the killing season is
significant in a number of areas.
During the atrocious
weather experienced in Gippsland in Aug 2005 for example, the Finns, knee deep
in snow or water, proved to be intelligent mothers seeking out the best
possible conditions for their lambs. We had ewes who kept four lambs alive on a
terrible day (10th August) day though we had virtually zero shelter
for them, whilst some sheep flocks (and even complete herds of dairy cattle) in
the district were wiped out entirely! One guy lost 3,000 sheep; another over
200 cows! No ewes died! This toughness and mothering ability (in our sheep) is
apparent from an early age even as hogget mothers. The ewe's chief concern is
with her lambs no matter the number.
In
Finnsheep were not
normally shedded or lot fed in Finland and they are mostly browsers, gaining
most of their sustenance from the leaves of evergreen trees. Because they are
browsers rather than a grazers, they are ideal for cleaning up rough blocks.
Pure Finns carry their heads erect and can reach very high for food (over 5
ft), even being able to stand upright on their hind legs. Supplementary
feed in
Our own experience
during the drought of the last ten years was that no Finns starved - whereas
quite a number of Border
Whereas the 100+ Borders
raised less than one lamb each during the worst years, the Finns raised twins
or triplets in the same paddock! The only supplements we have ever given the
sheep was ad lib access to fair quality hay (when things were desparate) and
Olsson's stockblocks in the worst years, so we have not spoiled the animals'
rumens with grains and other concentrates. They are very big bellied sheep,
able to process huge quantities of poor quality feed. 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 than we have
sometimes been able to do. Our Borders have long since all been culled.
The Finns' role in
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. Most Finncrosses will average
pretty close to 200% lambing
SOME GOOD REASONS FOR
CHANGING TO FINNSHEEP
High fertility
Fast lamb growth
Long, lean carcasses
Fine, lustrous wool
Good mothering ability
Parasite and Disease
resistance
Easy lambing
Early sexual maturity
Highly intelligent,
friendly and docile
Great doing ability
Long lived
Clean breech belly and
face, short tail
Conformation: Upright
head with extended reach
Easy on fences
Profitability
Constitution
A BRIEF HISTORY OF FINNISH LANDRACE (FINNSHEEP)
IN
The University of NSW (UNSW) flock
(of which we are the sole owners – though we have now established some
‘daughter’ flocks) is the original Finnsheep importation to
Australia and precedes the ATC (Australian Texel Corporation) importation
(which is all other breeders have) by over ten years. This flock of sheep was
derived by the
I spoke to Prof Judy and his wife
years ago when he was quite elderly: he had been a large-scale commercial sheep
breeder for over thirty years. Sheep had mostly moved indoors in Iowa some
years before, and were ‘factory farmed’ for maximum lamb
production, so that it was quite ‘normal’ for him to produce 600%
lambing (annually) from one ewe. He had hundreds of Finns and Finn crosses
(such as Finn-Suffolks), and mainly used
All three foundation rams were born
and raised triplets or quads. One of Prof Judy’s UNSW rams he described
(twenty years later) as ‘the best Finn ram he had ever seen’. These
Finnish Landrace sheep represented prime stock imported from
The rams (and their progeny) were
kept in quarantine at
Amazingly all the
1990-born sheep were still alive and lambing in 2000 though they had
‘enjoyed’ an awful life. Most still had all
their teeth! Most were still alive in 2002! This and the fact that the flock
was run at Hay NSW (on country which supports only one sheep per ten acres -
where they nonetheless regularly raised triplets) testifies greatly to the
hardiness and longevity of this flock, as well as to the perspicacity of the
farm manager there. We sold some sheep to a lady in 1998 who cared for them
intensively. All sheep were still alive and lambing twenty years later!
From 1983 until 1991 only the three
Dr Jeff Eppleston Professor of Sheep
genetics of the UNSW - and who incidentally, created the White
We have added a dash of
‘Silverstream’ East Friesian (a related breed) to our Finns (from
1996) to see what genetic improvement we could make, principally in milk
production, growth, wool bulk, and muscling. In 2002 we also experimented with
introducing/augmenting the four-titted gene (already present) from Keri Keri
merinos. In 1999 we introduced some other Finn genetics (embryos) from
NZ’s LambXL flock.
Sheepak genetics, as I said were
introduced in 1998 too. Our flock, therefore represents FOUR different lines of
Finnish Landrace - every other breeder has genetics from only a single
importation (ATC). We have also returned (via AI) to the original imported
genetics and to rams bred up by the UNSW in the early 1900s which we also own
the semen from. We have now (2021) imported a fifth line of Finn genetics.
LambXL was a NZ ‘quango’
which imported up to 7-8 different sheep breeds from
Swedish Fin (sic) sheep: this is a
breed of fine woolled sheep from
This was confirmed for me when we
were visited in 2009 by David Williams (an expatriate and)
We believe other breeders clearly
have a large percentage of this (finewool) or Swedish Fin sheep in their gene
pools (probably in excess of 50%). These are sheep we have been largely CULLING
for most of twenty years!
