|
|
Based on kg meat / hectare / input costs the Bapedi is almost impossible to beat! |
The name change: How Pedi became Bapedi When the Boers fist came into contact with Bapedi sheep in the late 1800's, they called them Pedies. The name stuck amongst whites. However, recent attempts by the Pedi Sheep Breeders Club of South Africa to register a Breed Society, revealed a thriving group of traditional sheep farmers in the breed's original area of development who also wanted to register a Breed Society; and amongst them the breed has always been known as Bapedi Sheep. Recently it was agreed to merge the two groups and a common constitution for a breed society has been agreed upon and accepted in terms of the Act regulating livestock improvement. The society that will be registered will be know as the Bapedi Sheep Breeders Society of South Africa and the breed will henceforth be know as Bapedi Sheep. |
How we got into Bapedi's In 1983 we bought 7 top Mutton Merinos - 5 ewes and two rams. This decision was prompted by the breed's reputation for supposedly high productivity. Fifteen years later, we had just one ewe left. Of all those produced, we had managed to consume only one: a very expensive sheep as we had accumulated vet's bills of more than R 10,000 over the years! All the others had died of some or other disease. Clearly, a sick sheep was a dead sheep. In 1997 we acquired 6 Pedi sheep - 5 ewes and one ram. Four years later we had over 30 and we had consumed at least 20! The sheep hardly ever got sick, which was just as well, because a sick sheep was still a dead sheep. In all this time we had not de-wormed once, and had not even vaccinated. Vet's bills were zero. Various Pedi flocks have been shown to be immune to Blue Tongue. At Grehenheim we do not vaccinate at all, not even against Pulpy Kidney, a disease that manifests itself when sheep come under stress. Backed by Frikkie's genetic knowledge and his experience as a Zoologist (see CV), and our experience in breeding German Shepherd Dogs, we periodically acquired the best rams we could find and, with careful selection, we gradually built a top-class flock. |
Contents |
What we select for The Bapedi sheep is first and foremost a naturally selected, minimum care, veld sheep, adapted to survive in the harsh conditions of the bush veld. Traditionally, they require almost no management and hardly ever get sick, and when they do, it is seldom due to local diseases such as Heart-water or worm infestation. Winter-time, when food is scarce, they depend on the fat in their tails for survival. These are the characteristics we at Grehenheim seek to maintain. While we have a state-of-the-art sheep handling facility, they sleep outside. We never de-worm the whole flock, only those that need it. Any animals that require more de-worming than the rest of the flock are culled. Sheep that get Heart-water or any other local disease are immediately culled. Bapedi's should never be too heavy, this would impair their ability to walk long distances in search of food. Hence we do not select for weight, although we do select against animals that are smaller than the norm for our population. We don't have a lambing season and we don't isolate young ewes from the flock as this does not happen in their traditional areas. This way the fertile ewes that can conceive and lamb at a young age without being disadvantaged thereby, are selected for. Unfortunately, because we have a stud, and thus have to know who the parents are, the young rams have to be isolated from the flock before they reach reproductive age. However, to counter this, we leave some cull ewes with the rams and utilize their offspring for the pot. All animals that exceed the extremes of the flock parameters are culled, for example those that are too small or too big, grow too slowly or too fast etc. |
History of the Bapedi Sheep The fat-tailed Bapedi sheep arrived in South Africa between 200 and 400 AD with the Bapedi people, who had migrated into the Northern Province and settled south of the Soutpansberg. Ever since then the black people of the area had maintained these sheep without modern scientific methods. The Breed has thus been subjected to natural selection for centuries. Only in the mid-1980's did the white man enter the picture. In an effort to ensure the survival of indigenous breeds, a flock of Bapedi sheep was established and maintained at the Stellenbosch Breeding Station in Sekukhuneland in the Northern Province. A second flock was established for recording and evaluation purposes on the farm Delftzyl near Roetan in the Northern Province. The Pedi Club of South Africa was established in 1998 and applied to be recognised as a Breed Society in terms of the Livestock Improvement Act in 2006 under the name "Pedi Breeders Society of South Africa". Registration as a Breed Society was delayed when it became apparent that a group of Bapedi people also wanted to register a Breed Society. The two groups have now got together and a common constitution has been agreed upon. It has also been agreed that the breed shall henceforth be known as Bapedi Sheep, in keeping with the breed's origins. The Pedi Club is affiliated to the South African Stud Book and Livestock Improvement Association as incorporated in terms of Act 25 of 1977 and has effectively been functioning as a breed society since 2006. The club currently controls the Breed Standard and stud animals are registered through the club with the South African Stud Book. The main aim of the club, as reflected in the Breed Standard, is to improve the quality of the breed without sacrificing any of the qualities that have been fixed in the breed through Natural Selection. Once the proposed breed society becomes functional, the society will hopefully take over the registration functions of the club. Sources: Landrace Breeds: South Africa's Indigenous and Locally Developed Farm Animals, Compiled and edited by Keith Ramsey, Liz Harris and Antoinette Kotze. Farm Animal Conservation Trust, ISBN: 0-620-25493-9. This history updated 3 March 2009. Ras Standaard in Afrikaans |
