Sheep for a Smallholder in West Wales

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Sheep for a Smallholder in West Wales

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hedgerow.crafts

Joined: 21 Jun 2010
Posts: 22

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 11 9:36 pm Post subject: Sheep for a Smallholder in West Wales

Hi. After quite a few years of no stock of our own we are planning to get some sheep. We are looking at one of the Northen Short Tailed breeds eg Shetland, Hebredian, Manx Loaghton (not sure about the spelling there.....) Does anyone have experience with these breeds? We are looking for sheep that will produce a good fleece in natural colours for spinning, pos felt and skins.

We are also planning to keep the lambs on until their second summer so we can get a first shearing off them, then send them off in the autumn for "baby mutton". We stayed on a farm in Mull with Hebredians that did this with good results.

What about rams? If we go for a breed such as the Manx Loaghton, which we are quite tempted by, is it hard (and expensive!) To source replacment rams?

We would like to source stock locally if possible. If there is any one who thinks they might have a few ewe lambs to spare in the autumn, or maybe some hoggs (what are yearling ewes called in Wales?!) or ewes, we would be glad to know. We only want, say 4 to begin with. We are near Newcastle Emlyn.

Thanks for you help!

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 11 10:09 pm Post subject:
We know someone who had Manx Loaghton for sale last year and we can ask if he has any still if you would like? He buys lambs from us but lives nearer to Welshpool. We call our yearling ewes, yearling ewes. Theaves and gimmers if you want to sound (slightly mad) like some weathered sage.

toggle

Joined: 30 Dec 2006
Posts: 11622
Location: truro

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 11 10:15 pm Post subject:

good shetland fleece is a delight to spin. and it is a lot softer than anyone imagines.

manx will give a slightly tweedy result. it's short and neppy. great if you like short and neppy, but don't expect it to be anything else. a bit of it is fun, but the nature of the fleece can be a bit limiting if that is ost of what you ahve

hebridean is quite a coarse fleece for handspinners. unless you have specific designs on hard wearing outerwear, it's not the best. and i'm not sure i'de want to be spinning loads of it.

solely from the POV of spinning it, i'd choose shetland out of that 3. best quality yarn and most versitile.

Ty Gwyn

Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4563
Location: Lampeter

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 11 10:17 pm Post subject:
There`s a couple the otherside of the village from me ,that had Shetlands, Can check to see if they have any for sale if your interested. Thats near Talsarn.

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 11 10:22 pm Post subject:
You could also try the breed societies or thinking laterally, the Spinners Dyers and Weavers Guild locally as I know a lot of them kept a few sheep each for their wool.

toggle

Joined: 30 Dec 2006
Posts: 11622
Location: truro

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 11 10:50 pm Post subject:
rare breeds society

hedgerow.crafts

Joined: 21 Jun 2010
Posts: 22

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 11 7:01 am Post subject:
Thanks for your comments. It is confirming my instinct, which is to go for the Shetland as a good wool breed and a bit more common so easier to source stock. And we have the potential for more colours! But the Manx do look pretty amazing.......!

Castle Farm

Joined: 17 Sep 2008
Posts: 457
Location: Powys/Hereford Border.Near Hay-on-Wye

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 11 9:27 am Post subject:
I have a friend that breeds a lot of Shetland, not my cup of tea but she thinks they are wonderfull. She breeds for fleece colour. They seem to be able to live on rough pature without any problems.

Pel

Joined: 29 Mar 2008
Posts: 2366
Location: Sennybridge

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 11 11:44 am Post subject:

Don't know anything about spinning, but from handling point of view, they are smaller than normal sheep, bit stubborn but not bad tempered, easy to handle are very easy to flip for looking underneath/hoof trimming. Some of them you do have to use the proper sheep manoeuvre to turn over, but the very small ones you can just roll over/tip up.

Though I've only really worked with one small (20 or so) herd and they are all well handled, but they can jump on to/off walls if they really want to. They seem to respect the fencing though.

I dont have any experience with the other two breeds, as far as I can remember.

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