How Better Genetics Reduce Labour and Increase Lamb Survival
- Daniel Mcculloch
- 4 days ago
- 7 min read
Running a productive sheep enterprise is not simply about producing more lambs. The real challenge is producing more lambs that survive, grow efficiently and require less intervention along the way.
For many Australian sheep producers, lambing is one of the most labour-intensive periods of the year. Difficult births, weak lambs, poor mothering ability, mismothering and lamb mortality can all increase the amount of time spent checking mobs and assisting individual animals. While good nutrition, animal health and lambing management remain essential, there is another important part of the solution: genetics.
Investing in better maternal sheep genetics can progressively build a flock that is better equipped to conceive, lamb, mother and raise offspring successfully.
Instead of continually managing the same problems generation after generation, producers can use genetic selection to address some of those problems at their source.
Why Lambing Labour Is Such an Important Consideration
Labour efficiency is becoming increasingly important in modern sheep production.
During lambing, producers may spend significant time monitoring ewes, assisting difficult births, dealing with abandoned or mismothered lambs and managing animals that struggle under challenging conditions.
Some intervention will always be necessary. Weather, nutrition, disease and unexpected complications cannot be eliminated through genetics.
However, a flock containing ewes genetically better suited to reproduction and maternal performance has the potential to require fewer interventions than one in which these characteristics have received little selection pressure.
The objective isn't a completely hands-off lambing system. It is to develop sheep that are more capable of doing the job themselves.
That is where maternal sheep genetics become particularly valuable.
What Are Maternal Sheep Genetics?
Maternal genetics refers to the inherited characteristics that influence how successfully breeding females reproduce and raise their progeny.
These characteristics can include fertility, litter size, birth weight, lamb survival, milk production, growth and maternal behaviour.
For commercial producers, these traits matter because the number of lambs conceived is only one part of reproductive performance.
A ewe that produces twins but successfully raises only one lamb has not delivered the same productive outcome as a ewe that conceives twins and raises both through to weaning.
The commercial goal therefore needs to extend beyond pregnancy or scanning percentage.
Ultimately, producers need to consider lambs successfully weaned per ewe joined and how efficiently those lambs are produced.
ProBreed's Maternal breeding program reflects this broader approach. Its Maternal sires are selected for high maternal efficiency and fertility alongside weaning and post-weaning growth, while selection for low birth weight and high survival aims to reduce lambing difficulties and losses.
1. Better Genetics Can Reduce Lambing Difficulties
Birth weight is an important consideration when developing a low-intervention lambing system.
Extremely heavy lambs may increase the likelihood of difficult births, while very small lambs can have reduced vigour and may be more vulnerable following birth.
The goal is therefore not simply to breed the smallest lamb possible. Producers need genetics capable of achieving an appropriate balance between manageable birth weight, survival and subsequent growth.
This is one reason objective genetic information is valuable.
Rather than selecting rams on appearance alone, Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) allow producers to consider the genetic potential of animals for economically important traits.
ProBreed Maternal sires, for example, are selected for low birth weight together with high survival and growth characteristics.
Over successive generations, strategic selection can help create a flock more suited to straightforward lambing while maintaining the performance required after birth.
Fewer difficult births can mean fewer individual ewes requiring assistance, reducing pressure on both livestock and the people managing them.
2. Lamb Survival Begins With Genetics
Lamb survival is influenced by numerous factors.
Weather conditions, birth weight, lamb vigour, ewe nutrition, colostrum intake, disease, predation and maternal behaviour can all affect whether a newborn lamb survives.
Good management therefore remains essential.
But genetics can improve the biological foundation producers are working with.
Selecting maternal sheep genetics with survival as a priority can increase the probability that future generations possess characteristics suited to surviving from birth through to weaning.
This becomes particularly important in high-fertility flocks.
Producing more twins and multiples can increase kilograms of lamb produced per hectare, but additional lambs only create value when a high proportion survive.
The breeding objective should consequently combine fertility with survival rather than pursuing prolificacy in isolation.
3. Strong Maternal Ability Means Less Intervention
A productive ewe needs to do considerably more than become pregnant.
After lambing, she needs to remain with her lambs, allow them to suckle, provide adequate milk and successfully raise them.
Poor maternal behaviour can create additional work through mismothering, bottle feeding, mothering-on procedures or increased monitoring.
Strong maternal ability therefore has both productivity and labour implications.
ProBreed describes maternal efficiency as a ewe's ability to produce and raise one or multiple lambs each year. Its breeding philosophy considers factors including conception, litter size, survival, milk production and maternal behaviour.
For commercial producers, the principle is straightforward: the more effectively the ewe performs her maternal role, the less frequently people should need to perform it for her.
4. Fertility Must Be Matched With Survival
High scanning percentages can be encouraging, but scanning results alone don't pay the bills.
The more commercially meaningful measure is how many lambs ultimately reach weaning.
A breeding program focused solely on conception or litter size can therefore miss an important part of the productivity equation.
ProBreed selects its Maternal sires for fertility and number of lambs weaned alongside survival and growth. The company reports approximately 190% weaning success across its mature-age flock and identifies high fertility and survival as key benefits of its breeding approach.
