Breed standard & Selection in Our flock
The Swedish breed standard translated in english with some comments is now posted on our website. Go to Gotland Sheep / Breed Standard.
This is the standard used in our flock as the minimum requirement for selection of breeding rams and ewes. The main breeding goal in Sweden is to develop the unique qualities of the furskin. Since the international market also requires a high accuracy in terms of wool quality, we have now incorporated new techniques for grading of wool quality to meet our customers needs. This is a help in wool grading, not a change in our breeding goal which remains focused on furskins.
We perform individual phenotypic scoring of all lambs at 110 days of age and also use Estimated Breeding Values (index for genetic merit) for selection. Genetic traits of importance, given EBV´s are growth rate, body conformation, furskin quality (based on colour, curl, wool quality) and fertility.
From 2018, all our lambs will be micron tested and we will also re-test all breeders once yearly to collect data from sheep of various ages. All breeders will be DNA verified for quality assurance of pedigrees.
