Mundulla prime lamb producers Tim and Deb Downing estimate they have 30 per cent to 40pc more lambs to sell each year using high fecundity genetics.
But in order to reap the rewards of 175pc to 190pc lambing percentages from their prime lamb dams, Multimeat-Merino ewes, they know they need to manage their mobs closely.
The Downings first came across the Booroola gene more than 20 years ago when they bought some Booroola Leicester rams from the Struan Research Centre.
About a decade ago, geneticist Colin Earl bought the flock and formed a venture with Phil Clothier from Woolumbool stud, Lucindale, to make this highly fertile composite even more commercially relevant, adding meat quality traits to them.
Since then, the Downings have been leasing these Multimeat rams, which are mated to large-framed Merino ewes that they buy in, to produce their prime lamb dams.
Morooroo's flock comprises about 1050 Merino ewes, as well as 1350 Multimeat-Merino ewes, which are joined to Poll Dorset sires that the Downings breed themselves.
Mr Downing - along with sheep manager Rick Hinge - is always fine-tuning their management, but ensuring their Multimeat-Merino ewes are only in condition score 2.5-3 at mating is most critical.
"While you want your Merinos and first-cross (Border Leicester-Merino) ewes to be on a rising plane at mating, it is not the case with these," Mr Downing said.
"The use of Regulin (a melatonin implant) in first-cross ewes is an option but it is a $6 shot, we already have it in the genes for free."
If the Multimeat-Merino ewe lambs reach 45 kilograms to 50kg by November they are joined that year, but some years the ewe lambs are grown out to 1.5 year olds before mating.
Mr Downing says they allocate more high quality silage plus grain to the pregnant Multimeat-Merino ewes carrying twins or triplets to ensure their energy levels are way up in late pregnancy, but he warns things can go wrong with Multimeat ewes if they are not given extra feed.
"You don't need to be nursing them (the ewes) but you do need to be monitoring their conditions and feed to get the best out of them," he said.
He says their ewes can successfully rear triplets and quads, but it comes down to ensuring the ewes have adequate milk to give to their lambs.
"We had a couple of ewes rearing fours and many ewes rearing three lambs and they can do it comfortably but they need feed," Mr Downing said.
To maximise lamb survival at April-May lambing they have reduced their mob sizes at lambing from 120-130 ewes to 75-80 head.
"It requires having a lot of paddocks, but it is what we need to do," he said.
Lambing mobs are checked at least once a day.
"More often than not if they are having trouble lambing it is not because of big lambs, it is because there are two coming or they are bent around," Mr Downing said.
About 15pc of the Downings' Multimeat-Merino ewes still produce singles and any dry ewes are re-mated for an August lambing.
We had a couple of ewes rearing fours and many ewes rearing three lambs and they can do it comfortably but they need feed.
- TIM DOWNING
This year they "dabbled" in hand rearing lambs, with every lamb valuable.
Using a commercial milking machine that the lambs can drink from around the clock, they successfully reared 75 lambs that had been abandoned in the paddock.
"You don't get Multimeat ewes for that reason but it costs about $60 to feed a lamb and they are worth so much more than that," he said.
"You are lucky to be able to buy a store lamb for $120 so we are ahead of the pace with these, these are already bred and on the ground."
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Mr Hinge says having more lambs per ewe gives them options depending on the season, either to finish them or maybe sell off the later lambs.
"You can sell one at $190 or $200 or two at $140 each so it really isn't a question, or you can keep both of them going just as well," he said.
The majority of both their first-cross and second-cross lambs are sold on hooks at 25-26kg carcaseweight.
The tops in the draft are sold in late October and November, with the balance then shorn in December and finished on Morooroo's stubbles in the new year.
Most lambs are sold to Bordertown processor, JBS Australia.
Mr Downing sees the Multimeat composite as having a strong place in the prime lamb industry.
"If your property size isn't very large you can compensate with getting more lambs off that area, and if it is a large one you can still get a lot of lambs," he said.
Mr Hinge relishes the challenge of managing them.
"The better your skills at assessing nutritional needs, the better your flock will be," he said.
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