Williams Family from Sweden
inspecting some of our Finns
The Sheepak importation. Robin
Hilson (NZ’s largest ram breeder) from Hawke’s Bay became
dissatisfied with the quality of many LambXL Finns quite early on (late
1980’s) (for the same reason as we did) and imported his own selection of
REAL Finns from
The ATC importation of Finns: The
Australian Texel Corporation was a private firm who brought two breeds of sheep
over from New Zealand (derived from the NZ Lamb XL importation). The great bulk
of the Finns they released were ‘finewool’ Finns which cut a very
light fleece (well under 2kg Often little more than 1 kg).
We chose rather to pursue their
longer woolled stock, and particularly sought (and acquired) only stock with a
PROVEN record of raising triplets and quads (in the paddock) – which were
mostly of this type. In the end, this type of sheep represented about 5% of the
ATC offering, and we acquired all of
them.
Embryos from ATC’s importation
became available in 1994 - when we were the first to purchase several selected
embryos. We had 14 ATC Finnsheep born in 1994. We attended all subsequent
auctions they held and purchased selected stock, as well as making some private
purchases of (‘elite’) stock from them, paying not less than $1,000
per head and as much as $3,000 per head, except at their final clearing sale
where some stock sold for less than this.
Two of our best ATC purchases were
ewes 1990-217 and 1992-105 who were just about the only sheep they had who were
able to raise quads at Echuca/Moulamein. We purchased an elite UNSW ram in 1997
(U96002), and purchased the entire UNSW flock in 1999. Only 2-3 other rams were
ever sold by the UNSW - to Scott McIntyre of the Western District. We have
semen stored from these rams also – and have used it and the original
imported semen eg in 2002.
During the years 1995-2002 we
undertook a number of AI and ET programmes (eg 50 ewes ET-ed in 1995 alone!) to
improve our Finns (and also purchased Friesian genetics). We have cycled
through literally THOUSANDS of Finnsheep to the point we are at now!
The Australian Finnsheep Breeders
Association: we remain the only FOUNDATION members of this association –
which in its heyday numbered nearly one hundred (once farmer) members founded
c1994. We ARE Flock Number 2 (there WAS no Number One!) The association today
consists mostly of hobbyists.
We (and other serious farmers) have
found the UNSW flock and the Sheepak flock to be superior
to the ATC sheep in most ways. We believe that this is because they are pure
Finnish Landrace, rather than comprising much of Swedish Fin (sic) genetics -
as we are now 99% certain the ATC flock were. (NB The Swedish ‘Fin’
breed were produced by crossing Finnish Landrace with Swedish finewool sheep -
the breeding emphasis was on size and fineness and tended to ignore successful
profligacy, lamb size, milk production and hardiness. ‘Fin means
‘fine’ in Swedish, so it is easy to see how the import selectors
may have got this wrong).
Our clients in colder climes, eg
We have crossed the UNSW flock with
selected ATC/LambXL sheep and vice versa since 1995 (using UNSW semen in our
first ET programme then) so that by now there are no pure ATC sheep on our
property. Our experience has been that less than 10% of ATC sheep met our
standards of what a good sheep is, but about 90% of UNSW sheep did. We have
selected away from light-framed finewool Finns and Finns who give birth to
small offspring and/or who are unable to raise 3-4 lambs of at least 3kg
birthweight each in the paddock without assistance.
We will not use a ram which
wasn’t reared at least a triplet in the paddock without assistance.
UNSW/Sheepak type Finn
ewe with four lambs. Lambs are certainly less than a week old and growing well.
We do not think that it is specially
important to have the largest sheep (which only eat more) but that productive
sheep of good size, muscling and conformation which raise a lot of 40 kg lambs
economically are better. We have wanted Finns which cut 4kg plus of wool and
who have a little fat on their backs to keep them warm. We have selected sheep
with large rumen capacity and who can produce significant quantities of milk.
Our best sheep are raising litters of three plus lambs whose total weight is
100kg plus at 84 days (weaning). Anyone can see that this amounts to 1000
litres of milk in 84 days. One of our best (measured) lambs was 47 kg at 75
days (This was as an ET) and his progeny outgrew all other breeds in the MCPT
trials at Hamilton. Many of our other rams are also excelled in trials eg in
fertility, fecundity, wool quality, lamb survival & etc.
As a result of our Finns now being
superior to either original Finnsheep importation we chose to call them
‘improved Finns’.
Finn Ewe with
(PAST) LATEST NEWS
(for more news click here)
LAMB TONNES
PER HECTARE:
Even during the 2006-7 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 2007 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 Finn at! .
