6 minute read
Dedicated to excellence at Tamnamoney
Dedicated to the best of Texels at Tamnamoney
Roger Strawbridge - Coleraine, Co Londonderry
Cut Roger Strawbridge in two and like a stick of rock he’d read Texel across the centre. A dedicated and successful breeder for 30 years, this Northern Irishman shows no sign of resting on his laurels just yet.
Founded off the back of four ewe lambs, three of which were gifts for his 21st birthday and the fourth purchased by himself at the same time, the Tamnamoney flock is without doubt one of the province’s leading outfits, being behind three Scottish National Sale top prices since 2010.
“I’ve not yet got to the top of the tree at Lanark myself yet and don’t know if I ever will, but breeding the sires of two sale toppers is a pretty satisfying feeling,” says Roger who has also bred the dam of a Lanark topper.
The first of these sale leaders with a Tamnamoney sire was Forkins Rocksolid at 65,000gns, with this one being a Tamnamoney Ned son, while the second was until last year the second highest priced Texel ever sold, Knap Vicious Sid. This 145,000gns sale leader was by Tamnamoney Tuborg Gold. “Neither of these have done the flock any harm at all and it’s always pleasing to see our genetics performing for other breeders,” adds Roger who farms with help from his wife, Barbara, and daughter, Ivanna.
However, success for Tamnamoney stock isn’t restricted to recent years, with Roger making his first trip to Lanark back in 1997 when, on the advice of fellow breeder Victor Chestnutt, he headed across the water with Tamnamoney Dollar. “Victor told me he was good enough for Lanark. I wasn’t sure myself, but when Victor told me I got him entered and away we went.
“He went on to sell for 1200gns which at the time was good money and I was over the moon. When I came out of the sale ring I rang my dad who was in Australia visiting my sister to tell him as it was his idea to start the flock initially.
“I went back again in 1999, selling Tamnamoney Finegan at 2800gns to John Forsyth at Glenside. That was a fantastic feeling and really set me on my way. I went back again the following year and sold Tamnamoney Guinness at 2200gns.”
Roger has been back to Lanark with lambs almost every year since then, hitting 22,000gns in 2005 with Tamnamoney Lynbrook with this Castlecairn Kennedy son being the flock’s top price to date.
“Recent years have been equally as successful with Tamnamoney Bushtown at 10,000gns in 2018, Tamnamoney Colt 45 at 10,000gns in 2019, and two at 8000gns in 2020 in the form of Tamnamoney Dodger and Decimus. Prior to that came Tamnamoney Ultimate at 8000gns in 2013, with Tamnamoney Young Willie McBride at 9000gns in 2016.”
Alongside this strong tup trade Roger also targets the inlamb gimmer trade, being a founding flock for the successful Northern Stars Sale, Ballymena. “This has grown in to a great sale for all vendors and has really helped put Northern Irish Texels on the map. We sell between 15 and 20 in-lamb gimmers a year at Northern Stars and it’s a great way to increase income for the flock, with gimmers selling to a top of 11,000gns.”
Indeed, so successful has the flock been in selling in-lamb gimmers that this trade has dictated a change of flock management, with pedigree ewe numbers significantly reduced in favour of ET-work on the best ewes.
“At one time the flock would have had over 100 pedigree ewes, but now we’ve cut back to between 25 and 30 ewes and would flush 10-12 of those each year. It means we are able to offer gimmers every year from our best lines and that really helps boost the average price we can achieve for them.
“A lot of folk think we’re flushing to produce the Lanark ram lambs, but our ewes are milky enough that we can get naturally reared lambs as big for Lanark as we can from ET work. The benefit of ET work comes from the increased number of ewe lambs on the ground and, hence, the higher number of gimmers we can sell,” he explains.
And it is one of those gimmers, SRY07045, herself a daughter of the noted Douganhill McFly, which was the dam of the Lanark topping 46,000gns Foyle View Superstar for Michael Smyth in 2011.
Looking back at past sires McFly is one Roger immediately mentions when it comes to those which have helped push the flock forward. “Castlecairn Ion Rocket and Castlecairn Kennedy did well for us back in their time, with Knock Travis another which did a tremendous job.
But, with changes to movement rules between Northern Ireland and Great Britain coming in to force as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol under Brexit, Roger says breeders in the province face uncertain times.
“I’m quite certain that I’ll be back at Lanark this August with lambs, but what we’ll do about sourcing new stock rams this year I haven’t a clue on. There’s a lot of Northern Irish breeders come to Lanark to buy their tups every year as it is where the best Texels are.
“Indeed, I’ve sold plenty of tups at Lanark back to Northern Irish breeders and we generally buy new stock tups there ourselves. But if we have to wait for 40 days after Lanark to get tups back home it will mean we either have to lamb later or not use them in the first year, putting us a year behind the rest of the breed genetically.
“The situation will be even worse for our own rams as they will need to be resident in GB for six months before they can come back to Northern Ireland. It’s a perverse situation and one I desperately hope can be sorted out before the sales season,” explains Roger.
Currently lambing in mid-February, lambing any later isn’t something Roger wants to be forced in to, with the flock’s management tailored to its current system. “We aim to get ewes and lambs out to grass as soon as possible after birth and then put creep in front of them at about a month old.
“We used to stop feeding them for a few weeks after weaning, but we’ve switched that around now and don’t feed them for a few weeks pre-weaning and only feed the tup lambs postweaning, with this moving to twice a day trough feeding from ad-lib pre-weaning,” he says.
Ewe lambs are then not fed until they start getting fed again as gimmers ahead of lambing. “This lets them grow on naturally at grass, with feed blocks offered over winter if required to keep them moving forwards.”
It’s a system which is tried and tested to work for the Tamnamoney flock, but not one which Roger says won’t be changed in future if he feels it needs it. “I do worry about the level of feeding some lambs are receiving and am always cautious of overfeeding at any stage of the lambs’ lives.
“The level of ET being undertaken is another area which is a concern too. I’ve always been a big believer in going the opposite way to the crowd, so maybe we should be easing back of the ET work a little. The trouble is that would mean having fewer gimmers for sale and that would make a hole in our income.
“It’s always something to consider and I’m not adverse to doing something different if I think it is the right thing to do for the future of the flock.”
And looking to the future Roger says his daughter Ivanna is a key driving force behind the flock these days, encouraging him to get back to local shows in recent years. “She’s recently founded her own Lynbrooke flock and is a real help with the sheep work these days,” he adds.
