• Rams

Hazeldean rams provide to woolgrowers advantages over other ram sources as they produce sheep with higher fleece value. This is due to their ability to deliver low fibre diameter to their progeny without the usual sacrifice in fleeceweight.

Only 3 studs in Australia are recognized as being able to consistently and successfully break the nexus between high fleeceweights and high fibre diameter.

Hazeldean is one of them and has demonstrated this conclusively through independent analysis many times.

Hazeldean rams go through a stringent, 3 stage assessment procedure before being presented for sale:

• Ram lambs are identified at lamb marking, bodyweighed at weaning and at 10 months of age visually classed prior to fibre testing and fleeceweighing.
• Immediately following shearing they are body weighed again and scan data and scrotal size recorded.
• Approximately 4 months after shearing they are re-assessed with the return of processed performance data including pedigree information.
• Sale grades are established on the basis of performance ranking and culls are removed and sold.
• The very best rams with sire potential are identified as Reserves and put aside for further analysis.

Sales take place in October and November and unsold rams are run through with the Reserves until the following January when they are again classed, fibre tested, fleeceweighed and body weighed off shears.

This second stage test of Reserves and unsold sale rams forms a large contemporary group, giving greater accuracy to individual measurements. Once performance data is returned, it forms the basis of the final selection of the elite young sires suitable for mating in the stud flock.

Sale Rams

Hazeldean rams are priced and graded on their ability to generate money. Fleece weight, fibre diameter and body weight are accurately measured and used to establish the amount of genetic benefit our rams will bring to their progeny. All are highly heritable traits and provide the best basis on which to establish sale price. The very highest value rams are auctioned, the rams with the next highest value are placed in our top private selection grade and so on.

Sale grades:

• Auction & $1000 grade - top 25% on fleece value
• $800 grade - next 50% on fleece value
• $650 grade - next 25% on fleece value

Guarantee

Hazeldean guarantees and stands by every ram it sells.
All rams are sold with a 1 year guarantee of refund or replacement if rams fail to meet the expectations of the buyer.

Breeding Objectives and Selection Indexes explained

Perhaps more than any other seedstock source, Hazeldean has set about to determine as accurately as possible its relative position, in terms of economic value to the entire stud Merino industry. The quest has not been disappointing.