Alderton Farm Blog

Alderon Magnus takes Signet Performance Award for Ram Lambs

1 August, 2019

Home-bred Magnus, ranked in the top 25% of the breed for Terminal Sire Index and the Top 5% of the breed for Muscle Depth, won the Signet Performance Award at Burwarton Show. He was placed 2nd in the Ram Lamb Showing Class and was the highest placed Signet Recorded lamb with a Terminal Sire Index above the breed average. Magnus was also CT scanned earlier in the year and he turned out to have the best predicted killing out percentage of any Shropshire in 2019. Magnus has now been sold to Peter Tavernor for his Shebdon Flock.

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Alderton Flock Celebrates 20 Years!

1 July, 2019

In July we celebrated our 20thAnniversary as Shropshire breeders. We started our flock back in 1999 with 25 ewes and a ram purchased from the Sidedowns flock of John and Pauline Bowles, based in Devon. At the time, the Shropshire was still a rare breed. We have greatly enjoyed being part of the Shropshire’s journey towards a brighter future as numbers have gradually increased and the breed was finally taken off the Rare Breeds “at risk” register in 2012.  We received a “Long Service” Bronze Award at the Society’s AGM in recognition of our two decades as breeders.

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Alderton becomes one of the first Shropshire flocks to undertake CT Scanning

18 July, 2018

Five of our Signet-recorded ram lambs were some of the first Shropshire’s to go through the mobile CT Scanner at Stoneleigh at the beginning of July. Computed Tomography (CT) Scanning is a high tech way of evaluating the carcase and bone structure of live animals to identify those that have superior genetics and will therefore make good sires for the next generation. CT scanning predicts to an accuracy of 98% the muscle shape, including gigot shape and eye-muscle area. It also measures the muscle to bone ratio, the muscle to fat ratio, total spine length, pelvic width and killing out percentage. All these attributes are important for breeders aiming to produce good meat lambs, and so the CT results enable the very best sheep to be identified.

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Alderton Flock takes both Signet Performance Awards

4 August, 2017

Our stock ram, Hayne Oak Randall, won the Signet Performance award at the popular Burwarton Show in August. Our home-bred ram lamb, Alderton Monty, took the Signet Performance Award for the best Signet recorded ram lamb at the same event. Both are well above average for genetic merit – especially for Terminal Sire Index (which measures growth and carcase traits). In fact Randall is ranked 6th on the Top Stock Sires list of all recorded flocks, while Monty is 4th on the top ram lamb list for genetic merit in 2017. The Signet Performance Awards are given to the Signet recorded animals with above average genetic merit that are placed highest in the usual Shropshire show classes at Burwarton.  Randall was 2nd in the ram showing class and Monty was 3rd in the ram lamb class. Monty will be used as a stock sire in our flock from this autumn.

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Alderton Sherlock wins Signet Performance Award

7 August, 2014

Alderton Sherlock, born on 20th January 2014, was unbeaten in the show ring this year at Newport, Oswestry and Burwarton Shows. He received the Signet Performance Award for the best ram lamb with above average genetic merit at Burwarton, where he competed in a class of 14. Sherlock’s Signet index of 202 for carcass plus maternal traits puts him well within the top 10% of the breed. We are using him in our breeding programme this year.

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