The New Zealand Sheep industry, via Sheep Improvement Limited (SIL), estimates genetic connectedness across flocks as a function of progeny counts. This estimate is derived independently of the model fitted to estimate breeding values. As it ignores sources of genetic linkages other than direct parent-progeny links, it may under-estimate the level of connectedness present in the flocks assessed. In this paper, we compared this estimate to another derived from the variance-covariance (relationship) matrix of additive effects when pedigree information was available and when genotype information was available on some of the animals assessed. For the example of a single trait model using weaning weight records, we found an increase in the level of connectedness estimated compared to the existing method, particularly when genotype information was incorporated into the relationship matrix.