The Rural Voice, 1999-08, Page 31l
back eight months after lambing.
Ewes that lamb in November, for
instance, will be bred in May. They
aim for a 250 per cent lambing rate
per year, or 1000 lambs from 400
ewes — and they're close to attaining
the goal.
Despite their positives, Rideaus,
like all breeds have their deficiencies,
so another milestone for the Stutzkis
came when they purchased a Texel
ram which is bred to ewes chosen to
produce market lambs. They use
both the Texel and Oxford rams as
terminal sires. Both are meatier,
putting more weight on the front
shoulders and hindquarters of the
lambs than A -framed Rideaus
normally do. Sixty per cent of the
value of a lamb carcass is in the rear
end.
There's still a hesitation on the
part of many Iamb producers
to spend two to two and a half
times as much as a normal ram price
for some of the exotic breeds like
Texel or Charolais, Vince says but it
proved its value for them.
Using the terminal sire to breed
market Iambs also eliminates the
temptation to keep breeding stock
they shouldn't, he says. They choose
the top third of their ewes as breeding
stock to be bred to Rideau rams, then
The birth, and growth, of a
Canadian breed of sheep
Rideau sheep are one of three
breeds of domestic sheep that are
truly Canadian. Rideau along with
Outaouais and the Canadian, were
developed by Agriculture Canada at
the Animal Research Centre (ARC)
in Ottawa. When the three breeds
were released in 1988 all carried the
ARCOTT suffix but they are
commonly known by their first
names now.
The development of the Rideau
breed started in 1968 with the aim to
create a breed that removed the
seasonal constraints to breeding,
decreasing the lambing interval,
increasing litter size and optimizing
the efficiency of growth of the
market lamb. Between 1968 and
1974, Suffolk, Shropshire and Dorset
sheep from the Centre's flock were
combined with the imported East
Friesian and Finnish Landrace
breeds. The East Friesian, a large
dairy breed with an average of two
lambs per latnbing, was used to
enhance the prolificacy and milking
ability of the Rideau. The Finnish
Landrace was used to increase the
prolificacy and decrease the age
when the Rideau would reach
puberty.
Beginning in 1974 the cross-
breeding program ended and the task
became to multiply the flock, with
very little culling taking place in
order to broaden the genetic base.
Between 1977 and 1986, selection
took place to promote high fertility
and the potential for year-round
lambing. By 1986 the new breed was
six to seven generations from the
original synthetic strain when the
population was closed in 1974.
In 1988 and 1989 a flock of 400
Rideau ewes was released to selected
nucleus flock owners across Canada.
By 1998 the new breed had
climbed into third place in purebred
registrations with 1274, behind the
ever -popular Dorsets (3058) and
Suffolks (2932). Ontario has most of
the Rideau registrations and the
breed is much closer in numbers to
Dorsets and Suffolks here than
elsewhere in the country.
Rideaus are considered a maternal
line breed because they excel in the
performance of maternal traits. The
Rideau Association recommends use
of a terminal sire such as Suffolk,
Hampshire or Oxford ram to produce
market lambs.
In an accelerated lambing
program Rideau ewes have the
ability to lamb five times in three
years or three times in two years. In'
such a system the lambing rate can
be 210 per cent or more. Even in
annual lambing systems the average
number of lambs increases. Because
Rideaus are good milkers they can
handle triplets on good grass pasture
without additional grain but the
Rideau Association suggests creep
feeding for the lambs to ensure good
growth as milk production of the ewe
starts to decline.0
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Phone/Fax 519-357-1058
AUGUST 1999 27