Elliottdale Grading Up
Why Grade Up?
The Elliottdale breed is listed as Critically Endangered so naturally the gene pool is incredibly small. There are currently only three purebred Elliottdale ram lines registered and five ewe lines. When the original researchers developed the breed, they documented the whole process with both explanations and diagrams allowing for future breeders to use the same model to devise a grading up program using Romney ewes, the breed which was also used in the initial development of the Elliottdale. Virtually, the only thing that needs changing about the Romney is the fleece. The information is all set out in Ron Sides' book, "The Elliottdale Its Foundation and Development"
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Ron was the actual researcher and founder of the Elliottdale breed, for which he received the Order of Australia medal. I was lucky enough for him to contact me after he discovered we had taken on a breeding group. By this time Ron was in his 90's and in a Nursing Home, but he still took the time to send a handwritten letter of thanks, for helping to save the breed, along with a copy of each of his books, which was incredibly thoughtful and very much appreciated. Sadly, Ron passed in 2019, but not before knowing his beautiful breed would be continued.
GRADING UP TO A HOMOZYGOUS ELLIOTTDALE FLOCK
It is stipulated in the Elliottdale Breeding Guidelines that the rams used must be pure, registered homozygous​ rams and the ewes
must be of the Romney breed.
Grading up with Elliotts is not quite the same process as with other breeds as all we are changing is the fleece type, but the ewes used must be Romney. No other breed is acceptable. We are basically adding hairiness to the fleece quality. Consequently, it can be done in one less stage for the ewes, who should be pure and registerable by Grade 3. If not, they go the one extra breeding. Rams must go to Grade 4 or 4th cross.
We are lucky we are able to start out with pure, homozygous (H2) rams who have been pure for many years, so it will be interesting to see if this makes a difference in the quality of the progeny.
This first diagram shows the progression through the Grading process, Starting with breeding a homozygous (H2) ram and pure Romney ewes, which will produce 100% heterozygous(H1) ewes.
These ewes are then bred to a second homozygous Elliottdale ram to produce 50% homozygous and 50% heterozygous progeny. The homozygous ewes are then bred to a third homozygous ram to produce 100% homozygous that are eligible for registration, pending inspection. The remaining 50% heterozygous ewes are also bred again and those that are homozygous can be added to the registered flock, pending inspection.
Graded up rams are required to go to Grade 4 or F4 to be eligible for registration.
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As this process for grading ewes is slightly different to the usual grading up, approval by ASSBA was required. This was accomplished when the Elliottdales joined the Flock Book. The principles are still the same using a registered homozygous ram for each breeding, but the ewes used must be Romney ewes and the numbers of breedings needed, may be lessened as long as the graded up ewes pass inspection at Grade 3 or F3.
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I'm sure by now, you are wondering how we gauge if an Elliottdale is homozygous or heterozygous. It all depends on the fleece and we will look at that next.
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BIRTHCOAT GRADES
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Wool follicles and their fibres develop in the skin of the foetus in the same pattern for both carpet and apparel wool sheep.
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There is a basic head to rump sequence of follicle initiation, development and maturity. The areas of earlier maturing follicles (neck and shoulder) produce finer fibres in the adult fleece, and those maturing later (breech area) produce coarser fibres. This accounts for the variation from shoulder to breech in all sheep fleeces.
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The variation is greater in carpet wool sheep than in apparel wool sheep and it is quite noticeable in Elliottdale and Drysdale heterozygotes. It is this variation which distinguishes the heterozygote from the homozygote in these breeds allowing homozygotes to be identified. For accuracy lambs must be identified using the birthcoat before they are six weeks of age. Attempting to identify genotypes by examining the fleeces of adult sheep is less accurate and not recommended.
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IDENTIFICATION
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The coat of a carpet wool lamb has noticeably long, coarse and hairy fibres.The number of these fibres per given area reduces progressively from the shoulder and neck area to the rump in the heterozygote. This variation is graded as per the Diagram below. In Elliottdales Grade 6+ and 7 lambs are homozygotes; lower grades are heterozygotes. NB:(Grades 1, 2 and some 3 are Romney type). Identification of genotype at under six weeks of age is very accurate. The genotype once determined should not be altered at a later stage, regardless of whether the fleece grade varies or not.
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For practical purposes, a poor adult homozygote may go into a heterozygous flock, but a good heterozygote should never be upgraded to the homozygous flock, otherwise the the production of heterozygous rams could result.
FOETAL FIBRE GROWTH PATTERN
BIRTHCOAT GRADES
The birthcoats of both the Romney lamb (left) and the Elliottdale (right), showing the "hairy" carpet wool fleece of the Elliottdale.
Romney lamb
Elliottdale lamb