Notes and News

RARE BREEDS NEWZ 87

The November issue of the quarterly publication of the Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand is out now. The front cover is another of Gail Simons' great photos (see right). Inside are articles on pigs, poultry, Arapawa goat milk, rabbit care, responding to animal abuse, exotic pests and diseases, Arapawa goat AI programme, dehorning cattle, schools on farms, and rare breeds on the world scene .

As well, you'll find other snippets and information on a diverse range of topics – including a preliminary notice of the Society's AGM which will be held in conjunction with the launch of the long-awaited Rare Breeds Book in Christchurch next year, and will be followed the next day by the annual Canterbury Rare Breeds Auction.

And of course there are Letters to the Editor and all sorts of other items, notices and advertisements.

The quarterly NewZ is sent to all members of the Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand.   (See » Join the Rare Breeds Conservation Society for details.)
    [27.10.2009]

Rare Breed Chooks

Canterbury Rare Breeds member Diane Kelly plans to set up a collection of the various breeds of Rare Breed Chooks currently in New Zealand. She wants to see what their laying capabilities are over the next two years and also to have them on show for Rest Home visitors over the summer. The chooks will have different coloured bands on their legs and when the visitors come out they will be given a laminated sheet with the Rare Breed Information on it so that they can walk around the property looking up the different breeds and where they have come from. She wants really good quality pullets but no roosters in the meantime.

So far she has sourced 16 breeds but still needs to buy the following to complete this Rare Breed Project.

2 x Ancona pullets
1 x Blue Andalusian pullet
1 x Australorp pullet
1 x Double Laced Barnevelder pullet
2 x Faverolle pullets
2 x White Leghorn pullets
2 x Minorca pullets
1 x Rhode Island Red pullet
1 x Silver Laced Wyandotte pullet
2 x Large White Silkie pullets
2 x Sicilian Buttercup pullets
2 x Large Frizzle pullets

Please contact Diane at diane.blair@paradise.net.nz if you can help.

NEW PAGES ON WEBSITE

New pages added to the Rare Breeds Website during the past year or so include:
      » Pitt Islanders     [20.9.2009]
      » Welsh Cob Horses     [24.5.2009]
      » The Damara in Southern Africa     [28.2.2009]
      » Tullamore Galloways     [23.11.2008]
      » Arapawa Sheep Breed Description     [25.8.2008]
      » Arapawa Pigs Breed Standard     [25.8.2008]
      » Auckland Island Pigs Breed Standard     [25.8.2008]
      » Diggers Hill Sheep Breed Standard     [25.8.2008]
      » Hokonui Sheep Breed Standard     [25.8.2008]
      » Gypsy Cob Horses     [2.8.2008]
      » Feral Sheep in New Zealand     [1.8.2008]
Check them out.

Wool from old sheep

AgResearch is looking for wool from some really old sheep. We would prefer English Leicester, Drysdale and Merino but we will consider other breeds. It would be ideal if there was some younger related animal hopefully of the same breed available, but we cannot afford to be fussy looking for oldies. Please contact Scobie (03) 321 8688 or via email scobie@agresearch.co.nz

      [16.7.2009]

 
Lady, the founding matriarch of all Enderby cattle alive today, has died. The following was written by Dave Matheson, who has looked after this very rare breed since 2002.

On the 26th May 2009 Lady was found dead in her paddock, tucked under a dry hedge. She had eaten hay the day before and showed no signs of struggle where she lay. It would seem she did not suffer much and died reasonably quietly. She had found the last two winters a little tough and was fed separately, but bounced back to good condition over the warmer months. However she was taken off the island seventeen years ago as an adult so most likely was well past twenty years – a great age for a cattle beast. She had a very interesting life for a cow. Born wild on a deserted island, had helicopter and boat rides back to the mainland, and travelled from Bluff to Auckland over the years. She was shown at Canterbury and Auckland A & P shows, was donor of the first cloned cattle in the world, and was the first breed of animal saved from extinction by cloning. Her life was threatened by activists against genetic engineering until they realized cloning was not G.E., and she was insured for $30,000 for the Auckland show. She appeared many times on TV, was talked about worldwide on radio, and appeared in many papers and magazines – she even appeared in TIME. Lady fascinated people worldwide in that she came from a breed of seaweed eating cattle. I always loved the fact that although born wild she quickly settled down to be as quiet as any domestic cow eating hay from the bale as it was opened. And in the yards always calm despite all the treatments she had to get her in calf. Lady was lucky to meet a number of good people. Michael Willis who rescued her, William Vivanco and David Wells from AgResearch, the Auckland Royal A & P Association who sponsored her along with Beverley McCulloch and Michael Trotter. She will be missed.

See » Enderby Cattle for details of this breed.
    [26.5.2009]

NEW CHOOK WEBSITE

This new chook site is worth a visit. Go to Chickens by Design which has helpful information on hatching, raising, housing, caring for chooks – plus which breeds are commonly found in New Zealand.

