[lou13]

Hi!
I have several mules and cade lambs at home and I am looking at starting to create my own pedigree flock. As the title suggests I cant decide what breed to choose. I quite liked the idea of Hampshire Downs (I have 2 non-pedigree shearlings) but have kind of gone off it recently. Obviously I will show my flock, so I was wondering If I chose something like Texel's would i have less chance of winning at shows as there will be a lot more competition (my flock cant become very big due to land issues, at the moment, i am looking to expand however in the near future). Any tips and advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
lou13

[lou13]

Hi!
I have several mules and cade lambs at home and I am looking at starting to create my own pedigree flock. As the title suggests I cant decide what breed to choose. I quite liked the idea of Hampshire Downs (I have 2 non-pedigree shearlings) but have kind of gone off it recently. Obviously I will show my flock, so I was wondering If I chose something like Texel's would i have less chance of winning at shows as there will be a lot more competition (my flock cant become very big due to land issues, at the moment, i am looking to expand however in the near future). Any tips and advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
lou13

Also I hear  that Texels often have difficulty at lambing. Has anyone any experience of this? And also when I looked on the Texel Breeders Association it said in the show rules that they should be MV accredited? Is this true or can they be non MV accredited. Thanks again!

[Hillview Farm]

Get something you find that catches your eye and with the texels people wouldn't use them if they are that bad. But something you like have to think about is that personally I wouldn't use a texel on a shearling of any type so you would need a different ram for them so unless you can borrow or send them away too I would get a breed that you can put on ewes of all ages. I think the Hampshire down would be a good choice!

[Pedwardine]

Check out all the breed society websites you can, get a feel for the look, temperment, all the qualities that tick your boxes. Obviously you've already decided to show. Most shows will adapt to create a new class - rare breeds, primitives etc so don't worry too much on that front. Most of all you'll want sheep YOU will enjoy. Get a sheep breed which suits you. Bear in mind ease of handling, whether a breed will suit your type of land, if they'll need to be extra hardy for where you're located etc.  Do you want good fleece, potential for pelt production, or just meat and breeding stock to sell on? Take your time. When you've narrowed down your choices visit people with sheep pertaining to your shortlist without obligation to buy. Most of us are happy to show off our particular breed. I'm soft on Gotlands and Shetlands but all sheep are pretty wonderful in my eyes. I've likely missed some point or other but others will fill in what I've forgotten 

[Marches Farmer]

A few things to consider:  are your fences good?  Mountain sheep are no respecters of poor ones.  Do you have small children?  Horned breeds can be harder to handle.  How wet is your ground?  Heavy breeds can poach the soil.  Do you want to spin the fleece?  If you want to show it can be hard to compete against experienced breeders of the main commercial breeds.  To start with it can be fun to compete in Any Other Lowland Breed class where there will be fewer of your breed and an unusual breed will stand out anyway.

[zarzar]

we Have started with portlands after strictly saying no horned breeds lol, although they are horn i haveent had any problems, they are a smallish size so easy to handle plus you show them in working clothes so no need for trimming and bathing ect we have wet land and they are easy to keep their feet have been fantastic, and they are small enough that children can handle them, they are on the rare breed list 2 our local pub now wants to buy any portland meat we produce to.

[zarzar]

A Portland Ewe with her lamb(which are born a foxy fed colour)

[shygirl]

im not an expert on texels but id imagine the pedigree rams go for alot of money as they are a meat breed, therefore for you to get show quality tupps, it may be expensive, and to get show winners - there will be alot of professional competition.

but if you like them, just try it. you can always change your mind after a few years,
they sell well and are popular so you wouldnt be stuck with them against your will. its good to try a few different breeds til you find one that interests you.
just remember the commercial breeds do need a bit of help at lambing compared to the natives that can just pop them out. but thats the commitment you have to put in.

[Pedwardine]

Where are you based? Likely you've some TASers around with sheep you can visit.

[Graemscifi]

lou13 my cousin runs a comercial flock of Texels, they all get manualy lambed cos the head and escpecialy the front shoulders are so big, As a breed they have four comercial sized joints, one at each corner, so they comand good money at the sales, but you have to be aware that attendence during lambing is constant. cos you are short of space have you considerd primitive breeds? Thay eat remarkably little compared to big comercial breeds, both grass and dry food, and being smaller dont poach your ground nearly as bad if rotation is a proplem. If showing is you aim you can strut your shinny rare breed in front of all the borring comercial breeds, i say this as a NCC farmer who has got the bug for rare breeds since i came back from the Highland Show and looked on with jelosy at the little beasties.

