Our Approach
How We Select Our Breeding Stock
An animal has to be structurally correct before anything else matters. Data then narrows the field — telling us which of those animals will do the most good in your flock.
The philosophy behind the flock
Breeding decisions compound over generations. A shortcut taken today — skipping a structural assessment, ignoring a health test, or chasing an index on an animal that isn't correctly made — costs you in ways that only show up years later. We take a methodical approach because EasyCare is a breed with real genetic potential, and we want the animals leaving this farm to improve every flock they join.
Structure comes first. An animal must be sound on its feet, correct in its frame, and right for the breed before it is considered for breeding. That's a non-negotiable — no index overrides it. Once an animal meets that bar, EuroStar data from Sheep Ireland LambPlus tells us where it sits relative to every other recorded animal in the country, and helps us decide which of our structurally correct animals to breed from and which to sell for commercial use.
Structure first — then the figures
Structure & Conformation
The first filter is always physical. Sound feet and legs, a level topline, good width and depth of body, correct dentition, and a natural shed coat are the baseline. An animal that fails here does not proceed — no index score changes that. EasyCare is a functional breed and we select for functional correctness above everything else.
Health & Genetics
Alongside structure, every animal is scrapie genotyped and we strongly favour ARR/ARR status. Health is inseparable from structural soundness — an animal that looks well made but carries a genetic liability is not a good breeding prospect. Both must stack up before we look at performance data.
Performance Data
Once an animal passes the structural and health assessment, EuroStar indices and ultrasound scan data tell us where it sits in the national population. This is how we decide which correct animals to retain for breeding and which to sell as commercial sires — not whether an animal is good enough, but which of the good ones are best suited to a given breeding objective.
Health testing in detail
Two tests that every breeding animal on Tír na nÓg Farm goes through before being considered for sale.
All animals are genotyped. The benefits go well beyond scrapie resistance:
- Scrapie resistance — we strongly favour ARR/ARR animals, the highest-resistance genotype
- Higher EBV accuracy — genotyped animals typically reach 70–90%+ accuracy even at a young age, making index figures far more reliable
- Parentage verification — pedigree is confirmed objectively, not assumed; important for buyers building a closed flock
- Inbreeding management — confirmed parentage lets us avoid mating closely related individuals as the flock grows
- Faster genetic progress — superior animals can be identified and selected earlier, shortening the generation interval
Ultrasound measurement of muscle depth (MLD) and fat depth at the third lumbar vertebra gives an objective, live-animal carcass assessment. The scan data feeds into LambPlus alongside weight records to sharpen the accuracy of terminal indices. An animal that scans badly is not a terminal sire, regardless of what the index shows.
How EuroStar fits into selection
Physical assessment comes first. Every candidate animal is assessed on its feet — feet and legs standing and moving, mouth and dentition, topline, body depth, coat shedding status, and scrotal circumference in rams. Only animals that pass this assessment enter the pool of potential breeding stock.
Within that pool, EuroStar indices do the heavy lifting. They tell us, in objective terms, which structurally correct animals carry the genetics most likely to improve the traits that matter for a given use case — replacement breeding, terminal crossing, or both. The indices narrow the field; they don't define it.
| Breeding objective | Lead index | Supporting indices |
|---|---|---|
| Producing replacement ewes | REP | NLB, DM, SUR |
| Terminal lamb production | TER | DTS, scan data |
| All-round commercial ram | REP + TER | NLB, SUR, DTS |
See our Performance Recording page for a full explanation of each index.
"If the animal isn't right on its feet and correct in its frame, the numbers don't matter. Get the structure right first — then use the data to find the best of those animals."
See the approach in the animals
Every ram profile shows live EuroStar data, genotype, and scan results.