[Mallows Flock]

My... I love this learning... I know very little about GFD's but feel like I have just had a crash course! Brilliant I think I have a new sheep crush in the breed department 

[Blinkers]

My... I love this learning... I know very little about GFD's but feel like I have just had a crash course! Brilliant I think I have a new sheep crush in the breed department 

 

[Small Farmer]

As another GFD owner remember there's always a reason for a rare breed to be rare!

[Hazelwood Flock]

Agreed! like getting woolly then stuck on their backs, clipping out the ewes' udders before lambing so the lambs suck teats not wool, not reaching slaughter weight within 4 months, or being fly magnets if not kept sprayed....no surprise really! a commercial farmer's nightmare.
On the up side, they are stupidly docile and my personal experience of them lambing has been a doddle - only one ewe in 14 years refused to rear her lamb. They are the prettiest sheep too...
 

[colliewoman]

My... I love this learning... I know very little about GFD's but feel like I have just had a crash course! Brilliant I think I have a new sheep crush in the breed department 

Should you ever decide to get some and want to hire out the tup...
Just thinking about the cross onto my girls and the fleece that would hopefully result

[plt102]

Mmm love my gfds but totally agree about them being high maintenance hee hee. Our shetlands are a doddle in comparison. Got serious fly strike last autumn and caught them just in time this year and their feet are high maintenance in this wet weather. Love em to bits though and they are so pretty.

[lindy]

Hi
Just to say that I have had Zwartbles and Shetlands and they are both lovely breeds but have learned over the years that there are lots of points to take into consideration - many of which you only learn with experience.
Zwartbles are very hansome and very friendly but they are big and heavy and ours were prone to foot problems, and that is why we stopped keeping them.
Shetlands are much smaller and easier to handle and ours are also very friendly but they are very goat like and eat leaves, strip bark and so can do damage if there are trees in their field.
My advice is as a newcomer get sheep from a small hobby breeder who bucket trains their flock and insisit on friendly ones. It will make your life as novice shepherds a lot easier and more enjoyable.

[Mallows Flock]

My... I love this learning... I know very little about GFD's but feel like I have just had a crash course! Brilliant I think I have a new sheep crush in the breed department 

Donna....I was thinking about the fleece crossed onto my shetlands and shetland x's too!!!! LOL. If you want a tup for this Autumn i know the farm in Trudoxhill has just gone into GFD's.... wonder if they have a spare tup?




Should you ever decide to get some and want to hire out the tup...
Just thinking about the cross onto my girls and the fleece that would hopefully result

[Tilly]

 
A example of what you get ......
 Shetland ewe crossed with Greyface Dartmoor ram =
 
   

[Small Farmer]

We've crossed GFD ewes with a Southdown ram and got a much faster growing lamb which doesn't need early shearing.  Feet seem better but it's early days.

[plt102]

We have crossed a gfd ram with our shetland girls and the lambs are awesome! They are almost as big as their mums already and are very pretty.