good luck

[lou13]

lou13 my cousin runs a comercial flock of Texels, they all get manualy lambed cos the head and escpecialy the front shoulders are so big, As a breed they have four comercial sized joints, one at each corner, so they comand good money at the sales, but you have to be aware that attendence during lambing is constant. cos you are short of space have you considerd primitive breeds? Thay eat remarkably little compared to big comercial breeds, both grass and dry food, and being smaller dont poach your ground nearly as bad if rotation is a proplem. If showing is you aim you can strut your shinny rare breed in front of all the borring comercial breeds, i say this as a NCC farmer who has got the bug for rare breeds since i came back from the Highland Show and looked on with jelosy at the little beasties.

good luck

Cheers for that! The only reason I have though about Texel's is because I spend most my free time working on a big commercial farm therefore I would love to breed real nice ewes and tups. Another drawback to that is that I will be in college and not home from 8am-5pm. Therefore I cant be with them all day. I don't have a huge amount of grazing land at the moment as most of it is took up by crops so If i were to have primitive breeds i could have more ewes to the acre than the commercial breeds which is important at the moment. Would you say Hampshire downs are a commercial breed?? I quite like the sound of Hebrideans or Herdwicks. Could you suggest some others? p.s. a friend of mine has some very flighty Jacob's, which can easily clear hurdles/fences so ideally i don't want too much of a primitive breed if you know what i mean! haha!
Thanks, lou13 

[Rosemary]

We have Coloured Ryelands - there are Ryelands as well which are white. They WERE a commercial breed, fell from favour, were classed as rare but are now popular with smallholders and folk who like showing.

Not too big, docile, good feet, mine have all been good mothers although I suspect they aren't as easy lambing as primitives but the tup lambs are ready to kill at about six / seven months off grass. Lovely tasty lamb and good fleeces.

More shows now have Ryeland classes if showing floats your boat.

[Pedwardine]

My Gotlands are lovely  . Big characters, great temperament, beautiful to look at, not too big for easy handling, good mothers, easy lambers, milky mums, NOT escape artists, easily bucket trained, very friendly, marketable fleeces/pelts and tasty meat. They're quite elegant sheep so don't produce the biggest carcass and their feet suffer a little with scold on soggy ground(largely remedied by a lick containing zinc). They do well on grazing which isn't tip-top stuff ie rough grazing and they are pretty hardy.

[Graemscifi]

why dont you look at your local and regional show classes and look at the breed that was traditional to your disterict and has fallen out of comercial favour, there will be lots of show classes avalable to it and maybe less compitition than once was. Also look for your local regional rare breed sale, look at whats being sold and how much, now my local sale room is small by southern standerds but try calling and asking them about trends of prices and age to sell etc as often rare breeds fell out of favour cos tthey take much longer to finnish to sale weight.

It was hebredeans at the highland show that got my juices flowing for rare breeds they are lovely. hardwicks are starting to feature more and more at the rare breed sall up here dont know too much about them but someone here will fill you in. myself i am looking at Castlemilk moorfit sheep cos they are rare rare and very nice looking and tasty, and i have room to keep them till they are hoggit befor selling/eating. 

[Fleecewife]

Glad you like the Hebs Graemscifi      They are certainly striking eye catchers.  There are classes for them at many shows now although some are still judged with 'any other native breed'.  You can go the whole hog with competing at the highest level - a couple of years ago, well probably 3, it was a newcomer who won the Heb championship at the Highland Show.  The Society could do with some fresh competition 
As with Ryelands, they are no longer as rare as some, except the minority multihorns, which we keep.  Most people can't be bothered with the extra care required to produce a good set of horns, but to my mind that characteristic is well worth preserving. Multihorns rarely get well placed in the showring though.
 
The meat, from those which don't make the grade, has the classic primitive slow-grown flavour and is now fairly well-known amongst chefs, so with a little work you can get a market.  They need to be slaughtered for meat at 16 months, so if you don't have much ground, or can't put them on a conservation grazing site or hill to mature, then that could be a problem.
 
Otherwise, they are all that a good sheep could be - long lived, good black feet, excellent mothers with about 2/3rds twins and the occasional triplets, good mothering instincts, very milky, cross with commercials well especially as the primitives have a proportionally wider pelvis than many breeds. Crossbred lambs are a good marketable size and mature in their first year - they are also white (unless you use a Jacob or BWM tup) and that can be an advantage.  They are relatively easy to handle, especially if you are experienced, being smallish.  They can be a bit wild, but we have found them to be very calm as we treat them gently.  They don't respond well to being 'ssshhhed' and flapped at, but will walk ahead nicely if you give them time and use sheep psychology  . There is a myth that you can't use a dog with Hebs but in fact several people do competition work with dogs trained on Hebs.  We use our Jack Russell 
 
The fleeces are variable - good ones can be sold to handspinners, but poor ones don't get much from the BWMB.  An alternative is to get the skins tanned. A skin from a hogget is different to that of a lamb because it has been shorn, but can still make a lovely rug.
 
lou13, Hebs would be well worth investigating for you I think - of course I'm partial but not blinkered.