    [24.5.2009]

POULTRY CLUB CONTACTS

World Animal Day

World Animal Day is 4 October. Go to the » World Animal Day website for details and suggestions – plus items about last World Animal Day.

    [22.4.2009]

New Website Security Measures

    Last year we introduced a new system that added anti-spam code to all listings on the Rare Breeds website�s Webmart and Breeders Directory listings. This means that when a spammer automatically extracts e-mail addresses from these listings, they will be unusable for sending spam – at least until the spamming fraternity finds a way around it.

    This year we have instituted a system which prevents the forms that viewers fill in – such as for Webmart, Directory and Enquiries – being used to generate spam. While this didn�t affect the general user of the Website, it was a real curse to those whose job it was to receive the form mail, and of course it added to the amount of unsolicited (and often offensive) e-mail clogging up the Internet.

    The downside to this is that we have had to break one of the guiding principles of the Rare Breeds Website. Until now the use of popups, frames and scripts that are often used to produce fancy effects on other websites has been totally avoided, but to help combat the smam problem both php and javascript are now used with the forms. The main difference that can be seen by viewers is that you will now have to identify two distorted words before you can send off the form. The idea is that automatic computer programs (which are used to harvest e-mail addresses and to automatically fill in forms) can�t recognize the words but humans can. The particular system we use has an additional benefit. By entering the words in the box, the viewer is helping to digitize texts that were written before the computer age. The words that appear (as in the illustration above) are taken directly from old texts that are being scanned and stored in digital format in order to preserve them and make them more accessible to the world. Since some of the words in these texts are difficult for computers to recognize, the results of the viewers� efforts are used to help decipher them. See ReCaptcha for more details, and where you can try it out.
    [23.2.2009]

Charities Act Registration

The Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand Inc. was registered as a charitable entity under the Charities Act 2005 on 30 June 2008 (Registration Number CC30930) and is listed in the Charities Register. This contains information about registered charities for people who may wish to make donations, do volunteer work for, use the services of or find out more about a particular charity. This includes where the charity operates and the sector it works in, contact details, services, charitable purpose, beneficiaries, governance structure and officers.

The Society also has donee organisation status with the IRD. This means that people can claim a tax credit (rebate) for donations made to the RBCSNZ. If you want to claim this tax credit, please ask for a receipt when you make your donation.
    [22.2.2009]

New Kunekune Book

Gail Simons' book "Pumpkin," a story of love and friendship, was released to book shops on 5 May. It is a Children's book – the true story about a Kunekune pig. The photo on the right is of Gail showing the book to Pumpkin's parents – Piggles and Pip. The book covers the two years of Pumpkin's life.
"She was the most awesome pig," says Gail. "She was two weeks off having her first litter of piglets when she choked on a piece of bread and died, and I wrote this in her memory."

    [2.5.2008]

Texas Longhorn Embryos

If you are interested in obtaining Texas Longhorn embryos please contact Greg Mckay, Xcell Breeding Services Ltd, P O Box 165, Kaiapoi.   Phone: (03) 327 9555   Fax: (03) 327 9088   E‑mail: greg@xcell.co.nz

      [23.12.2007]

RBCS Registration Programme

Registrations will now be accepted for the following breeds:
Arapawa sheep, Awassi sheep, Enderby rabbits, Enderby cattle, Lakenvelder cattle
To qualify for registration, the provenance of the animals must be supplied (i.e. details of their background, who or where they were obtained from, etc. to verify that they are a pure representative of the breed) and each animal must be identified individually (this can be your own eartag, tattoo, etc., sufficient to distinguish the animal from others).
There is currently no fee or inspection required for registration.
Please contact the Secretary of the Rare Breeds Conservation Society (ava.hunt@woosh.co.nz) if you would like to register your animals.
    [3.1.2007]

Enderby Cattle Breeding Strategy

A paper entitled Enderby Island Cattle: A Breeding Strategy for Genetic Conservation has been compiled by Laura Backus, a senior exchange student from Colorado State University at Lincoln University where she studied biology and animal science. This paper has been made available to the Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand, and may be downloaded from this website.

Click here for details.

RARE BREEDS NOTECARDS

      Packs of notecards (envelopes included) featuring six different rare livestock breeds of New Zealand origin are now available. They are in full colour, with a description on the back. Centre blank.
For details see » Rare Breeds Notecards
    [1.5.2004]

RARE BREEDS BROCHURE

A full-colour brochure for the Rare Breeds Society has been printed. Copies of this brochure will be made available upon request from members for distribution at shows, field days, meetings etc. - or for just handing on to a prospective member. Enquiries should be made to Ava Hunt, Secretary RBCSNZ, Limehills Post Centre, Limehills 9660.

See also
NEWS ARCHIVES