The second BLUP results have been published on line today and include the results of our 21 week weights and ultrasound scanning data.

We are delighted with the results which show that our flock bred;

• 4 out of the top 11 Ram Lambs (including the 2nd placed)
• 3 out of the top 7 Ewe Lambs (including the 2nd placed)
• 3 out of the top 8 Senior ewes
• Plus Kimbolton Va Va Voom is now the second highest Senior Stock Sire in the breed (semen is available) .

Our pens at the Welsh and English National Sales will contain some of these exceptionally high index Ram Lambs. This will provide an excellent opportunity to buy into proven genetics that will deliver very fast growing lambs with the right carcase attributes.

For a full list of animals for sale this summer please see the For Sale page where you can download the latest list.

If you are looking for some quality Texel’s to purchase this year you have come to the right place!

If you go to the “For Sale” tab you will be able to download a list of animals currently for sale which represent a wide range of types with some outstanding EBV’s on offer.

Please feel free to call us to discuss your requirements, we prefer to sell straight from Farm as you have the opportunity to view the system that these animals have been produced on. This is something that we feel is very important and not something you get to see when you buy at auction.

We look forward to hearing from you.

PPK1500527 relaxing in the sun!

We are proud to announce that Kimbolton Voyager has been selected as one of only six live service Texel Rams , for inclusion in this exciting project this year. Voyager was not only selected due to the accuracy of his figures and his connectedness, but also because he had the highest % muscle in the leg of all Texel lambs CT scanned in 2014. He is a son of Avon Vale Real Deal  (Top Recorded Senior Sire of 2013) out of a home bred ewe by Roxburgh Spitfire (Top Performance Recorded Ram Lamb of 2011).

Ram Compare is a two-year pilot project financed by AHDB Beef and Lamb, Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC), Quality Meat Scotland and Agrisearch, with support provided by the Sainsbury’s ‘Big Data’ Agriculture R&D Grant Scheme, Randall Parker Foods, Dunbia and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).

The project is designed to trial strategies for capturing commercial data on slaughter lambs in the UK sheep industry. It will be similar to central progeny tests that are taking place in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. The first stage of the project involves developing a network of six commercial farms that will use artificial insemination (AI) and single-sire mating to produce a crop of over 500 lambs per farm per year. In the UK sheep industry the sire of slaughter lambs is not usually known, so this approach will enable sire information to be collected.

Data from their lambs will be collected through to slaughter. This data will be evaluated to see whether its inclusion in the rams’ genetic evaluations identifies differences between sires and improves their accuracy. A ranking of the tested rams, based on commercially important traits, will be generated at the end of the project in 2017.

Speaking after news of his Ram being selected was received Paul Phillips from the Kimbolton flock said “We were delighted that Voyager had been selected for inclusion in this project as there was very strong competition.  Our breeding strategy is focussed on producing superior genetics that are designed to deliver fast growing, well muscled lambs for the commercial producer. This trial, which involves organisations from right across the supply chain, provides an excellent opportunity for our genetics to be tested and directly compared to other breeds. We look forward to keeping up with developments and seeing the final outcomes”.

Well the Phantom has certainly been enjoying the spotlight in recent weeks. It wasn’t enough for him being a hit on social medial, now he is appearing  in the printed press and on You Tube too!

His newspaper career began when his picture was included in the Hereford Times along with an appeal from a Lady to find out what this “mystery breed” was.

The following week a further article appeared following an interview and this was picked up by the National Press.

Appearances in the Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Mirror and The Portsmouth News have also been followed up by his appearance on You Tube (or should that be Ewe Tube!)

We will soon be deciding where to sell the Phantom, so if you would like to buy something original and different please get in touch.

In the first BLUP run of 2015 the Kimbolton Flock has shown encouraging progress with an average lamb EBV of 405, which is an increase from 384 last year.

In almost every EBV we have shown significant improvement and it is interesting to look back and compare progress from 2009 which was when we started performance recording. The lambs we have bred this year have twice the maternal ability, growth rates and muscle depth and three times the amount of gigot than the ones bred in 2009. We know this because it has been accurately measured through the use of scanning (both ultrasound and CT). This demonstrates how quickly you can achieve genetic improvements in a breeding flock and clearly underlines why it is important to buy the right genetics for your flock.

