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 if managed well. The reality however is that many of these animals are already related, and the selection you would see in larger populations is often bounded by the necessity to preserve bloodlines. A genetically diverse population is critical – we want to see a flourishing documented purebred Damara population … but hand in hand with that, they must be everything that makes up the name Damara – strong performers, meeting physical type and displaying the ‘in paddock’ characteristics that makes them so special. The question for us, as purebred breeders with breed conservation in mind is “How do we maintain genetic diversity, in a demonstrable purebred population, while also preserving – if not improving – the features and characteristics of the breed?” This is 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 three 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. Then you have the issue of selection. We are breeding strong performing Damara. New blood infusions onto the existing pool do a lot, but selection still must take place, and you can’t do that looking at a lamb.

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 as well as documented. it is not simple a genetic catch, or a type catch – it has to be both.

Animals that pass selection and 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 – the opposite of the crossbreeding dilution – 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 and do not have pedigrees. Please contact us to discuss as we need to ensure buyers understand their lineage.