The dream sheep
A healthy, hardy, delicious flock comes down to one key choice
Block owner Hayley Parsons is so passionate about wool, her goal is to carpet her home using homegrown fleece. She and husband Chris have teamed up with his sheep farming brother James and wife Janine to educate people with small flocks and sell them quality sheep. James and Janine Parsons run Ashgrove, a sheep stud just north of Dargaville. James has been farming all his life and is an expert advisor to commercial farmers in Northland.
Hayley draws on her brother-in-law's expertise and uses it to help small flock owners, typically on lifestyle blocks. Each February, suitable rams and ewes are brought from Ashgrove to their 9ha (22 acre) block in south-west Auckland. They run an education day and auction, saving buyers the hassle of travelling hours north to Dargaville.
But it's not like a commercial sheep sale with bewildering statistics and farmers paying thousands of dollars with a twitch of their nose.
James says their goal is to share information on breeding traits and help people buy the sheep that suit their needs.
“There's no such thing as the perfect sheep,” says James. “It's about selecting (sheep) for the traits you want.”
Each year, Hayley and James carefully craft an easy-to-understand catalogue aimed at small flock owners. She converts lines of complicated statistics into symbols that describe the top traits of each ram and its ranking on a national scale.
“I simplified it so buyers could see at a glance what traits the breed possessed and how that ram ranked nationally."
For Hayley, the day is all about demonstrating the benefits of sheep. James brings his farm dogs and puts on a demonstration of how a dog works sheep.
Spinners and weavers show what can be done with a fleece. Their children sell sheep manure by the bag.
“We want to use the day (of the auction) to demonstrate the whole cycle of sheep to jersey. I envisage it as being a hub of knowledge with a crutching demonstration, and Ashgrove lamb on the barbecue.
"It's a place where you can ask all those questions of people like James and Chris who have worked with sheep and know the answers, but also know how to come at it from the perspective of someone with a small flock.”
The Parsons family are passionate about helping small flock owners.
Why maternal vs terminal is important
There are two main types of sheep breeds in NZ – maternal and terminal.
“Maternal breeds, like Coopworth, Romney, and Perendale, are selected for their mothering capacity,” says James. “They have high fertility, are good mothers, produce ample milk, usually have higher disease resistance, and have a good white wool clip.
“Terminal breeds, like Suffolk, Texel, and Dorset, have bigger carcasses and are selected for growth, but not mothering ability, disease resistance, and longevity.”
The bigger, meatier terminal sheep are better if you want something delicious for the barbecue but aren't the low maintenance breed most lifestyle block farmers want to own. What you need is a sheep that's a mix of the two.
On Ashgrove, they run maternal Coopworth ewes mated to a terminal Suftex sire. The Suftex is a black-faced Suffolk mixed with the Texel breed, which produces shorter, stockier rams with a slightly quieter temperament.
“By crossing a terminal ram over a maternal ewe you get hybrid vigour in your lambs,” says James.
The lambs are heavier than their mothers and hardier than their fathers.
Ashgrove Stud sell its Coopworth, Romney, Romworth, and Suftex stock to commercial farmers, with the best ones fetching up to $6000. For large-scale operations, it's worthwhile paying for superior money-making or money-saving traits such as increased disease resistance or fast lamb growth rates.
For block owners, James says if you have four to five sheep, it's worth investing $400-$500 in a ram which can ‘work' for you for 4-5 years. The right ram is the most important factor in any flock as it fathers an entire year's worth of lambs.
“The ram is the biggest influence and provides 50 percent of the genetics to your future flock.”
The auction centrepiece is the Parsons' two-storeyed mansion. It was cut into five pieces and ferried 505km from Palmerston North to their block, south-west of Auckland.
This page: Hayley says their auction day is a way to diversify and utilise their block.
They also regularly host Airbnb guests in self-contained units.
The centrepiece is 111-year-old Huntly House, their 380m², native timber, two-storeyed mansion, originally from Palmerston North. The couple have meticulously restored it on its new site overlooking the Manukau Harbour.
Chandeliers hang above what was once a mechanics pit, and a modern kitchen accommodates caterers who feed guests.