By Wendy Allison With the price of wool down and the price of meat up, many sheep farmers are turning to lamb sales as their main source of income. But where does that leave those of us who are breeding…
by Steve Clarkson The aim of fleece preparation is to achieve a high quality carded product, which is suitable for further processing (usually spinning or felting). The better the preparation, the better the carded product will be; the proverbial ‘Rubbish…
The BCSBA is making a series of instructional videos on sheep care and fleece production available via YouTube. The first two have been made and are now available for viewing as follows: Shearing Sheep Testing Rams for Brucellosis As new…
By Kim Lewis, Alamae Stud The most commonly associated breed of sheep associated with milking is the (white) East Friesian which like their bovine cousins of the same name are, le's face it, not the prettiest animal to see in…
Text: Catherine Jane. Photos: Kate Mahoney. This article was originally published in the March 2019 issue of Creative Fibre magazine. Note: the colour definition in the photos is much more clear in the printed article. The theme for the September…
by Anita Erskine, Westwood Farm When you think of Corriedales in New Zealand, often your first thought is that they are likely to be in the Canterbury area or maybe hill country. Corriedales, being fine-wool sheep, like drier areas with…
Some maintenance work on this BCSBA website is scheduled to take place during office hours (New Zealand time) on Tuesday 9th August 2022. There may be short periods of interruption of access to the site during this time. We apologise…
By Mistelle Jack I grew up on the outskirts of town, and by that I mean town was on one side and paddocks were over the back fence! My parents came from two different parts of the country; Dad grew…
Plans for the 2024 World Congress of Coloured Sheep, to be held in New Zealand in November 2024, are well underway, despite the challenges of planning with any detail due to the continuing COVID pandemic. Currently the plan is that…
Please note that the dates for the BCSBA's 2023 conference have been changed, to avoid a clash with Creative Fibre New Zealand's national festival. The new dates will now be 19-23 April 2023, a week earlier than originally planned. The…