Cheviots Ideal For Hogget Mating
by Ross Annabell
Waihi Pukawa Station, at the south-western end of Lake Taupo, is docking between 80-90 percent of all lambs from ewe hoggets mated to Cheviot rams.
The station has achieved those figures after only three years of mating their Romney ewe hoggets to Cheviot sires, and they’re not playing around with lifestyle block farming. The 3,200ha station runs 16,500 Romney ewes, 820 breeding cows, and 2,600 breeding hinds, wintering 45,000 stock units with a staff of nine.
Farm Manager Johnny Hill says that his experience shows Cheviot rams to be excellent sires over their Romney hoggets, producing easy lambing, high fertility, active sheep.
All the station’s hoggets - around 3,500 to 4000 - go to the ram each season at a mating weight of 45 to 46kg.
“We’ve been lambing all our ewe hoggets for the last five years, working up from 50 percent survival at docking to the present 80 to 90 percent.
“We fatten all surplus stock, including hogget lambs, which are killed at 15kg carcass weight.”
Johnny has managed Waihi Pukawa Station for 10 years.
He is so pleased with the Cheviot sires that he has extended the system in the last two years to the second big block he manages Rangiatea Station with 18,000 stock units.