Poll Dorsets

Breeding Aims

Initially founded in 1975 to breed rams for personal use, we selected the Poll Dorset breed as it was the ‘prime lamb’ breed of the time.

Breeding rams for this purpose we knew high numbers of rams were needed and we steadily increased the breeding ewe’s base flock to over 300.

We also discovered very quickly breeding quality sheep using visual assessment alone was extraordinarily inefficient system for improvement.

Woolumbool Studs were an early adopter of data-based breeding using as many measurements as possible to deliver the best results.

We keep our breeding simple and focus on genetics and phenotype, consistently introducing sires of superior genetics from various other studs to keep on improving.

Our focus is to breed sheep that the industry wants and what our clients are looking for. We take pride in breeding for performance whilst maintaining breed type.

Breeding sheep with ease of lambing, superior growth, moderate fat, good meat-eating qualities and highly resistant to intestinal worms are our key performance metrics.

We continually aim to improve and stay abreast with current trends within the prime lamb industry breeding Poll Dorset genetics for profit.

Why choose a Poll Dorset Ram?

  • Strong mothering ability
  • Moderate birth weights
  • Strong structure
  • Moderate fat
  • Great muscle
  • Increased worm resistance
Woolumbool Studs - Poll Dorset | White Suffolk | Multi-Meat

It is our view that we must breed animals that are as productive and easy care as possible.

Woolumbool Poll Dorsets
Woolumbool Poll Dorsets

Genetic Trends

View Sheep Genetic Breed Trends

Mature Body Weight

I have noticed over many years the tendency for Prime lamb producers to target the biggest rams in flock ram sales believing them to be better rams than their counterparts. Prior to the introduction of LAMBPLAN ® ASBV’s this was a sensible approach and the only method available to evaluate young rams.
In today’s world this only serves to send a signal to Seed Stock producers to breed bigger and bigger animals to the extent that many rams will be unmanageable for shearers in the future even with sedatives.
LAMBPLAN ® ASBV’s give us the power to breed rams which have the capacity to grow rapidly right up to export weights without having sires which are massive. To achieve this result the ASBV’s of most importance are the Wwt and Pwwt. These are the one’s to have as high as they can be along with a low to moderate Bwt ASBV
There is no point at all in having sires which are huge and produce lambs which grow slower than others up until they get to 50kgs and then outstrip the growth of all others as they themselves have likely done.

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