No farmer wants to spend money when they do not have to; and with the reduction of wool prices – it is getting increasingly difficult for Sheep & Beef farmers to maintain a healthy profit margin, with outgoing costs at shearing season.

This is where the Piquet Hill Sheddmaster Rams come in. Born from an increased demand in the industry for shedding composite sheep, the Sheddmaster is made from the best of our maternal composite sheep, combined with the Wiltshire, Meatmaster and imported Nundee shedding composite genetics.  

The result is a low maintenance and high performing breed that is highly tolerant to facial eczema. This allows farmers to purchase a shedding sheep breed developed right here in New Zealand, that is well suited to the demands of our farming country.

Our Breeding Objective

To breed a low input sheep that is going to firstly produce high numbers of lambs at above average weaning weights while minimising costs of production such as shearing drenching, crutching, dipping and labour.

Our Key Drivers

The key drivers of the Sheddmaster are to identify sheep that firstly show a high propensity to shed and then intensely record these animals for production traits. With no need to shear we are able to focus all our resources on producing a sheep that is prolific and high yielding.

Our Point of Difference

Unlike most shedding breeds in New Zealand the Piquet Hill Sheddmaster program was based initially on a large pool of genetics to produce the elite flock that we now have. Our view has always been that we want to breed a sheep that doesn’t require shearing while still holding onto the performance attributes of the maternal composite that has been developed over the last 20 years. With a flock of 1500 ewes consisting of 500 elite recorded ewes, we have been able to develop a hardy eczema tolerant sheep that performs in our challenging environment.