Hi Bloomer -
#yes, Borerays and Soays are suitable for novice sheep keepers. Being primitives they are pretty good at getting on with it on their own although they prefer some input - see below.
#Compared to commercial sheep, rare breeds tend to be cheaper
I would say that you would pay less than £100 per registered animal, but at least £50 . You can pick up unreg specimens for less, but you cannot know if they are purebred and it's a long, expensive and tortuous process to upgrade them. I would say that they are in pretty much the same ball park as other rare breeds and RBST 'umbrella' breeds.
#Yes, spare tups and those ewe lambs which don't make the grade make a useful contribution to the menu
Best slaughtered at about 16 months, or even later for Soays. They are extremely tasty - well, I haven't tasted Boreray, but Soays are a darker meat than commercial lamb, closer grained, with plenty of flavour. Although they are small and the chops are tiny, the gigot (leg o' mutton) is surprisingly large.
#Ours, in southern Scotland at 1000', live outside all year round and lamb outside too, with field shelters.
#They eat mainly pasture rich in 'weeds' ie wild plants, but they need hay in the winter and will benefit from some bought-in feed in the 6 weeks leading up to lambing. In a hard winter we feed concentrates - well, Tup&Lamb coarse mix, when there is snow lying. They also appreciate browsing material such as willow branches but it's not essential. They are still sheep, so need all the usual care.
this is some daft questions with good reason behind it so stick with me!!!
having googled borerays and soay and still seriously thinking about being in scotland by july (fingers crossed) i am currently researching like mad into various livestock.
are boreays/soay suitable for novice sheep keepers?
as they are so rare are they much more expensive than less rare but still on RBST listing sheep?
I assume spare tups still become chops?
Do they taste good?
In central scotland can they live out all year round with a field shelter or do they need to come in for the winter?
Are they fairly able to sustain themselves given sufficient pasture or will they need lots of bought in feed?
I know its a list PM me if its easier or you don't want any of the answers on an open forum.
Thanks for helping with my research.
Topic: Rare Breed Sheep in Scotland (Read 10093 times)
