As you may know by now, Australia’s current Damara gene pool is small. One response to a narrow gene pool is to work with what exists, and 500 provable ewes – our vital population – should be a sufficient base for security. The reality however is that many of these animals are already related. As such, another response is to do some dedicated work on expanding it, and it’s one of the reasons we are developing an active upgrading program alongside our purebred stud.

At the start of the century, as commercial operations struggled, many Damara dispersed into small flocks, pockets of home paddock purebreds or mixed flocks running with Damara rams, spreading Damara genetics across the country. When an animal is found, namely females with strong Damara type — the distinctive tail, the correct body structure, the characteristic behaviours – even better some documentation or known history of her origins — she become a candidate for a F3 / foundation register. She’s not able to claimed as purebred in a technical sense, regardless how much she appears to be – or IS – simply because her linage cannot be proven. But she is a starting point, and with assessment and approval from the members of Damara Sheep Breeders Society of Australia, she will be allocated a filial generation number (click here for the process) – which can not be below a F3. From that ewe, the arithmetic of upgrading takes over. Bred to a registered purebred Damara ram, her progeny are F4 — 93.75% percent Damara. Breed those F4 females back to another purebred ram and you have F5 at 96.8% – this is threshold at which most breed societies recognise purebred status and allow registration. Beyond that, F6 reaches 98.4%, F7 hits 99.2%.

On paper, that’s a couple or few generations of disciplined breeding. In practice, it’s considerably longer.

Sheep, unfortunately, don’t read schedules. A ewe you’ve invested two seasons in produces ram lambs. Then more ram lambs. Then, if she’s particularly committed to her plan, more ram lambs again (we won’t name names but they know who they are). The ewe lambs you need to advance the line arrive on their own timeline, and there’s not a shortcut – each generation is eight months to a calendar year, and a program started today won’t produce F5 animals suitable for breeding for at least two years, – and that’s with everything going right, which is female lambs confirming to standards.

The process is slow – but it is slow precisely because it matters, and it is important to do the work properly, so that the breed remains true.

High-percentage animals — namely F4s at 93.75% — are not purebred Damaras in the stud sense. But they carrying almost the full complement of Damara genetics, presenting to type, and performing accordingly. For mixed flock operations — producers integrating Damara influence into an existing enterprise without committing to a full purebred program — these animals can be great additions. They bring parasite resilience, fat-tail energy storage, and adaptation to marginal country, at a price point well below registered purebred stock. They are not a consolation prize – they are a different tool for a different job.

The longer purpose of the upgrading program, though, is the gene pool itself. Animals that reach F5, F6 and beyond and earn full registration don’t just represent a successful project — they represent recaptured genetics entering the stud register. Genetics that weren’t there before. In a breed where the founding numbers were always limited and every generation of casual crossbreeding or undocumented breeding represents permanent loss, documented upgrading in the other direction can be a positive – even if time costly – exercise.

You will not find our F4s and F5s publicly listed for sale with our purebred stock – however we often have wethers and sometimes rams or ewes available from this program. They make excellent pets and strong contributors to mixed flocks, however are simply not suitable for use in a purebred flock. Please contact us to discuss as we need to ensure buyers understand their lineage.