Eureka Wiltipolls

it's lambing time again!

2011-08-24T08:18:00.000+10:00

The first spring rains have come just in time for our much awaited lambing season.
For the first year, we used our own home bred 'Eureka' ram over our carefully selected elite ewes. We have high hopes for this season's lambs

For sale

2011-05-15T15:38:00.002+10:00

~~Wiltipoll ram for sale~~ SOLD
~~$450 unregistered~~

010 is 8 months old and ready for service, he is a fully shedding registered Wiltipoll ram (he shed cleanly by the age of 5 months), he is polled, has a good temperament and is easy to handle in the race, his mother is one of our best ewes, this ram is rated A1 quality by the Australian Wiltipoll association and can be sold registered for an additional fee

this ram was to be retained by our stud but due to the quality of offspring that his mother has produced, we have decided to retain her and that means we have to let this ram go.
If you are interested in 010 please phone us on 0409 804 998 or send us an email at jconnrr@bigpond.com

FOR SALE

2010-11-21T11:09:00.000+10:00

young rams and ewes, both commercial and stud registered, for sale soon

2010-09-06T07:38:00.000+10:00

It's lambing time again.
I am very happy with the vigour of this year's drop.
There has been 100% survival with all the ewes having twins (no triplets or quads this year thankfully)

Most of the lambs born are girls, like the one above, so there will be some ewe lambs and possibly older ewes available for sale later in the year.

Keep an eye on our 'For Sale' page for updates as we continue to assess this year's drop.

New stud ram arrives

2010-03-28T10:32:00.004+10:00

Our new Stud ram has arrived from NSW.

Anvil Blue 727 is a quality A1 registered ram bred by Michael and Cathy Kimmorley of the well known and respected Anvil Stud.
We thank Cathy and Michael for allowing us to have such a quality ram.

Combining superior genetics from Anvil stud with the high quality of our Eureka ewes, we are hoping for big things from our lambs this year.

After 17 hours travel (there was plenty of time for chatting) we decided to give Anvil blue 727 a nick name -'Boeing Blue' (because of the 'Boeing 727 jet' who's excellence, versatility and reliability made it the best selling airliner in the world for the first 30 years of jet transport).

Boeing Blue has a lovely calm nature that made it easy for him to deal with such a long trip, even the inner city Brisbane traffic didn't worry him.

We are hoping he passes this temperament onto his lambs.

With such a relaxed nature and all you can eat lucerne in the sheep crate on the ute Boeing Blue was happy to stay in cozy comfort (below)

He's off, finally!

Looking for the ewes

Spotted the ewes

Keep checking back to see how Boeing Blue settles in at Eureka

The flock in 2010

2009-11-19T11:39:00.010+10:00

Using my new selection criteria, I culled very heavily and reduced numbers drastically with the result of a much smaller flock of very high standard.
I am very proud of the quality of ewes I have retained.

All our Eureka ewes originate from the renowned interstate studs of Munna, Quigley, Hebron Park & Grangevale.

This year I am using an exciting new stud ram from Anvil stud NSW and have high hopes for this year's lambs.

A few Eureka ewes in their summer coats

Eureka ewe lambs, 4 months old and almost fully shed at such a young age.

No need to remove tails, as you can see they shed fully. The sheep use them to swish away any insects (just as cattle do)

Our selection criteria

2009-11-16T19:31:00.001+10:00

At Eureka we have a very rigorous selection process that we have designed in order to maintain our flock at a consistently high standard.
Our stud sheep are tagged at or soon after birth so that we can identify their genetics, evaluate and record their traits from birth through growth to weaning and production.
We are a small farm and can retain only limited stock so if a ewe is selected by us to enter our breeding program she will be of extremely high quality.
We will have kept performance records of that ewe and her mother from birth, she will be an A1 registered Wiltipoll and have gone through a strict selection process which includes, apart from general conformation, such things as udder conformation, temperament evaluation, mothering ability, ease of lambing, number of lambs born and their vigour, numbers of live lambs at weaning and their weight, ewe weight at weaning, lamb evaluation for conformation and production, ease of returning to breeding condition and much more.
Our rams go through just as rigorous a selection process, with next years rams also joining in the brucellosis scheme.
As you can see, we set high standards for our stud stock, our goal is to ensure that our buyers get stock that lives up to the Wiltipoll standard every time.

2009-11-16T15:11:00.003+10:00

Jodi O'Connor
Traveston, Qld
(07) 5485 0553

jconnrr@bigpond.com

Why we chose Wiltipoll sheep

2009-11-16T13:43:00.011+10:00

When setting up our small farm, I trialled breeds of cattle, sheep and even some goats. I was dissapointed over and over when they didn't stack up to the claims being made, some were big and very well muscled and looked to be the answer but they required an enormous amount of good feed or intensive feedlotting, time and money to be put into them to grow them out, others claimed to be good 'doers' but didn't do much at all, others were horned and required painful and often unsuccessfull dehorning procedures, some were suppose to shed their fleece and they did but then they never produced any offspring that shed their fleece with some offspring actually looking like merinos. We also had some breeds that took so long to finish that we were overrun and overstocked and we ended up with mutton dressed up as lamb.
Some breeds were hard to break into because of cost, availability or lack of consistancy of quality stock offered for sale.
We lost a lot of money in these trials and that is why we want to spread the word about genuine quality Wiltipoll sheep.

When I trialled the Wiltipoll I didn't purchase the best registered stock. we were new to this fabulous breed and we were niave so the breed didn't get the best trial but I still recognised the Wiltipoll's potential.
I then searched for quality stock and my faith in the breed was rewarded; good quality Wiltipolls do meet all the claims and then some, the quality ones are actually fully shedding and they do produce fully shedding offspring regardless of the climate or nutrition of the stock, they are actually extremely low maintenance (Eureka Wiltipolls do better than our cattle with much less inputs and pasture). Also the turnaround from farm to plate is very quick. When I trialled this breed, I actually said 'Eureka' I have found them! and hence the name of my stud - 'Eureka'.

Being a Vet nurse in a large animal practice, I have a vested interest in livestock welfare and sustainable, humane and ethical agriculture, the Wiltipoll fits the bill. Eureka!

This is a special breed and I thank the founders for their time effort and cost in developing this fabulous breed ... see the Australian Wiltipoll association website link to find out just who those progressive thinkers and developers of our breed were.

Eureka Wiltipoll ewes can be lambed, grow out their lambs to a lean prime lamb carcass of 25-28kg within a time frame of 5 months (on pasture only), shed their fleece (no need for you to shear or for that matter .. even crutch before lambing) and the lambs don't need any treatments other than vaccinaton and drenching. Those same ewes will be back in condition easily for next season to do it all again.

I love the fact that I don't have to shear, there is no muelsing or crutching, no dehorning, I don't even need to tail dock, some people have a problem with seeing sheep with tails, I am not sure why, I have never had an injury to a tail and the tails are actually helpful to keep flying insects away. All my Eureka Wiltipolls require is drenching and annual vaccinations.

My husband Sean & I both work full time away from the farm so the fact that the ewes lamb without assistance (not even the maiden ewes have needed assistance) is such a relief. We can come home one afternoon after work and there are dozens of lambs running around when in the morning before work there were none.

Our Wiltipoll ewes all lamb in their first year, having a single lamb that year and then having muliple births with twins being usual and triplets if the season is good.

The lambs are born very strong and are bounding around within minutes after birth.

Our Wiltipoll ewes produce an early finishing lean prime lamb.