[Merrie Dancer]

thanks so much.
we will be progressing from having a small breeding flock of primitive sheep to have the grazing for 50 ewes.
easy management ie lambing and herding, plus hardiness is vital. id like a wool that is soft and suitable to spin/sell.
we have always bucket trained our sheep as they were in a small field, but having access to  hill land means we will need a dog. where to start with that?? needing a dog will rule out the soay and borerays as im sure they don't herd very well.

[goosepimple]

Our North Ronaldsays are very confident biddable little beasties, easy to catch and handle and are less nervous and scared than the soays or moorits.  It runs through the NR breed, not just ours that are easy.

[fiestyredhead331]

We have boreray and shetland up on our croft without a working dog, keeps me fit! We sell rare breed meat so it can be profitable. 
The Shetland wool is nice, boreray is more difficult to handle.  Next on my wish list is zwartbles but decent breeding stock is pricey 

[Big Light]

Not sure where you are but assuming north of scotland as its a croft. I would suggest something local then that you won't have to travel miles to get but also that will suit a wet wilder climate with more rougher grazing.

If your looking for profitability then potentially a primative breed such as the hebridean but cross it with a continental sire such as a suffolk or similar most of the lambs will be white fleeced ( important when selling at the mart as there appears, in some areas, that black lambs will get a slightly lower price). The lambs will grow well on the primative hebs milk and usually bypass there mothers size by the end of the season just finished on grass. They are a very cost effective breed as they require little input

The good thing is that you could buy unregistered hebridean ewes for this process which may not be that expensive to start with so intial input costs are low £20-30 plus a ewe rather than £80-100 plus so even if you get a pound or 2 less for the lambs at the end of the day its all about the pennies made. They also produce nice mule lambs to a blue face leicester. You could put a smaller proportion of the flock to a heb tup to produce ewe  replacements ( or buy some registered for this bit - perhaps more expensive - but option of selling registered ewes / tup)

The eating quality of a hebridean is also excellent, if you are looking at a niche market - so the pure boys from the ewe replacement side could be used for this. The above would allow you to have your eggs in several baskets

[Hartwelljulie]

Herdwicks!  Beautiful and easy if you can get them from someone who has them coming to the bucket and not from the fells.  I started as a complete novice with mine as ewe lambs and I'm loving it.  I firmly believe you should love the sheep you have and be passionate about the breed so find some that really appeal to you.  Good luck!

[Fleecewife]

I agree with everything that Big Light has said 

Hebrideans would seem to be the obvious breed for your land as they evolved specifically in that environment so can take wet, wind, soggy ground and rough grazing.  They are easy lambing - it's unusual for them to need help, they are great mothers, frequently with twins, have plenty of milk and are able to look after themselves and their lambs in the face of many predators.  Some people will say they are hard to work with a dog, but several folk who enter sheepdog trials have used Hebs to train their dogs and they are perfectly amenable to that. (Soay are less flockable - it can be done, but yet again we have been beaten today by one ancient old Soay with no teeth and skinny as a rake, but boy can she run  )
Hebs, when crossed, may benefit from using a tup with narrower shoulders than something like a Texel, but unless you're borrowing a tup, remember that he will need to do on your ground as well as the ewes.  Look on the Heb website and I think there will be details on there of popular crosses.  They make a neat meat lamb, bigger than the dam, usually white unless you have a black dominant animal in there, they should finish before Christmas. Purebred Heb meat is a known niche product which, if you can use mail order, or have a top restaurant in your area, you will find a good market for.  Have a look online at the prices some breeders are asking for boxed hogget. Purebred Hebs take 16 months to finish, especially on harder ground, but as you have the use of hill land that would be ideal.  They don't need extra feeding, except maybe hay if you have a bad winter, but they taste all the better for no grain.
Crossbred lambs fleece is very often very useable.  Pure Heb fleece is variable and something of an acquired taste, but I love working with mine. If you take care with your fleece production you can sell select fleeces to spinners online, or of course you can use them yourself. Skins can be tanned and sold again online, although you could really only use the ones from early finishers sent off in November.