Our customers reply on us to provide them with animals that will pass on their superior genetics and enable them to produce lambs that grow quickly and finish within specification. These simply earn them more money than lower performers.

Some of the highlights from this first run include

• Breeding three out of the top ten Ram lambs in the breed so far
• Breeding three out of the top five Ewe lambs in the breed so far
• Breeding three out of the top nine senior females in the breed
• Wallington Vigilante is now third highest senior sire in the breed
• Kimbolton Va Va Voom is now the sixth highest senior sire in the breed

We look forward to scanning and to the inclusion of the later lambing flocks data to see where we finish the year, but so far a promising start.

This years lamb crop are starting off well and settling in with their new Mums. So far lambs by Cambwell Trademark, Kimbolton Va Va Voom and Wallington Vigilante have begun to catch my eye.

Clearly they have a long way to go until they are ready to be sold but an encouraging start.

I have also had a few people ask how “The Phantom” is so I thought you would enjoy the picture below!

We just need some grass now!

Valentines Day saw the official start of lambing for the flock this year and by the time you read this we will be making progress as our lambing is planned to happen over 19 days this year.

So far the lambs born have been bright and have got up and sucked quickly. The selection for ease of lambing is working with less interventions.

We have had a few surprises including the one in the picture below who has become quite an internet sensation!

Please send me a friend request on Facebook to get up to the minute updates and news!

Further updates will be posted here as time (and sleep!) allow.

Update – Lambing of our sheep finished as planned on 12th March, the only exception being the East Middle Ewe who we bought in lamb and she lambed  20th March. All over for another year – I’m off for a lay down!

The Kimbolton Flock has been selected to participate in a ground breaking genomic research project aimed at identifying the genes that are significant in both mastitis and foot-rot resistance.

As one of twenty flocks nationally our sheep will be monitored and sampled in 2015 and 2016 with the outcome being that our flock will become one of the first in the UK to have Genomic Estimated Breeding Values (GEBV’s) for these important welfare traits.

When proven this technology will allow us to DNA test rams for resistance to both mastitis and foot rot allowing us to have confidence that their progeny will be less susceptible to these traits.

Data collection and DNA sampling under way

But what is Genomics?
Genomics is a term which is increasingly being used in livestock breeding, but just what is genomics and how can we use it to further Texel breeding?

Put simply, an organism’s complete set of DNA is called its genome and virtually every single cell in the body contains a copy. Genomics is a term that was developed in the 1980s and describes the large scale sequencing and analysis of DNA.

The key distinguishing feature between genomics and genetics is that genetics investigates the activity and composition of a single gene whereas genomics includes all genes and their associations in order to recognize their collective influence on the development and growth of the organism.

Through genomics researchers aim to determine complete DNA sequences and perform genetic mapping to help understand the relationships between genes and important traits, such as disease resistance and levels of production.

The knowledge about gene interactions that has so far been gathered has led to the emergence of new areas of study such as ‘functional genomics’ where researchers try and understand the pattern of gene expression, particularly across different environmental conditions.

Importantly, the science of genomics is applicable to animals, plants and humans. Genomics are also being used in human medicine and researchers are using the tool to study the role that multiple genetic factors acting with the environment play in complex diseases.

Genome-based research has already enabled improved diagnostics, more effective therapeutic strategies and better decision-making tools for patients. Ultimately, treatments could be tailored to a patient’s particular genomic makeup.

In June 2014 it was announced that researchers had sequenced the complete genome of sheep. Carried out by an international team of researchers the project took eight years to complete and involved 26 organisations across eight countries.

The Texel breed formed the basis of this work and the Texel Society is capitalising on this new technology and has become the first breed society in the UK to begin developing genomic tools. Funding has been awarded to the Texel Society in-conjunction with SRUC to undertake a genome-wide search for the genetics associated with resistance to mastitis. The intention is to expand this work to other disease related traits, such as footrot, in the coming years. You can read more about the current mastitis project here.

With January almost behind us the count down to lambing for the Kimbolton Flock has begun with the first lambs due to be born on 17th February!

Sheds have been prepared, equipment cleaned and the ewes are getting their supplementary feed.

