About Us
Kym, Kathy and Tyke Staude own and run KD Sheep Studs, a commercial sheep business and a cereal and grain legume cropping operation 10 km west of Bordertown at Cannawigra in the Upper South East of S.A.
The annual average rainfall for the area is 18”/450 mm.
Kym's involvement in the sheep industry started from when he was big enough to be in the sheep yards. (Born in 1961)
Prime Lambs have always been bred by the family and Merinos were also run in previous years.
Kym's dedication and passion for the sheep industry has led him to be involved with developing local lamb groups, the S.A. Lamb Development Team, sheep advisory roles, lamb finishing trials, a director of Limestone Coast Lamb, member of breed societies and an entrant in lamb carcass comps to name a few.
The search for new breeds started in 1999 and has been a great quest to discover and develop sheep characteristics that mean easy care and more profit.
Any breeds that may be introduced to make a composite come with much research and need to enhance the attributes that we set down for each breed type and if it’s not productive on this farm it’s not here for long.
About Our Sheep
We strive to produce rams that are raised naturally without force feeding. False growth of sheep through over feeding is not sustainable for longevity of the sheep.
We do not shear shedding sheep prior to sale.
ASBV's...With composite sheep breeding we were finding that breeding values were of little relevance across flocks as there were minimal across flock links. The calculated data is only accurate and relevant if the raw data is supplied for a complete drop of sheep
We provide as much “actual” production data on the sheep that we offer for sale eg DOB, sire and sometimes dam, birth type twin or single, weaning, post weaning and yearling weight, yearling fat and muscle measurements.
KD Sheepstuds are Brucellosis accredited free #1141 until 31/12/23.
OJD –As at 2021 KD Sheepstuds have been testing their flock annually for Ovine Johnes Disease as part of the MAP programme and not using Gudair vaccinations due to some countries we have exported sheep to requiring unvaccinated sheep.
It seems that the MAP programme has "lost its way" and having negative tests on your flock has become insignificant within the sheep industry. We have ceased testing within the MAP programme.
Sale sheep from 2023 will be Gudair vaccinated.