Breeding Up

Parkdale Valais Blacknose Stud is excited to be involved in the

Breeding up Programme.

While numbers of pure Valais are still limited in NZ and prices are high, the New Zealand Valais Blacknose Sheep Society (NZVBSS) does allow cross-breeding to build up New Zealand flocks.

Parkdale have chosen to use Romney as their foundation ewes in the breeding up programme due to it having similar constitution to the Valais. The Romney ewe is mated with a pure registered Valais ram and the resulting offspring is referred to as an F1. F1 ewes can then be mated with a Valais ram, resulting in F2 offspring, so on until F6. Records are held in a separate registry with the New Zealand Sheep Breeders Association (NZSBA) and this registry is referred to as an Appendix register for Valais Blacknose Sheep in New Zealand.

New Zealand Valais Blacknose Sheep Society (NZVBSS) – Breeding up rules
To be eligible for registration within the Appendix register, flocks must meet the following rules

    Programme Requirements



  • You must be a current member of the VBSNZ (affiliated to the NZ Sheep-breeders Association) to participate in the breeding up program including meeting all fees due under the Society.
  • Foundation ewes may be any wool breed, registered or grade including crossbreds.
  • Only purebred registered VBN rams or semen from those rams may be used for breeding (either imported or NZ born).
  • Progeny from crossbred rams are ineligible for inclusion in the Appendix register
  • The recommendation of the VBSNZ for a foundation ewe is an all-round white wool sheep with similar frame and size to the Valais. However, this is not a requirement.
  • The foundation ewe must be identifiable through a brass and a plastic ear tag and will be recorded and given a VBSNZ registration number


     Generation Crosses



  • First crosses using foundation ewes and a Purebred Registered ram are referred to as the F1 (generation 1) i.e. 50% VBN. Second crosses are the F2 (generation 2) i.e. 75% VBN, third crosses F3 (generation 3) i.e. 87.5% VBN, fourth crosses F4 (generation 4) i.e. 93.75% VBN and fifth cross (after 5 consecutive breeding seasons of the programme) are F5 (generation 5) i.e. 96.88% VBN
  • All progeny must be identifiable through a brass stud tag and individual colour tag
  • To be eligible for registration, details of ewe lambs must be provided using the official form available from NZ Sheepbreeders Association
  • F1 (generation 1), F2 (generation 2), F3 (generation 3) and F4 (generation 4) ewe lambs will be recorded with pedigree and given a VBSNZ registration number. Only 5th generation rams will be recorded.


    NZ Valais Blacknose



  • All F5 (generation 5) ewes and rams must be inspected by an approved inspector by the breed Society. They must meet breed standards before submitting an application for registration. Registered F5 ewes will be entered into the Registry as  a “NZ Valais Blacknose”
  • Progeny of eligible F5 “NZ Valais Blacknose” rams will be entered in the Appendix register under the same rules as apply on previous tab.


Programme requirements

  • You must be a current member of the NZVBSS (affiliated to the NZSBA) to participate in the breeding up program including meeting all fees due under the Society.
  • Foundation ewes may be any wool breed, registered or grade including crossbreds.
  • Only purebred registered Valais Blacknose (VBN) rams or semen from those rams may be used for breeding (either imported or NZ born). Any purebred ram used that is born in 2021 or later, must have a DNA record on file with NZSBA by May 2023.
  • Progeny from crossbred rams are ineligible for inclusion in the Appendix register.
  • The recommendation of the NZVBSS for a foundation ewe is an all-round white wool sheep with similar frame and size to the Valais. However, this is not a requirement.
  • The foundation ewe must be identifiable through an ear tag and will be recorded.  

Generation crosses

  • First crosses using foundation ewes and a Purebred Registered ram are referred to as the F1 (generation 1) i.e. 50% Valais Blacknose. Second crosses are the F2 (generation 2) i.e. 75% Valais Blacknose, third crosses F3 (generation 3) i.e. 87.5% Valais Blacknose, fourth crosses F4 (generation 4) i.e. 93.75% Valais Blacknose, fifth cross are F5 (generation 5) i.e. 96.88% Valais Blacknose and sixth cross (after 6 consecutive breeding seasons of the programme) are F6 (generation 6) i.e. 98.43% VBN
  • All progeny must be identifiable through an individual ear tag 
  • To be eligible for registration, details of ewe lambs must be provided using the official form available from NZSBA and eligible ewes must be registered with NZSBA within 12 months of their birth.
  • F1 (generation 1), F2 (generation 2), F3 (generation 3), F4 (generation 4) and F5 (generation 5) ewe lambs will be recorded with pedigree and given a NZVBSS registration number. Only 5th generation rams will be registered and registration details are to be provided to NZSBA within 12 months of birth. 

NZ Valais Blacknose

  • To enable registration, five photos (front view: full animal and close up clearly showing horns and identification tag; right side view; left side view; rear view) of all F5 (generation 5) ewes and rams, at 12 months of age, must be provided to NZSBA for file, before submitting an application for registration. 
  • Registered F4 ewes will be entered into the Appendix Registry as a “NZ Valais Blacknose (NZVBN)”. Registered F5 rams will be entered into the Appendix Registry as a “NZ Valais Blacknose (NZVBN)”. 
  • Progeny of eligible F5 “NZ Valais Blacknose (NZVBN)” ewes will be entered in the main purebred register as F6 (sixth cross) as a “Pure Valais Blacknose (VBN)”.

Progeny of eligible F5 “NZ Valais Blacknose (NZVBN)” ewes will be entered in the main purebred register as F6 (sixth cross) as a “Pure Valais Blacknose (VBN)”.