Digging into sheep breeding with Doug Deppeler - what you learn after breeding sheep for 50 years!

Get in touch to share sheeping stories or questions anytime!Doug Deppeler from Deppeler Suffolks Derrinallum, Victoria, has been breeding sheep for 50 years. His sheep are highly regarded in the industry. He has won interbreed champions at several major shows and won a prestigious prize in 2020 with champion lamb at the Rona Show! In this episode Doug shares the secrets to his breeding success!Doug and I explore the following:Why should we focus on quality breeding? What does it do for a sheep enterprise and the industry at large? What are the benefits of  breeding sheep with good  attributes? What does mean for food and fibre production?How do you determine your breed objectives?Can you explain selection differential to us?How do you select a good sire when it is a ram lamb? How do you breed for certain characteristics for example hindquarter, what might you use to make that breeding decision? What do you decide on first, genotype or phenotype when you are making breeding decisions? How do you select elite ewes? How early can you select them? What makes the biggest difference in a breeding enterprise? What about line breeding? What is it to you? What do you think works/what works for you, what doesn’t? What is structural correctness and why is this important when breeding sheep?What are the challenges with breeding and culling on structural correctness?How to measure balance in a sheep? Judging a quality sheep in an objective wayUsing natural supplements for your sheepHow to boost growth rate in your sheep with minimum inputs?Support the showThank you for supporting our pod! Sign up via our sheep supporters tab !https://www.buzzsprout.com/954910/supporters/new