Health

To ensure low risk of disease, we do not introduce any ewes or wethers and have had very limited introductions of rams since 1998. Primarily, semen is used to introduce outside genetics.

OJD

SheepMAP MN3 status since 2006, Certificate No.: NS21087

Footrot

No footrot.

Ovine Brucellosis

Accredited Brucellosis free, Certificate No. CW 06/34

Worms 

Bellaine is one of the most worm-resistant Merino flocks nationally (there were no positive WEC ASBVs in the entire 2020 ram drop and every single ram in the drop had a WEC ASBV better than the MERINOSELECT average for this trait).

Lice

Free from lice. No treatments have been applied to our sheep during the life of the stud (since 1996), only to some of the handful of ram introductions, as a precaution.

Flies

High resistance to fleece rot and flystrike.

Only rams' polls and lambs breeches at marking receive preventative treatment.

Adult stud sheep have never been jetted or backlined. Weaners have been blanket treated only once in 26 years.

Mulesing was gradually phased out over the 3 markings: 2007, 2008 and 2009, with no sheep mulesed (or any other breech modification) since.

We score for breech wrinkle and breech cover at marking and this data is submitted to Sheep Genetics and is also used in our selection decisions.

Pain relief

When lambs are marked, all tails are docked with an elastrator ring, and a small percentage of males are castrated similarly (no mulesing is carried out). Lambs also receive a second duplicate eartag. The lambs receive two forms of pain relief at the time: a fast-acting local anaesthetic injected into the tail (and neck of scrotum for castrated males) to provide short-term immediate pain relief, and an oral analgesic to provide 24–48 hours pain relief.

Similar pain relief treatments are used for older sheep when required.

Clostridial diseases (Tetanus, Enterotoxaemia, Blackleg, Black disease, Malignant Oedema / Swelled Head in rams)

All sheep are vaccinated with 6-in-1 vaccine; at marking, then weaning, then annually.

Caseous Lymphadenitis (Cheesy gland)

All sheep are vaccinated with 6-in-1 vaccine as above.