TRIALS: A trial conducted at Kirra
“Maiden Merino/ Finn cross ewes mated to a
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 1st 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: We have continued to export genetic
material eg to the Middle east,
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
Check out this Finn fleece growth at exactly three
months of age: Ram lamb Number 2020-067 born 14/08/2020; Photograph 17/11/2020.
The Micro Leatherman tool is exactly 6 cm (2 ½” long)
And this lamb Ewe lamb Number 2020-030 born
08/08/2020; Photograph 17/11/2020:
In rg 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
(or shedded) 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
RESULTS: The Maternal Central Progeny Test's
results are now in for the three years' joining of a variety of crosses
developed for their fertility (see Technical Bulletin 50 Page 44 NSW Dept of
Primary Industries: Sire progeny means for annual lambing rate - 1st cross
ewes). Unfortunately the research scientists overall did not have the expertise
that the average farmer has to gain the best from the sheep in their care and
overall lambing percentages for all breeds and lamb losses were most
disappointing. Seasonal factors have also been poorer than normal.
The average lambs weaned per ewe joined for the traditional Border
East Friesian Merino crosses achieved 115% lambs weaned per ewe joined from
132% lambs born per ewe joined and 150% litter size per ewe lambing. Lamb
losses like this of approximately one-third across all breeds would not
normally occur on a profitable farm.
The Finn Merino crosses performed better than this as might be expected with
117% lambs weaned per ewe joined from 161% lambs born per ewe joined and 179%
litter size per ewe lambing!
The study does demonstrate that there are significant improvements to be made
in prime lamb production from a switch to Finn and East Friesian genetics and
particularly to Finn genetics - of at least 30%. Our client experience
from practical farmers is that improvements in productivity of 50-70% in lamb
production are the norm.
Most of our farmer clients are managing to market larger percentages per ewe
joined than the study managed to get on the ground ie normally around 180%
lambs to market from Finn-Merino ewes on the mainland and even better in
Tasmania!
GOOD FEATURES OF FINNS
(click
here to view images of Finnsheep)
NO MULESING: Because the
Finn has a bare breech and a short thin tail and a very thin wrinkle free skin,
Finncross progeny particularly Finn-Merino crosses do not require mulesing to
ensure freedom from flystrike. This is a great step forward for the sheep
industry. This characteristic persists in Finn- merino crosses containing quite
small percentages of Finn genetics as does the increase in fertility and some
other desirable characteristics.
FAT: Our pure Finns are
very lean, in fact leaner than the
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 from
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
WOOL: The longwool Finns
we have developed (with their very thin wrinkle-free skins) are capable of
making Finn-Merino crosses with improved wool characteristics and yield capable
of twice per year shearing. This is a really big bonus.
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 )
I like to see good udder development –
here on a Finn-Merino ewe.
Purebred Finns and
crossbreeds produced with Romneys and Coopworths have shown
FINN-CROSSES
WHY CONSIDER AN INFUSION OF FINN GENES?
(click
here to view images of Finnsheep and Finn-Crosses)
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
FINN-MERINO
THE EWE FOR YOU!
(click
here to view images of Finn-Merinos)
These are new-borns. You can probably see they are not quite dry.
In
Below we see the
Finn-Merino cross compared to the traditional first cross:
Border
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.
Finn-Merino ram @ six months: 6” plus fleece
length!
FINN-FRIESIAN
A WHOLE NEW BALL-GAME!
(click
here to view images of Finn-Friesians)
PLEASE NOTE: We no
longer have any of Finncrosses for sale. Having retired to become smallholders,
we have had to concentrate almost exclusively on the pure Finns, but you can
make your own with our genetics!
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
BREED CHARACTERISTICS
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
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
They are very lean on
the outside of the carcass (moreso than the
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!
PURE Friesians did not
‘do’ well on pasture (unlike Finns). We believe
FINNSHEEP RESEARCH
(for
more finnsheep research click here)
Note: Over the years we made large numbers of
two other Finn crosses: Finn-Dorsets (remember Dolly the cloned sheep) and
Finn-Perendales. Both these crosses performed outstandingly. I would
particularly recommend the Finn-Perendales for rough wet hill farms.
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 ,
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,
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."
For more finnsheep
research see: FINNSHEEP_RESEARCH
BOOKING:
Many people are booking our sheep up a year or two in advance on a 25%
deposit. Semen
and embryos 50% deposit.
The rule is: get in early and don't be disappointed!
RAMS FOR
We usually have for sale Finn rams.
EWES FOR
We also have Finn ewes.
ALSO AVAILABLE
We also have semen, embryos – prices available in the note at the top of
the page.
PRICES
We sell our sheep at normal commercial prices:
RAMS and
EWES (pure Finns): $550
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
DELIVERY
In the past we have arranged delivery almost anywhere, but would now prefer you
did it yourself. We are retired and have smaller numbers, and want just to do
'retirement' things: Hiking
and Canoeing, for example.
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Steve & Della Jones
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