2015 March Update

We are absolutely thrilled at the level of support our rams have received during 2014. We would like to thank all our friends, clients and under-bidders who attended our on property ram sale or purchased stock post sale. Thank you to all the agents who have supported Koonik and promoted the Dohne breed. We want, and expect, that all our clients will be happy and satisfied with the rams they purchase.

At our 2014 on-property helmsman auction we achieved a total clearance of 72 rams offered, with an overall average of $1339. Top price for the sale was for Lot 4, an outstanding heavy cutting ram by UD080786 with a clean fleece weight (CFW) of +13.9 and yearling weight (YWT) of +4.5. This ram was secured by the Edwards family of Pindari, Yerong Creek NSW, with a bid of $3,600.

Second top price of the day was $3,200 for Lot 1, with a CFW of +15.2 and YWT of +4.7, purchased by the Stevenson family of Fairview, Tungamah. The volume buyer for the sale was the McCann family of Inverleigh, who took home 10 rams from the auction, to a top of $1,400. A further 6 grade rams were sold post auction. To top the year off we sold over 100 rams.

We are now looking forward to our 2015 selling season. We have assessed, selected and shorn 30 early drop rams and have another 80 June/July rams to assess mid-year.

This season’s rams are growing out well, with good solid structures and white soft handling well-nourished wools. To avoid clashing with public holidays in SA and NSW we have changed our sale date to the first Friday in October. This year we will once again have Bill Mildren and Gary Simpson working with us to select the top rams for our Oct 2nd, 2015 on Property Helmsman Ram Auction.

With the declining number of sheep in Australia and the continued demand for meat and wool, the Dohne sheep is the perfect option for a commercial breeder. It is good to see the Dohne numbers increasing. Dohnes are the ideal easy care, self-replacing flock. They are highly fertile, producing fast growing prime lambs with quality white merino wool.

They are adaptable to a range of climatic conditions. The easy care Dohne have been the answer on our property, with ewes not needing any assistance during lambing and minimal supplementary feeding required during dry times. At the moment they are blooming pregnant grazing on stubbles. The mothering ability of the ewes is demonstrated daily during lambing, with the ewes staying close by while their lambs are birth weighed and ear tagged in the paddock. No mulesing is required for our pure Dohnes, so life continues to be a breeze.

Koonik ewes and rams remain eligible for entry to all states of Australia through testing negative HT-J 350 test for OJD and we continue to Gudair vaccinate all our progeny. We are a Brucellosis Accredited free (No.2462) flock. At Koonik we now have Duncan home taking a gap year after successfully completing his VCE. He is still thriving on his cricket and athletics, and working on farm between training. Duncan is running again in the Stawell Gift and in May will be heading to the UK with the Australian School Boys Athletic team.

Isobelle is busy studying Year 12 and has a confident outlook for her future. She is looking forward to the netball season after her team won the Grand Final for Border Districts last year.

Lily is presently away at the Gnurad-Gundidj Leadership School for Term 1, learning to become our next Prime Minister; we will miss her help at the upcoming field days. She has carried on her enthusiasm for bouncing on the trampoline and has reached the State U15 finals for High Jump.