The upcoming FBD LambPlus Awards will be announced at the Sheep Ireland Breeding Conference & Farm Walk on 12 July, 2022.
Christy, Margaret and Brian Gallagher are one of three finalists for this year’s Most Improved LambPlus Flock. The Pullagh Texel flock was established almost 20 years ago and is located just north of Tobbercurry, Co. Sligo. Christy, Margaret and Brian Gallagher have been performance recording with LambPlus since the programme began in 2009 and lambed down 15 purebred Texel ewes in 2022. They also have a flock of 10 pedigree Belclare ewes and more than 100 commercial ewes.
The Gallaghers are unique in that not only do they record their pedigree animals, but they also fully record their commercial flock to the same standard as their pedigree flock. This includes mating, pregnancy scanning, lambing, weights and health information.
When selecting replacement females they first focus on the physical traits of the animal (culling any with defects) and growth rates. Then they refine the numbers down by selecting on the EuroStar indexes. They use a similar technique when purchasing new rams and ewes.
Silver Hill Eli, sired by the famous Greenhill Dance Monkey, was purchased last year at the Sheep Ireland sale and has had a big impact on the 2022 crop of lambs. He is currently ranked in the top 5% in both the Replacement and Terminal index.
The Gallaghers have also invested a lot in breed improvement. All pedigree animals on the farm are genotyped, which improves the accuracy of the evaluations and improves their confidence in the results.