With lambing season starting in many flocks, this is your reminder to genotype your stock rams to ensure your lambs receive a star rating!

SIS eligible rams are in high demand since the launch of the scheme, giving pedigree breeders a great market for rams. For lowland flocks, the ram must be 4 or 5 Stars on the Replacement or Terminal Index and genotyped with a Genomic Evaluation to be eligible for the scheme. Lambs born from a stock ram sire that is not genotyped will not receive any stars! The genotype is also used to improve the accuracy of the €uroStar evaluations of both the sire and offspring. While it is not a LambPlus requirement to genotype AI sires, Sheep Ireland encourages breeders to do so, due to the increased accuracy of evaluations.

DNA verified rams give breeders reassurance when purchasing. Once a ram is genotyped he is genotyped for life; even if he is dead, any progeny he produces will be sire verified provided the lambs themselves are genotyped also. Hill flock stock rams will also need to be genotyped to sire verify their offspring for SIS.

Genotyping stock rams will help to correct any potential parentage errors found in your flock. You can check if your stock ram is genotyped through your Sheep Ireland account,  via the genomic ordering screen.

Video below!

Have a look at the video below which demonstrates how to order genotypes via the genomic ordering screen.