How Genetics Work For Me

Kleinert Hampshires
"Quality Breeding Lasts Forever"

Darryl Kleinert

If you come to see a bunch of charts and graphs on how to produce superior animals, you may be disappointed. I am not qualified to use terms or to give percentages on why something should or should not work. When I started with two Hampshire ewes as a 4-H project thirty years ago I thought all you had to do was find a ram, turn him with the ewes and next year you would have good lambs. Well, since then we’ve become concerned with breed type, body confirmation, bone, muscling and many other things. About fifteen years ago I observed the kind of sheep I like, and by selecting for that pattern and kind, we were actually developing a program based on genetics. We found that when we went back and checked the breeding of the good sheep that we liked, it was all very similar.

After discovering there was some basis to using some line breeding, half brother – half sister mating, in a breeding program, I got some additional advise that I consider very important. I’ve listed these as four basic rules to follow:

Stick with basic soundness.

Buy what you need, not what you already have.

You’ve probably heard the statement that a ram is half of your flock, but remember who contributes the other half. Your flock sire should be out of a stud ram and a stud ewe.

Every year you should try your best sons out of your best ewes because this will move you along in your breeding program quite rapidly. Try him on his half sisters, it will help you find out what direction you are headed.

These four rules are why we believe:

"Quality breeding lasts forever"

It ‘s important to picture in your mind what you want your sheep to look like, keeping in mind not all sheep breed like they look. But if you base your breeding program around sound genetic families and stick with it along with applying the four rules mentioned, you can attain your goals.

Just when you think you have it all figured out some problems will arise within your program such as bad pasterns or black fiber. Well don’t panic, I believe you can stay within related bloodlines and correct the problem through careful selection. If an outcross is needed, find out as much genetic background as possible so you can be sure he will correct the problem. You could also use a female as the outcross, but it would be a slower process as you would only get one or two lambs a year from her. Don’t ride a dead horse, if the outcross didn’t work, admit it and look for another source. Also, just because a ram is a full brother or sister to an outstanding individual in the flock, if he doesn’t look the part, don’t use him at all.

As a breed we have come a long way in the past ten years whether you agree with it or not, the changes have been made. We presently have a wide enough genetic base within the Hampshire breed to choose our own destiny. We can make random selections without regard to genetic background and ten years from now be in same position as today or we can establish family lines that reproduce individuals that breed true to their phenotype.

I don’t pretend to know everything about genetics, but I’ve been able to make it work for me. There is no reason why you can’t go home and do the same thing by applying the four rules mentioned before and maybe adding a few of your own.