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Aragon Romneys |
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Welcome |
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Welcome to Aragon Romneys! On this site you will find information all about our Romney sheep, how we’ve made improvements through selectively breeding from the best sheep, and all about the role recording has played in this. You can also learn about the Romney 2000, the new Romney for the new millennium. And of course find out how to get your own Aragon Romneys!
ARAGON ROMNEYS 2011 UPDATE One show attended at Heathfield... won Herbert Catt trophy for best Romney exhibit in show and best Longwool ram in the interbreed. This is year 8 doing FEC EBV’s (Faecal Egg Count Estimated Breeding values). We have seen good improvement in lamb health and very little scouring. New Zealand research indicates that a significant economic benefit only comes after 10 years recording. So we carry on! Last winter, the Romneys scanned at 170%. Lambing losses were minimal at 5%, thanks to some good shepherding and our easy lambing ewes. The first wether lambs went off at 10 weeks, at 17.5 kgs and we have sent a steady stream since, until the August drought really kicked in. This year’s lamb crop will be interesting...the rams used last autumn were a New Zealand type from Chris Hodgkin’s flock, a son of the Andrew Barr ram that we used in 2009, a Romney 2000 ram lamb and 3 Romney ram lambs. So far the Romney 2000 is ahead in the Signet records, after the 8 week weights but we await the results from this month’s backfat scan and weighings with some anticipation. Our thinking in using the New Zealand ram is that we need to maintain wool quality at a time when wool is of increasing value. Also the Kiwis are renown for being durable sheep. Third, we have a limited gene pool available in the south-east and we have yet to find a ram from another local flock that comes anywhere near matching our home-bred rams for performance. So we are looking outside the box...hope it works! Finally, our Lean Index figures, the main measure of genetic progress, have improved a massive 186 points over the last 10 years. At 2p a point at least, probably more now that lamb prices have gone up, this means that our genetics and performance are up there with the best of any breed.
ARAGON TEXELS 2011 We have bred SPA 1000056, a shearling ram with an index of 348, making him number 33 in the stock ram ratings for the whole of UK. Also the vast majority of the Texel shearlings for sale this year are in the top 25% of the national ratings.
OLYMPICS 2012 Coach tours are being planned to the sheep farming heart of Romney Marsh for overseas visitors interested in seeing UK sheep farming. Please contact us if you’re interested! Hugh Skinner MRCVS August 2011
Site last updated: 12 September 2011 |
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Hugh & Pauline Skinner Aragon Farm Sissinghurst Cranbrook Kent TN17 2AB UK |
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To contact us: |
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Phone/Fax: +44(0)1580 714400 E-mail: info@aragonfarm.co.uk |
