BOND - AUSTRALIA’S
MOST PROFITABLE DUAL PURPOSE SHEEP
THE BOND BREED
The big BOND sheep is an Australian breed, developed in the early 1900’s
to provide both good wool and meat qualities in a self-replacing flock.
Bonds are tall, long-bodied sheep, heavy in the bone and with open faces
and a robust constitution.
They produce bulky, long-stapled, bright 22-28 micron wool. Bond rams
weigh up to 150kg. They have the ability to produce economic results in
a wide range of climatic conditions of rainfall from 350-1140mm (14 to
45 inches).
The breed has significant advantages over many others with its high fertility
– commercial Bond operations have reported lambing percentages up to 130
per cent. The self-replacing Bond flock saves the producer the expense,
time, and potential of disease introduction of buying in replacement stock.
Bond lambs have a higher skin value that other more traditional prime
lamb breeds.
Bonds provide excellent opportunities for high economic returns from
the heavy fleecy weights, premium wool quality, high fertility resulting
in high lambing percentages, and fast lamb growth rates enabling the marketing
of lambs at trade weights. Elite lamb in the 22-24 kg range, or as wethers
suitable for export at a very young age, but ideally grown out to heavy
chart weights.
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BOND
– BREED CHARACTERISTICS