For producers considering new genetics, this highlights an important question:
Are you breeding for more lambs conceived, or more lambs successfully raised?
The second objective is ultimately what creates saleable lambs and replacement females.
5. Early Growth Can Improve Production Efficiency
Getting a lamb safely onto the ground is only the beginning.
It then needs to grow.
Strong early growth can contribute to heavier weaning weights and potentially help producers reach production targets sooner.
This is why maternal breeding shouldn't focus on reproduction at the expense of growth.
A balanced program considers the complete production cycle: conception, birth, survival, maternal performance, growth and weaning.
ProBreed Maternal sires are selected for both weaning and post-weaning weight traits, reflecting the need to combine reproductive efficiency with commercially useful growth.
When lambs are born at an appropriate weight, survive and then grow strongly, the entire system becomes more efficient.
6. Genetics Can Create Cumulative Labour Savings
One of the biggest advantages of genetic improvement is that the benefits can accumulate.
A management intervention may solve a problem this season.
Genetic improvement can influence the next generation and, when replacement females are retained, generations after that.
Imagine two breeding directions.
In one flock, replacement ewes are retained without strong selection for fertility, survival, maternal ability or appropriate mature size.
In another, replacements come from genetics consistently selected for those characteristics.
Over time, the performance of the two flocks can become increasingly different.
The second flock has been deliberately built around animals expected to perform efficiently within the production system.
This is why genetic improvement should be viewed as a long-term business strategy rather than simply a ram-purchasing decision.
7. Objective Data Makes Selection More Reliable
Visual assessment remains useful when evaluating structural soundness and whether an animal is suitable for a particular operation.
But many commercially important maternal traits cannot be reliably assessed just by looking at a ram.
That makes performance recording, pedigree information and breeding values particularly important.
ProBreed's breeding program uses full pedigree information and measures lambs for important production traits, with the aim of generating continuing genetic gain.
Objective information allows producers to select genetics according to specific business objectives rather than relying entirely on appearance or assumptions about breed type.
For a producer experiencing excessive lambing intervention, for example, birth weight and survival may deserve particular attention.
For another business, the priority may be increasing lambs weaned while maintaining moderate ewe size and strong growth.
The right genetic direction depends on the production system.
Better Genetics Still Need Good Management
Genetics should never be viewed as a replacement for sound livestock management.
Even genetically strong ewes will perform poorly if nutrition, health and lambing conditions are inadequate.
Ewe condition entering lambing, pregnancy nutrition, mob size, shelter, stocking density, disease management and predator control can all influence lamb survival.
ProBreed's own management advice emphasises nutrition during pregnancy and appropriate management to reduce mismothering.
The strongest results occur when genetics and management work together.
Think of genetics as increasing the capability of the animal, while management creates the environment in which that capability can be expressed.
Building a More Self-Sufficient Flock
The long-term opportunity is to develop a flock that requires less corrective management.
That means selecting animals suited to your environment and commercial objectives and consistently applying selection pressure to the traits that matter.
For a maternal operation, useful questions include:
How many lambs are being weaned per ewe joined?
What percentage of lambs survive from birth to weaning?
How frequently are ewes requiring assistance at lambing?
Are birth weights appropriate for the production system?
Which ewes consistently rear twins successfully?
Are replacement females coming from the most productive maternal lines?
Are mature ewe size and feed requirements appropriate?
Is genetic progress being measured from year to year?
These questions shift the focus from managing symptoms to improving the underlying flock.
How ProBreed Approaches Maternal Genetic Gain
ProBreed was established with a focus on bringing technology, genetics and data into sheep breeding.
Its Maternal program is designed around maternal efficiency, with selection covering fertility, survival, appropriate birth weight and early growth.
The objective is particularly relevant for producers seeking to maximise lamb production per hectare without simply increasing ewe size or accepting greater lambing losses as the cost of higher fertility.
ProBreed's approach also recognises that genetics need to fit the individual farm.
Production environment, feed availability, flock type, labour availability and market objectives all influence which genetics are most suitable.
Rather than asking which ram has the biggest numbers, the better question is:
Which genetics will solve the limitations currently holding back my sheep enterprise?
Turn Lambing Problems Into Breeding Objectives
Every difficult lambing season provides information.
High rates of assisted births, poor lamb survival, low weaning percentages, weak maternal behaviour or excessive labour requirements shouldn't simply be accepted as inevitable features of sheep production.
They can be used to identify future breeding priorities.
Nutrition and management improvements may produce immediate gains, while better maternal sheep genetics provide an opportunity to make longer-term, cumulative change.
By selecting for balanced birth weight, fertility, survival, maternal efficiency and growth, producers can progressively build sheep that are better equipped to conceive, lamb and raise their offspring with less assistance.
That can translate into more lambs surviving to weaning, fewer hours spent dealing with preventable problems and more kilograms of lamb produced from the same farming system.
For producers looking to improve both flock performance and labour efficiency, maternal genetics are therefore much more than a breeding decision.
They are a practical tool for building a more productive, resilient and manageable sheep enterprise.
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