Natural Selection of the Bapedi Sheep Definition of Natural Selection - The evolutionary process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. (Concise Oxford Dictionary, 2002). In essence, animals that are better adapted to their environment in terms of feeding and health will spend less time on basic survival and will thus have more opportunity to reproduce than their less adapted counterparts, and over time their genes will thus increase in the population. Conversely, badly adapted, unhealthy individuals or individuals that cannot utilize or survive on the available food will be so busy surviving that their opportunities to reproduce will lessen, or in extreme cases, they will simply die before they can reproduce, and their genes will decrease in the population or eventually even disappear from the population altogether. Fat-tails in particular are a powerful advantage for survival in hot dry areas with little food. A fat-tailed ram can live off the fat in his tail during bad times and reproduce while his thin tailed counterpart is foraging for food. In addition, the metabolism of fat produces 8 times more water than protein. Animals with access to fat will thus be less dependant on water. More of the next generation will thus carry his genes rather than those of his counter part. Another example relates to disease: In every population, humans included, some individuals are more resistant to a disease outbreak than others. If only those that do not get sick are allowed to breed, the population as a whole will eventually become immune to the disease. In the development of the Bapedi in a Heart-water area, animals susceptible to the disease died as there was no treatment available in their traditional environment. Over time the Bapedi breed as a whole developed a high resistance to the disease. This advantage, however, would quickly disappear if breeders started to practice Heart-water control. |
Bepaling van 'n top ram Klik hier vir 'n volle verduideliking van hoe die gradering stelsel van Pedi Skape werk Klik hier vir 'n verduideliking van die verskillende Stamboek Registrasie Registers By Grehenheim gebruik ons sleg T5 / Elite of T5/Merite gegradeerde ramme of ramme met 'n definitiewe potensiaal om hierdie mylpaal te beryk, en wat SP (“Studbook Proper”) geregistreer is. Ons beveel aan dat 'n teler wat wil stoet teel, ramme wat minstens “T5/M” (Meriete) gegradeer is, en minstens op Stamboek “B” geregistreer is, gebruik. Om ramme wat laer gegradeer is te gebruik maak nie sin uit die stoetteler se oogpunt nie. Boere wat slegs kommersieel of vir die pot produseer, behoort nie ramme wat laer as T4/S (S = Superior) gegradeer is te gebruik nie. Stamboek registrasie is hier nie van veel waarde nie. Ramme uit hierdie klas is redelik volop en goedkoop en behoort redelike nageslag te produseer. Kyk na die stamboek en die graderings van die voorgeslagte. 'n Ram met al sy voorouers T5/E gegradeer sal omtrent altyd beter produseer as ? ram met lae gegradeerde voorouers. 'n Goeie ram uit 'n kudde van eenvormige tipe (skape wat almal redelik eners lyk) is omtrent gewaarborg om soortgelyk te produseer, veral as die ooie waarop hy gebruik word ook van dieselfde eenvormige tipe is. Onthou: |
'n Skaap se stamboek is net so goed as hyself - niks beter nie. Swakkelinge kom in die beste families voor en moet nie mee geteel word nie. Die beste stamboek beteken niks as die dier self van swak gehalte is nie. 'n Goeie ram uit 'n goeie familie met 'n goeie agtergrond sal omtrent altyd goed produseer. Dit is moontlik vir 'n goeie ram met onbekende ouers om goed te produseer, maar die voorspelbaarheid daarvan is laag, en die nageslag gewoonlik baie variabel. |
Meat characteristics You are what you eat Pedi meat is tasty, tender and healthy: Because of their wide and natural dietary intake (they literally eat anything - grass, leaves, roots, weeds, cactus etc). A cactus plant after Pedi's had been at it Growth and weight-gaining stimulants fed to intensively produced animals animals probably contribute to obesity in the people that eat them. Veld sheep are free of these growth stimulants. They taste like just Karroo lamb! |
Pro’s & Con’s of Lambing Seasons The gestation period of Pedi sheep average 160 days, but may vary from 150 to 170 days and they lamb twice a year. In management systems which incorporates a lambing season, rams are introduced to the flock twice a year for a period of maximum two months at a time. Ewes synchronise their seasons when the rams are introduced and almost all are usually ready to be mated within a period of one month. Theoretically, the small number of ewes that do not get pregnant at first mating will be pregnant by the end of the second month. Ewes not pregnant should be culled on the basis of their low fertility. The biggest disadvantage of the system is that a larger number of rams are required as one ram can only mate about 20 to 25 ewes during such a short space of time. One is therefore often forced to use rams of lesser quality in order to ensure that all ewes are impregnated. Having the flock all lamb more or less at the same predetermined time has significant management advantages, particularly when there is a risk of predation on the lambs by jackal and / or Caracal (Rooikat). In nature, predator numbers are controlled by the periods of minimum available food. When a large number of lambs suddenly arrive, only a relatively small number of lambs will be lost to