[Pallyando]

I'm looking for advice on store lambs, and potential breed suggestions as I'm looking for something fairly specific from a timing point of view.

Based West Devon, and I manage my land in a wildlife first fashion...a small scale wilding project if you will, where any stock I keep is to help in habitat creation, diversifying the sward/meadow creation etc, but will end up in the freezer (don't want to breed). Have used weaners to good effect in past years, but  this year am looking for some lambs to graze the late summer meadow growth and aftermath.

They would have access to about 3 acres of grazing, about half of which will have been cut over the summer, and the rest will be a summers growth (quite long) plus field fringes of woodland and scrub/Bramble/Gorse etc.

From a timing point of view would be looking to get 2-3 store lambs from no earlier than August, to finish/slaugher
from anywhere between December and February (no later) so a breed with a slaughter age of 8-10 months.

looking for hardy breed suggestions that will be mostly self sufficient and ok with minimal supplemental haylage. We tend to get a good flush of grass growth in the autumn and the land can be quite wet through winter but always good dry areas.

 Hope this makes sense and thanks for any advice suggestions. Maybe I should post this in the land management section?

[humphreymctush]

It doesn’t really matter which breed. My advice would be to get whatever is available locally and at a reasonable price.

[SallyintNorth]

Just wrote an epic post on overwintering sheep, and Cloudflare then lost the lot.

I'll try again (this time! I will put a copy in paste buffer before pressing "Post"!)

Check your abattoir can take home kills in December / January.  Ours won't, and any for late Oct, Nov, or early Jan need to be booked in months in advance.  (Like, in July.)

If your priority by December is the meat, and you can get a slot at the abattoir, I'd go for something that'll be ready in December and send them off then.  Any sheep will stagnate if not lose condition once the grass loses its nutritional value.

As a generalisation, commercial types will lose condition once the colder and/or wetter weather comes, unless supplemented and given good dry shelter.

If you'd rather have them grazing for longer, then you need something won't go backwards and ideally can grow through winter on just forage.

The traditional choice for overwintering is Cheviot.  Lambed in late April / May on the hills, sold as weanlings late August/Sept, at that point looking like bunny rabbits and fetching more than fat lambs three times their size in the primestock ring next door.  They make good use of anything and by New Year are impressive "butchers lambs"  fetching top dollar as "spring lamb" until the first of that year's crop hit the marts. Dunno if you'd get any around here though, and they usually don't get sold in small numbers.  If they do go through the marts here, you might be able to get one of the buyers to sell a small handful of his/her purchase on to you at the mart.

Primitives like Hebs and Shetlands will keep condition in the circs you describe, but won't grow much once winter hits and would be a lot bigger - and tastier - after a second summer. 

Over the border in Cornwall, around Bodmin, there are lots of Herdwick crosses and Swaledale crosses, which would cope with the circs you describe.  Pure Herdies traditionally get three or even four summers, and Swales two summers, to develop the trademark flavour, but crosses might work for you.  (But avoid ones that look like Mules, they'd likely be too soft to be putting anything on over winter.)

I'm not as familiar with the sheep on Dartmoor, but I'm guessing there will be Blackfaces and crosses thereof, which would be similar to Swales and crosses, and should be a bit meatier.

I don't have personal experience of Devon & Cornwall Longwools, but there are plenty of them, and crosses of them, around Bodmin, and they should do what you want I would think.