This pre lambing ration has been specially formulated to ensure that the needs of both mother and the unborn lamb are met as the majority of lamb development occurs in the last six weeks of pregnancy. The correct feeding at this time is essential as too much feed means big lambs (which can be difficult to lamb) and too little feed means smaller lambs (easier lambing) but not enough milk produced by the ewe.

We hope to repeat the success of last year which saw the ewes milking like never before and the lambs growing  very quickly during their first eight weeks of life when they are totally dependant on their mothers.  A good start sets them up well for the future.

The recent additions to the flock that were acquired from the East Middle and College sales are settling in well.

Pictured above from right to left are;

• East Middle – SCE 1301241 – By East Middle Superior carrying twins to an East Middle Bred Avon Vale Real Deal son.
• College – FHE 1308424 – By Brackenridge Strongbow carrying twins to Cambwell Viceroy II. This is a full embryo sister to the 2,200gn ewe sold to Procters
• College – FHE 1308414 – By Brackenridge Strongbow carring twins to Cambwell Viceroy II
• College – FHE 1308471 – Again by Brackenridge Strongbow carrying twins to  Cambwell Viceroy II

23 days to go before we see some lambs!…….

In 2013 the Kimbolton Flock supplied a high index Texel Ram to SRUC that was used as part of a trial looking at “Simultaneous selection for reduced waste and increased lean meat yield in Texel-sired slaughter lambs”

SRUC have just kindly providing the following interim update pending publication of their final report:

“A recently finished one-generation selection trial using Texel sires at SRUC aimed to prove the value of a simple CT (computed tomography) based selection trait (muscle weight / live weight), which can be used like a simple index aiming at increasing lean meat yield and reducing waste at the same time. This trait is very similar to lean meat yield percentage ( LMY%) that the pig industry pays on, but is also expected to reduce carcass waste in the abattoir.

From over 200 CT-scanned rams in 2013, 12 rams were used, based on their own performance in this trait. To produce divergence, rams were chosen from both ends of the distribution. They were each mated in November 2013 to 15 Mule ewes and 259 lambs were born between 5/04/2014 and 19/04/2014 (29 single, 184 as twins and 46 as triplets). These resulting lambs were followed through rearing, CT-scanned, and a month later slaughtered in an abattoir with electronic traceability to allow individual carcass feedback.

201 lambs were finally chosen for CT scanning and slaughter, narrowing down the age span and accounting for losses. They were all CT scanned between the 25th and 28th of August 2014, being on average 137d old (from 128 to 143d). To allow for the withdrawal period of the sedative, the animals were slaughtered about 33d later, at an average age of 170d (between 163 and 175d), in the Morrisons abattoir (Woodheads Brothers) at Turriff, because this abattoir has electronic traceability for individual lambs up to the point of carcass grading. This allowed us to combine all pre-slaughter information on each lamb with the slaughter information (carcass grades and the price obtained).

The analysis of the data is now ongoing and we aim to present the results of the study later on in spring 2015, as well as at the Sheep Breeders Round Table in November, if the organisers give us the opportunity. The preliminary results to date suggest that the Texel sires with higher lean meat percentage went on to produce crossbred lambs with higher values for this trait, as measured by CT pre-slaughter. Favourable relationships with other carcass traits, such as killing out percentage, fatness and gigot muscularity have also been observed.

It is of note that the “low rams” are not low value rams, as they had been selected to be CT scanned by their owners, indicating that they had potential as breeding stock. However, the preliminary results suggest that there was enough genetic variation in the selected sires for the traits of interest to see differences emerging in their crossbred offspring. This trial will demonstrate the effects of genetics, the usefulness of CT and will also be another good example of a fruitful collaboration between Texel breeders and SRUC. The SRUC team (mainly L. Bunger, N. Lambe, K. McLean and John Gordon) wishes to express their thanks to the Texel breeders, who contributed rams to the trial.”

Commenting on this update Paul Phillips from the Kimbolton Flock said “We were delighted to have one of our high index Texel rams selected by SRUC for this trial and are not surprised to hear that the preliminary results suggest their genetic superiority in key traits is passed onto their offspring.

Increasing lean meat yield and gigot muscularity have significant commercial value to lamb producers and underline why the purchase of a high index Ram from an established recording flock is an investment that makes sound financial sense. I look forward to reading the final report and understanding the additional value in £’s per animal that has been demonstrated.”