Aussie Whites forage well
- Brian Hayden
An early investor in Australian White sheep has culled heavily after several years to restart their breeding program.
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About 15 years ago, Brian and Vicki Hayden of Buchan Station bought into the Tattykeel bloodline, purchasing a flock of 100 ewes from Graham and the late Martin Gilmore.
"We were lucky, we were able to get a flock of 100 ewes and a few rams from the Gilmores when they were not generally selling females," Brian Hayden said.
"It was a bit of an experiment in Victoria, and in the Buchan area.
"Graham Gilmore and I wanted to see whether or not the Aussie White sheep would do well breeding and growing in the mountain country of Buchan Station."
Brian and Vicki Hayden and their sons, Sam and Paddy, trade in partnership as Buchan Station.
The property is in rolling limestone country, with steep hills surrounding a basin, and a four kilometre frontage to the Buchan River.
![Aussie White sheep are doing well in the mountain terrain of Buchan Station, Victoria. Picture by Lyric Anderson Aussie White sheep are doing well in the mountain terrain of Buchan Station, Victoria. Picture by Lyric Anderson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/205506265/cd977deb-d681-4714-8991-23062562bf6c.jpg/r0_376_4032_2643_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Before buying Aussie White sheep, Mr and Mrs Hayden owned a flock of first cross ewes, but a big issue was time and farm management.
Shearing time clashed with harvest and joining the beef cattle herd using artificial insemination.
"There's a scarcity of shearers, and every second or third summer we have a shocking problem with flies," Mr Hayden said.
"With the Aussie Whites we don't have that conflict around workload."
He has noted his flock are able to fend for themselves during cold winters and hot summers.
"They thrive in the harsh, drier, rougher hill areas.
"They forage well. They'll eat the weeds and blackberries.
"If we keep our sheep on the drier country, that's the secret to maintaining good health."
From the original 100 ewes and some rams that landed at Buchan Station, natural joining was followed, with a focus on retaining the hair cover and black feet of the original Tattykeel flock.
Joining is at a rate of one ram to 40 ewes. Mr Hayden said the ewes appear to take the lead at joining.
"These sheep have a peculiar joining pattern. We put the rams in and they will sit for weeks on end. The next thing, the ewes come into oestrus together.
"You've pretty well got to leave a ram with the flock, to judge when joining time commences."
Breeding up to a flock of 800 head created a broad pool of type to choose from when it came to reducing numbers.
"We culled back to 300 ewes, then we culled again."
Now the focus is to breed from that nucleus flock and increase numbers again by selecting and retaining the best maiden ewes.