Dutch Spotted and Texel sheep have a firm place at Riverview for the McKerrow's

Breeding a productive sheep that can bolster profit margins for both commercial and pedigree units is the name of the game at Riverview, where Alistair McKerrow believes he has found the ideal in the up-and-coming Dutch Spotted breed.
Having moved to the Bo’ness-based unit in 2006, Riverview is now home to a small flock of six Dutch Spotted females, eight Valais Blacknose, 100 cross-bred commercial ewes and the Grougfoot flock of 20 pure-bred Texel sheep – established by the McKerrow family more than 40 years ago.
“The Texels are a wonderful breed in regards to high growth rates and quality carcase, which makes them hard to beat as a terminal sire,” commented Alistair, who farms alongside his brother, Bruce.
It is, though, the Dutch Spotted that are proving key to the overall profitability at Riverview.
“Dutch Spotted sheep have similar attributes to Texel, as well as a lovely temperament. I liked that they were something different and believed that they would be a good alternative when it came to producing commercial prime lambs.
“My aim is to have a flock that can satisfy the market from all angles, suiting the needs of both commercial and pedigree farmers. There are too many people trying to specialise what they’re breeding and, as a result, they can’t satisfy the market on either side,” he added.
“There is a huge pressure on pedigree breeders to push sheep to get them ready for market and the commercial men are moving away from the big continental breeds as they don’t want a lamb that can’t function but rather something that can go on and work…and last a few years too. This is where the Dutch Spotted come into their own and prove to be a good alternative.”
Having imported two ewes and one ewe lamb from Holland back in 2020, Alistair established the Champany pedigree flock of Dutch Spotted with the addition of three further imported females, last year. 
By aiming to breed the best stock possible, Alistair believes that choosing the right stock can considerably increase the quality of lambs produced at the other end.
“When I’m buying in new stock, I’m ultimately looking for good carcases, as well as a bit of flare and character. Sheep have to be good on their legs with correctness throughout,” he said.
With quality always at the forefront of the McKerrows’ enterprise, both the Dutch Spotted and Texel flocks undergo both artificial insemination (AI) and embryo transfer (ET) to maximise genetic potential.
“The Texel ewes get sponged and then tupped naturally as we find that overall performance decreases with age, however, the Texel gimmers are AI’d and last year produced a hold rate of 90%. The Dutch Spotted ewes are flushed only once and then are naturally served, with recipients producing a hold rate of 90%. 
“When it came to ET’ing, last years results were fantastic, however this is not always the case when carrying out this work as every year is different,” said Alistair. 
“Flushing and ET work is great to multiply quality stock but you’ve also to keep in mind that it can multiply faults within the breed and that is a problem many pedigree breeders are facing. This is why we are very careful about what donors are selected to be flushed taking into account breed characteristics and existing progeny,” he added.
With both the Dutch Spotted and Texel flocks proving to be prolific, both flocks scanned in at 175% whilst the commercial ewes scanned at 185%. All lambing takes place indoors for easy management with the Texels kicking off in late February, whilst the remainder of the flock lamb down in mid-March.  
At Riverview, all the ewes have access to a mineral bucket from tupping, as well as being fed 1.5kg per head per day of 18% protein meal exactly three weeks prior to lambing.
“We try and maximise grass feeding right up to lambing as we’ve found that over-feeding the pure ewes especially only causes for problems when it comes to the sheep lambing down. We have found that if sheep are outside and active it saves input costs and helps to minimise other potential problems at lambing,” Alistair stated.
Weaning takes place as soon as lambs reach target weight ,which can fall from June to August, and with Alistair having built up a good reputation at local markets and further afield, their Dutch Spotted fat lambs seem to attract top prices in the live ring.
“We used our Dutch Spotted ram lambs over the commercial ewes for the first-time last year and the first draw of Dutch Spotted commercial lambs went under the hammer at 325p per kg, weighing 44kg,” he explained, adding that all prime lambs are sold through Lawrie and Symington’s Lanark market.
With regards to the pure-bred stock, everything is sold either privately or through both society or market breed sales. Only a small selection of Texel ewe lambs are retained for replacement females, with the rest sold as gimmers in December at the Select Seven Sale.
In the first year of selling Dutch Spotted sheep, Alistair sold two ewe lambs to average £950, whilst five tup lambs balanced out at £300, last year.
“I want to keep flock numbers tight in order to keep the quality of stock high, so I’m planning on selling quite a few Dutch Spotted males and females this year out of the 36 born on the farm. There will be a selection of these heading to Harrison and Hetherington’s August sale, in Carlisle, with others being made available at commercial tup sales,” he commented.
The McKerrows have always been strong supporters of both their local shows and the Royal Highland, with Alistair having placed fifth in a large class of Dutch Spotted ewe lambs this year and will also be heading to Kinross Show, in August.
“I was delighted with the result at the Highland Show and didn’t expect it at all! With regards to showing, Covid-19 halted us a wee bit but we are hoping to get back into it as we need to support the smaller, more local shows,” Alistair stated.
The sheep enterprise is not the sole focus of Riverview with various contracting work undertaken, as well as producing hay and haylage for local horse livery yards. Alistair has also just finished his honours degree at SRUC Craibstone and now Bruce and his wife, Hannah, are establishing a new Mixed Animal Veterinary Practice, 3 Bridges Vets. 
Touching on the future of the Dutch Spotted breed and the Texels, Alistair concluded: “There is a novelty factor associated with the Dutch Spotted sheep just now but the base for commercial value is there and will continue to be there. 
“The Spotties have the potential to really make an impact within commercial market as they are finer boned with a good carcase, great temperament and are easy lambing so I really do believe there is a place for them on a bigger scale, commercially.
“With the Texel, there will always be a place for them to produce a good strong white lamb, however it’s not the game it was 15 years ago. There are more numbers but the quality isn’t always matched. 
“There are now more alternatives for commercial farmers to consider instead of using traditional terminal sires and I hope they will be buying Spotties.”