SHEEP that are camped furthermost from water could have a genetic predisposition to using water and laying down fat better compared to those who are always close to troughs and dams, according to Mitchell Merino breeder Errol Brumpton.
He has been observing them in their natural habitat all his life and said he had long been intrigued as to why some are so remarkable.
"Some of our sheep are such great old mums - they know how to come in early and then take their big sooky lamb out under a tree and be right at the food smorgasbord when it gets cool," he said.
Errol thinks these animals could be the key to breeding the sheep of the future to answer the food and fibre needs of a world population approaching eight billion people, in ever more marginal country.
He has gathered anecdotal evidence of what he dubs "walkers" and "non-walkers" but is keen to find someone to take that further by way of PhD work on animal behaviour.
All sheep at Errol and Candy Brumpton's Mitchell district property, Well Gully, have had electronic ear tags since 2004 for monitoring purposes and are used along with satellite collars and radio frequency identification numbers to record the time and date each time a ewe and lamb enters the watering facility.
From this Errol has found that some sheep are only coming in to water every two days, even in the hottest weather, and that these ewes, camping up to 3km from water have lambs weighing about 32kg as against 18kg lambs belonging to those camped on water.
He says it's conceivable they drink more water but the more likely scenario is that they use water better.
"Psychologically and metabolically they're a different sheep. They're not as fussy and they have a higher feed conversion. I'm giving them serious attention and the lambs will play a major role in the future of the stud."
Errol began collecting this data in the summer of 2008/09, using a group of 2500 ewes and their lambs, but was stymied by the wet summers that followed as they weren't hot enough to compare.
The question still to be answered is whether these figures are down to animal behaviour, genetics or environmental issues.
Errol suspects genetics is the key, and that work will have to be done on whether the sire or mother is responsible.
"We have already got weights through our use of the Pedigree Matchmaker program, that matches dam and sire to offspring, and have been splitting these naturally separated mobs and body scoring the ewes and weighing the lambs."
Errol sees a future where sheep breeding will be pushed further into the tropics as the globe reaches peak oil and more arable land is used for oil seed production.
"The animal kingdom, which supplies protein and natural fibre, will be put under greater challenges as they will be pushed to more marginal country," he said.
"Sheep are one of the best converters of food and water for both fibre and protein as you can see from their faeces - there is very little waste.
"On a per capita basis of food eaten per acre, sheep are way ahead of beef."
For these reasons and for food security needs, Errol is adamant that breeders need to move away from the traditional Merino that has been bred for the past 150 years.
"We have down-bred them," he said.
"There has been too much emphasis on wool, and we have downplayed good doing and maternal aspects.
"We need a nurturing animal, one that can convert food to fat.
"Research has found that 1mm of genetic fat adds $10 to a breeding ewe.
"It gives them a reserve fuel tank that carries them through winter better, and better wool and lamb production results."
Other advantages of fluid retaining walkers are that they endure long trips and times in trucks better too.
Errol said that wool would remain a passion of his, but said it couldn't be grown without a really efficient animal.
"The more you do, the more you want to do," he said.
"The challenge is to meet 21st century needs."