predation as the number of predators present can only eat so much and no more (predator swamping). One can further protect the flock by keeping them in a predator-proof camp during the lambing period until all the lambs are big enough to fend for themselves at about four weeks of age. However, it could be difficult to provide facilities to keep a large flock confined for up to two months and it will in all probability be necessary to feed the flock as it is unlikely that there would be sufficient natural food in such a camp. Another advantage of the system is that the introduction of the rams can be manipulated so that the lambs arrive at times when there is sufficient food on the veld, thus limiting the need to feed the flock. The danger here is that if there is insufficient food for the ewes during pregnancy and the ewes starve; an entire crop of weak lambs may be the result. Not having a lambing season has the following advantages: The major disadvantage is that the system invariably results in more ewes lambing in the veld more regularly during the year. As this contributes to a more stable year-round food source for predators in the form of vulnerable new-born lambs, their numbers may increase. This disadvantage can be limited by keeping heavily pregnant ewes back until they have lambed and their lambs are at least four weeks old and able to fend for themselves. Unlike in systems where there is a lambing season, the ewes with very young lambs are smaller in number at any one time and thus much easier to manage. At Grehenheim we have no lambing season, preferring the option of keeping heavily pregnant ewes back until they have lambed and their lambs are four weeks old. Go to top of page |
How to Use Rams For maximum genetic progress in one specific direction, one should ideally only use one ram with a flock: the very best ram carrying the desired traits one is selecting for. This does, however, present some risks: Overall, the genetic progress of the flock using only one ram at a time is relatively slow. Splitting the flock into sub units is an option, but is expensive as more camps have to be constructed and a greater degree of management is required. Furthermore, the splitting of a Bapedi flock into smaller isolated flocks with one ram per flock contradicts the stated aim of the Pedi club of producing a low-care veld sheep. Breeding Bapedi Sheep according to the standard means breeding sheep that retains the characteristics required by an efficient veld sheep. One of these characteristics is to breed a ram that can compete against lesser rams in the flock in order to maintain the best possible genetic vigour. For these reasons the Pedi Club allows up to four rams to be with a flock simultaneously with the proviso that the paternal origin of all progeny to be registered is determined through DNA profiling. The cost hereof is about R65.00 per lam. If DNA paternal testing is not an option, then only one ram of reproductive age may be with the flock. If rams are changed, at least one month must lapse from the time the old ram is taken out of the flock and before the new ram is introduced. At Grehenheim we have run three rams with a flock of 150 to 200 ewes and determine paternity through DNA analysis. Establishing who the mother is, of course, easy as she will be nursing the new-born lamb. Go to top of page |
It is more natural and requires less management. Less rams are required (about one ram per 65 ewes) as ewes are mated throughout the years rather than in a short space of time. Using less rams means that one can be stricter in their selection, thereby significantly speeding up genetic progress. Feeding requirements are spread more evenly throughout the year. Selection for fertility is automatic as the more fertile ewes will have shorter inter-lambing periods and thus over time increase their genetic frequency within the flock. |
The ram may be infertile or may become infertile, with serious consequences for the breeder. The ram may not be a good producer, and by the time this is realised, the damage is significant. Over time, the genetic variation may narrow too much. |
Commercial Potential Based on kilogram meat produced / hectare / input costs, the Bapedi will be hard to beat. Although the Bapedi is a small framed sheep (adult ewes average 35 to 45Kg, rams average 50 to 70Kg) that reaches an ideal slaughter / dressed weight of 18Kg weight (30 Kg live weight) at around 12 months of age for rams and 14 months for ewes, its commercial production is highly competitive for the following reasons: Go to top of page |
A naturally selected minimum care veld sheep that costs almost nothing to keep Fat tails are highly sought after for the making of droëwors and as an additive to game dishes. High reproductive rates (2 lambs per year, first lamb at 11 months, 6 months lambing intervals thereafter) Excellent mothering abilities Extremely hardy sheep that hardly ever gets sick The majority of animals hardly ever need de-worming Highly resistant to Heart-water and other local diseases Vaccinate only for Pulpy Kidney and Blue Tongue Natural resistance to ticks Its natural grazing habits and wide range of forage requirements allow many more animals in an area without over-grazing |
By Grehenheim gebruik ons slegs T5 / E of T5 / M gegradeerde ramme Ramme met 'n definitiewe potensiaal om hierdie mylpaal te beryk Ramme wat SP geregistreer is |
By Grehenheim loop drie ramme by 150 tot 200 ooie Vaderskap word bepaal deur DNA analise |
Lean, because the fat is mainly centered in the tail. Because they are slaughtered at a later age, the meat is more tasty. Veld sheep have no access to commercial growth stimulants. Because these healthy sheep hardly ever need de-worming or treatment, you don't eat the chemicals. |