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Each year a new Reference Sire(s) will be chosen. Breeders in the OSSRA program will
breed a minimum of fifteen (15) registered Suffolk ewes to the reference ram. The progeny
from the reference breedings combined with the balance of each producer's registered
Suffolk flock, bred with the flock sire(s) will then go into the sire reference monitoring
program.
The monitoring program begins with the recording of lamb
birth weight, born alive/dead, along with ROP supervised weight at 50 day and 100 days of
age. This data will then be combined with loin-eye depth and back-fat determination at 100
days using ultrasonography to develop an Estimated Breeding Value. Birth weights and
percent born alive will be used as an indicator of lambing ease, which is an important
factor for any shepherd. |
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