Sexed semen: a game changer for Damara stud

Using sexed semen in an artificial insemination programme carries a 90% assurance that the surrogate animal will deliver offspring of the desired sex. Annelie Coleman spoke to Damara farmer Stan Burger and embryoflushing expert Dr Fanie Steyn about the technical process and how to prepare the surrogate ewes.

- Annelie Coleman

FAST FACTS

By using sexed semen, Stan Burger of the Rubicon Damara Stud has accelerated breeding and achieved higher lambing percentages.

Of the 48 ewes recently inseminated in this way, Burger achieved a lamb harvest of 44 ewe lambs and one ram lamb.

Burger is the first Damara sheep breeder in the world to make use of sexing technology.

The sorting of semen according to gender has brought great success for Stan Burger, owner of the Rubicon Damara Stud near Koster in North West. He is the first Damara breeder in the world to make use of the latest semen-sexing technology.

Burger bought his first Damaras in 2004 to combat the wattle that covered much of his farm. “These animals eat virtually anything and have, to a great extent, annihilated this invader,” he says.

Burger, who is president of the Damara Breeders’ Association of South Africa, adds that stock farmers are increasingly recognising the Damara as a worthwhile contender in the sheep-breeding industry. “The breed has retained its robust genetics [over two millennia] and the onus now rests on us as breeders to preserve its pure genetic base. It’s an economical and profitable sheep breed, ideally suited to the challenges of modern-day sheep farming with its increasing input and production costs.”

SEXED SEMEN

According to Burger, using sexed-semen technology has resulted in rapid genetic progress, higher lambing percentages and shorter lambing periods in his 800-strong Rubicon stud.