Last October we were fortunate to purchase 75% of the best Hamilton Run Dohne stud ewes and four specially selected hogget rams at their dispersal sale. After the sale we secured two stud sires, a good supply of semen from proven sires and the Hamilton Run Dohne stud name and logo.
The highlight of the deal was our purchase of HR160121, the 2018 Australian Sheep and Wool Show Grand Champion Dohne ram for $35,000, a new world record for a Dohne ram. We believe our investment in this exceptional sire will keep the Hamilton Run stud at the top well into the future; we have 170 HR lambs on the ground at present.

We will be running the Koonik and Hamilton Run Dohne Studs separately and are thrilled to announce the engagement of Stud Classer Ian Bradtke, to help maintain the continuity and integrity of the Hamilton Run Dohne Stud. And so provide stud and commercial breeders with pure HR Dohne genetics for many years to come. Ian will complement the superb Koonik team of Bill Mildren and Gary Simpson.

Our Dohne ewe numbers and quality are building quickly, so in August this year, along with our friends at JAG Dohnes, we held a Dohne sale at Mount Pleasant, SA. Together we put up fifty-eight rams and sold forty-one for an average of $1465. We also sold fifty-two stud ewe hoggets which averaged $255.

Ram HR160121
Greg Andrews, Nicole Luckraft, Darren & Fiona Cameron.

Mt Pleasant SA Sale Team Aug 16, 2019
Back: Elders Laryn Gogel, Landmark Ashley Fawcett, Gordon Wood, David Schultz, Jude Eustice (JAG Dohnes), Darren Cameron, Lily Cameron, Elders Kahlia Jenke, Richard Henschke.
Front: Greg Petersen (JAG Dohnes), Fiona Cameron.

The Australian Sheep and Wool Show

Ram UC174383
Bill Mildren (Stud Advisor), Darren & Fiona Cameron (Koonik Dohne Stud), Margie & Sandy Pye (Calga, Uardry & DD Dohne Studs) and Jason Southwell (Stud Advisor)

At the Australian Sheep and Wool Show this year we privately purchased a Uardry ram for $15,000.

UD174383 is a well-balanced early maturing sire with great muscling and structure. He is a true dual-purpose sheep, with a big lock, soft wool on a great carcase that will have a massive impact on the Uardry side of our Koonik Stud.

We are very enthusiastic about the future of the Dohne breed, in the current economic climate it is great to have your finger in more than one pie and the Dohne is a winner every time. We have many clients with ewes grossing over two hundred and fifty dollars a head.

It’s a great time to be in sheep!

We really love our wool and have been investing in Moorundie stud ewes for the Mitre Rock Poll Merino stud for three years. Our Borambil Sire is by PB 54 (from the most successful family at Poll Boonoke) and out of a Moorundie ewe. This has led to a marked improvement in both the structure and wool quality of our Poll Merino flock. Our sale rams are looking fabulous and will be mid-side sampled prior to the auction to get a more recent measurements for clients.

2019 Sale Information

We hope you can join us to inspect the quality line up of rams at our 9th annual sale at Koonik on:
Friday October 4th, 2019
70 Koonik Dohne rams
12 Mitre Rock Poll Merino rams

Inspections from 10am, Auction 1pm

We would love to chat with you about the future direction of our studs and how we can assist with your sheep enterprise. Please find enclosed a copy of our catalogue for your perusal.

Borambil PB-189
Purchased Sheepvention 2016 for $12,000
Roger Mathews (Borambil Poll Merino Stud),
Darren Cameron, Bill Mildren (Stud Advisor)

Moorundie M4774
Purchased Sheepvention 2018 for $10,000
Geoff Davidson, Bill Mildren, Darren Cameron, Bernadette Davidson

Click here for the 2017 Koonik Newsletter

Click here for the 2016 Koonik Newsletter

KDS100107 Sold at National Premier Sire Sale Aug 2013 to Coolibar Dohne Stud for $4500.

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.

KDS110247 Top priced ram at Naracoorte
Dohne Invitation Ram Sale Aug 2013. Purchased
by Robert Cross, Wynwood Pastoral Trust.

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.