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Signalberg Meatmasters believes in using top rams and keeping the best ones that have been bred. Half the breeding progress within a herd is determined by the ratio of 3% rams to 97% ewes. It is worthwhile paying for good rams. The most important selection or breeding objectives are the traits that affect our flock’s fertility, hardness, adaptability, herding instincts, growth and carcass conformation. These are the characteristics that are of economic importance.

Good record-keeping, together with good phenotypic selection (hand and eye method), makes our breeding progress the best. The chance of making a mistake is reduced. The one compliments the other.

• Very high fertility is the trait that brings in the most money. For fertility we select the scrotum size of the ram, multiple births, inter-lamb period and the age of the ewe at its first lamb.
• We select for good meat production. By means of record-keeping you can determine which ewe produces the maximum kilogram of meat per year (EPI) in her group. You can also determine which ewe has the best mothering ability (MLI); or the ewes of the twin group that are best at rearing twin lambs. This enables you to determine the size of your animals and which ones are going to produce and grow best in your conditions; not like the shows where the best-looking sheeps are kept for breeding.
• Our descision is based on the best choice of functionally effective sheep with good walking ability and the herding instinct of the Damara.
• We select the Meatmasters that have adapted to the environment, which can retain their condition and produce under difficult conditions. My ideal is not to feed the animals, except under very difficult circumstances. The rounding off of rams for auctions is a maximum of 40 days. On the farm, rams are sold directly from the veld without supplementary feeding. Stud animals are handled in exactly the same manner as ordinary herd animals. This is in keeping with the Meatmaster Society’s policy.
• Young ewes should preferably lamb within 15 months. Ewes that take longer will be discriminated against. We have three lambing seasons in two years. An inter-lamb period of 240 days is my ideal.