These Valais sheep are described as super friendly.
These Valais sheep are described as super friendly.
Retired Whanganui veterinarian Dave Barton has backed a bid to introduce a new breed of sheep to New Zealand pastures.
Mr Barton is a shareholder in the newly formed Remarkable Valais syndicate which already has lambs on the ground after importing embryos from the United Kingdom.
The Valais is a Swiss breed dating back to the 1400s, although only registered as a breed in 1962.
Retired Whanganui vet Dave Barton.
The Remarkable Valais syndicate is a 10-strong group comprising a mix of vets, sheep breeders and animal reproductive specialists from Whanganui, Manawatu and Tararua.
Mr Barton said the attraction of the breed was its adorable unique look, friendly nature, low-fat meat and easy, all-year-round lambing features.
Their wool is a carpet, or felt type, with a micron of about 30 and they are amazingly friendly and fun to have.
"People fall in love with them at first sight," Mr Barton said.
Americans, especially, have fallen for the black-faced, black-kneed sheep, but have difficulty importing livestock from Europe after various disease outbreaks like scrapie over the years in Britain.
These Valais sheep are described as super friendly.
"We aim to breed them here in New Zealand with our long-game aim to sell pure-breed embryos to the United States within the next two years," Mr Barton said.
The exercise was the brainchild of Robyn How, of Tararua Breeding Centre who, specialises in the artificial insemination of cattle, he said.
In 2015, two of the group became obsessed with the breed. They began the arduous task of convincing MPI to issue the import standard required for ovine (sheep) semen and embryo from the United Kingdom. In 2016 they met breeders in the UK and attended Valais sheep shows throughout the UK.
After deciding on the genetics they wanted, they imported embryos and semen into New Zealand. Fast forward to late August 2017 and they were the first to have Valais lambs on the ground in New Zealand.
Mr Barton said Valais were a world heritage breed with an estimated global population of just 13,000 or 14,000, so verging on an endangered species.
"We implanted the embryos into New Zealand-bred Romney ewes as recipients and the lambs born last August are the progeny of that exercise. We also imported about 200 straws of Valais semen which we will use to impregnate the ewe lambs when they reach reproductive age.
"We will test the New Zealand waters later this month when we put two wethers up for sale on Trade Me followed by two or three ram lambs," Mr Barton said.
The New Zealand-born Valais lambs will have their first public airing at the Masterton A&P Show on Saturday, February 17.
