O'Brien Dohne Merino and Poll Merino

O’Brien Poll Merino’s offer to help with flock profile testing

A flock profile testing involves DNA testing 20 randomly selected lambs and will give you an ASVB value on numerous traits, that will enable you to establish what traits in your flock need improving and what are your good traits

Click here for a detailed explanation of flock profile testing

We will offer a rebate of $100 per ram purchased (up to $500) at our 2025 ram sale, if results have been made available to us and a genetic adviser to establish an objective breeding plan. We are happy to help with DNA collection and submission to Neogen.

If you buy your entire poll merino sire team/rams solely from our ram sale, a full rebate of the flock profile test will be rebated after the 2025 sale.

We will hold a genetic/ASVB education day closer to sale day (genetic adviser will be present).

There are numerous reasons why we want to make this offer:

• We have very accurate and extensive ASVBs that we feel can help keep merinos productive, profitable and relevant in today’s farming systems;
• A flock profile establishes where your flock sits in regard to what are your good traits and what traits need improving, including the money making, work saving and difficult to measure traits including growth, reproduction, condition score, wec and dag;
• As a stud trying to put elite genetics in front of you, we need your feedback where you want to take your flock. While we push numerous traits at one time, we have to be able to look out a couple of years to be able to make these genetics available to you. A good example of this is the meat eating traits, IMF – intermuscular fat, Shear force or meat tenderness, Lean meat yield, Dressing %, we have been keeping a selection eye on these traits since starting full genomic testing 5 years ago, but are only just starting to see market signals working into meat market.

Get in touch to find out more.

About us

O’Brien Dohne Merino and O’Brien Poll Merino studs are run by Darren O’Brien and Jodie Reseigh-O’Brien situated in the Kyancutta district of Eyre Peninsula, SA. Kyancutta is renowned for its hot and dry summers with this in mind we breed sheep with excellent nourishment and staple length. We have a stud ewe flock numbering approximately 1100 adult ewes across the O’Brien Poll Merino and Dohne studs.

O’Brien Dohne Merino compared on Merino Select

To accurately compare what our Dohnes offer compared to our Poll Merino and all other Merinos in the Merino Select database, we have prepared a Excel® spreadsheet and a printable pdf version. Our sale team and ewes in our mob have been genomic tested, therefore carcass and eating traits for the Dohne Sale Team are documented, a first for the Dohne breed.

It is our belief (and not the Dohne Association) that the Dohne breed need to be compared to Merinos, so we can further improve what Dohne’s are good at and work on where they aren’t. Note some people may disagree with our view.

Using our new Flock code 609392, for Dohne will enable the data we have available from full genomic testing to be used.

2023/4 Stud Reserves

Semen available

Stud Reserve OB220836

Stud Reserve OB220612

Stud Reserve (Dohne) OB 221124