![Michael Kennedy and his wife Leonie, “Killarney”, Nyngan with 15-month-old, scanned in lamb, White Dorper ewes joined to Australian White rams. Michael Kennedy and his wife Leonie, “Killarney”, Nyngan with 15-month-old, scanned in lamb, White Dorper ewes joined to Australian White rams.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-agfeed/2086936.jpg/r0_0_1024_681_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
THE Kennedy family is no longer riding on the Merino sheep's back but instead selling meaty Dorpers from the banks of Duck Creek in the State's North West.
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Michael and Leonie Kennedy, "Killarney", have farmed 30 kilometres north of Nyngan for about 26 years, but found the workload involved in the traditional Merino wool and first-cross lamb operation was not achieving the desired results.
The Kennedys turned their attention to Dorpers six years ago, deciding to give meat sheep a crack.
Mr Kennedy said their Merino operation was "a lot of work and not enough financial gain".
"I don't actually think you are making that much more money out of them (Dorpers), but the labour behind the wool job meant the dollars didn't add up," he said.
"We looked at other meat sheep such as Damaras and Dohnes, but the Dorpers were just the right article all along."
The switch to Dorpers reduced the cost of crutching and shearing first-cross ewes and lambs.
The lower maintenance Dorpers only need to be shorn occasionally.
"We shear our Dorpers only to clean them up for sale," Mr Kennedy said.
The Kennedys now run 7000 Dorper breeding ewes on 11,000 hectares.
Genetics were established from Etiwanda White Dorper stud, Cobar; Burrawong Dorper stud at Ootha, and Analara Dorper stud, Dubbo.
The couple chose sheep from the western studs mainly due to their adaptability to the country.
The Kennedys have been breeding a larger bodied, free-moving, early maturing, shedding sheep.
"I think the breed is actually improving in soundness and growth capabilities," Mr Kennedy said.
The ewes are joined in October to lamb in March, with a joining rate of one ram to every 50 ewes.
Originally, Mr Kennedy attempted to join ewes three times in two years, and while this was successful in the short term, fertility declined throughout time.
"We now join once a year and the lambing percentages have increased to 130 per cent," he said.
The family retains 70pc of the female lambs, selected on breed traits, which are joined at seven to eight months of age.
Wether lambs are then sold between 20 to 25 weeks of age, depending on the season, and marketed direct to the abattoir.
Lambs are directed at the market offering the most in return, rather than to a regular supplier.
"We have sent lambs to Tamworth, Junee, Victoria, and to the South Coast at Milton," Mr Kennedy said.
"We have had great feedback from Thomas foods in Tamworth, who were quite pleased with our lambs."
The couple have avoided selling through the saleyards due to a lack of solid demand, but this has begun to change.
"They (Dorpers) are becoming more recognised and accepted in the meat trade now and people are realising their potential," Mr Kennedy said.
Their lambs weighed about 20 to 22 kilograms before being sold into the abattoir, but getting more than 22kg took a bit longer for the breed, he said.
Wethers and ewes were sold straight off their mothers into the abattoirs.
The ewe lambs not sold are yard-weaned for a few days before being put back into the paddock.
Cast-for-age ewes were normally sold at four-and-a-half years of age via AuctionsPlus.
The lambs were raised on natural pasture, sown ryegrass and planted barley crops for winter fodder.
Mr Kennedy said they had a fantastic autumn, with "good summer grasses" carrying through, and now were having an average winter.
Only in extreme conditions are the sheep fed mixed grains and cereal silage because they hold on longer in dry weather.
Despite knowing fellow producers who have struggled to keep Dorpers contained, the Kennedys were well prepared from the start.
"We've never had trouble with them in terms of fencing... we have had ring-lock fences to start with," Mr Kennedy said.
Drenching is only done in exceptionally wet summers and sheep are shower dipped with Assassin in October.
Last week the couple sold condition score-three ewes, which the AuctionsPlus assessor said was great given the dry conditions.
The ewes topped at $156.
"We've been selling a few and keeping our heads above water."