Breeding a good hill ewe

Tupper · Apr 16, 2021

Hi, I'm trying to breed a ewe that is worth more than a swale as a cull ewe, eats less than a mule ewe but still produces a nice solid lamb. We farm at 1500 ft up to 1800 ft on a Hill farm.
I have tried lleyns which I crossed with a texel. I get good carcass lambs but I don't feel the ewe is Hardy enough and the lambs are bare skinned which means keeping them indoors a day or two if the weathers bad at birth. Thinking of using either a Highlander/ Welsh mountain/cheviot or even just trying to find a woolier Lleyn. Any recommendations on a good cross? Also is it possible to use a texdale tup to produce texdales or would I end up with mongrel lambs?

After a low cost ewe which produces hardy good shaped lambs, Lets get a discussion going lads?

Top Tip. · Apr 16, 2021

Tupper said:
Hi, I'm trying to breed a ewe that is worth more than a swale as a cull ewe, eats less than a mule ewe but still produces a nice solid lamb. We farm at 1500 ft up to 1800 ft on a Hill farm.
I have tried lleyns which I crossed with a texel. I get good carcass lambs but I don't feel the ewe is Hardy enough and the lambs are bare skinned which means keeping them indoors a day or two if the weathers bad at birth. Thinking of using either a Highlander/ Welsh mountain/cheviot or even just trying to find a woolier Lleyn. Any recommendations on a good cross? Also is it possible to use a texdale tup to produce texdales or would I end up with mongrel lambs? After a low cost ewe which produces hardy good shaped lambs, Lets get a discussion going lads?

Lairg type Cheviot,self replacing,produces top drawer lambs for store or fat . Will cross well with most terminal sires and can also be used to produce the Cheviot mule. Also has the benefit of having a wool type that normally pays the cost of shearing. There you are sorted that problem for you!!

Tupper · Apr 16, 2021

Cheers for reply, is the lairge type fairly hardy?how do the chiv types differ? Seen a picture of brecknock chivs and I liked the look of them, wooly hardy and agile is what I'm after. Would a Welsh mountain x leyntexel give me a good ewe?

Nithsdale · Apr 16, 2021

Very surprised you find Lleyn bare skinned, but it'll depend who you get tups from..

+1 for a Hill type Northie

Tupper · Apr 16, 2021

Yeah just found the texel lambs out of the Lleyn to be

Nithsdale Farmer said:
Very surprised you find Lleyn bare skinned, but it'll depend who you get tups from..

+1 for a Hill type Northie

Yeah just found the texel lambs out of my Lleyns were a bit fragile and not enough wool to stand bad weather had I lambed them outside. Maybe a pure Lleyns harder? I havnt tried a Lleyn tup yet? Found the Lleyn milked the lambs well but went a bit shelly and sticky come shearing time. Just don't know if they are quite upto the job of living on the hill, thought a texel x Lleyn might be a bit harder and a lower scan percentage.. I'm a bit green to Lleyns just like the idea of breeding a hard as nails whirefaced ewe and felt Lleyn was a good starting point

Top Tip. · Apr 16, 2021

Tupper said:
Cheers for reply, is the lairge type fairly hardy?how do the chiv types differ? Seen a picture of brecknock chivs and I liked the look of them, wooly hardy and agile is what I'm after. Would a Welsh mountain x leyntexel give me a good ewe?

They originated in the heather hills of Sutherland,they will be as hardy as any hill breed, why would you go to the bother of having a crossbred when you can get a pure bred that wil do a better job.

Top Tip. · Apr 16, 2021

That’s one of my ewes after lambing in -6*c the other morning.

Tupper · Apr 16, 2021

Top Tip. said:
They originated in the heather hills of Sutherland,they will be as hardy as any hill breed, why would you go to the bother of having a crossbred when you can get a pure bred that wil do a better job.

Selling them to me ha

any pictures of the lambs? Everyone seems to be going down the cheviot route but I fear there will just end il up a lot of mongrel cross bred cheviots about.. Like the idea of putting em back to a different tup now and again just to keep a bit of hybrid vigour

Agrivator · Apr 17, 2021

A bound Hill sheep stock, especially at your altitude, needs to be pure so that the rams you use are pre-potent for the desirable traits. And if you buy in any stock tups, only buy from flocks with a hardy ewe stock which fits your ideal.

If you have Swaledale ewes, three generations of using good Lairg-type Cheviots would produce an almost pure flock, and whatever you do, don't then start introducing any different breed: you will end up with mongrels and too much segregation.

Top Tip. · Apr 17, 2021

Mainly Cheviot mules in this one with a few Suffolk x

Hilly · Apr 17, 2021

South country Cheviot at that height would be anothe option hardier than a lairgy.

Bill dog · Apr 17, 2021

Top Tip. said:
View attachment 954973Mainly Cheviot mules in this one with a few Suffolk x

Out of interest, how far behind ( if any ), are the mule , or pure wedders, compared to the Suffolk cross wedders ?

Tupper · Apr 17, 2021

No offence to anyone, Always found the cheviot just not to be my cup of tea, not that prolific and a pig of a sheep to handle, and come clipping time I couldnt think of a worse sheep but every sheep has its cons..
Iv been looking at Derbyshire gritstone breed, are they not similar to cheviots and why have they never really hit off, they used to be kept by King's so they must have been thought after once of a time. Any gritstone experiences on here? Would a Lleyn x gritstone be a good ewe?

Old Tip · Apr 17, 2021

Nithsdale Farmer said:
Very surprised you find Lleyn bare skinned, but it'll depend who you get tups from..

+1 for a Hill type Northie

The Lleyn is a costal breed with the addition of a few other breeds in its modern form, definitely wouldn’t class it as a hill breed. Cant go wrong with a Lairg type Cheviot you won’t get as many lambs but you will save a fortune on feed over a Lleyn or a Swale and you will have something nice to look at

Nithsdale · Apr 17, 2021

Old Tip said:
The Lleyn is a costal breed with the addition of a few other breeds in its modern form, definitely wouldn’t class it as a hill breed. Cant go wrong with a Lairg type Cheviot you won’t get as many lambs but you will save a fortune on feed over a Lleyn or a Swale and you will have something nice to look at

My experience of Lleyns does not fit what you're saying at all.
But I'm well aware they are not all the same (bred up from many different origins, and running at vast different altitudes/locations)...

Lleyn Sheep Society :: Lleyn Perform as well as others in the Scottish Highlands

But anyway, I agreed with the suggestion of the Hill Northie

Top Tip. · Apr 17, 2021

Bill dog said:
Out of interest, how far behind ( if any ), are the mule , or pure wedders, compared to the Suffolk cross wedders ?

Mule wedders are very easy finished and can go to big weights without getting over fat . The pure wedders are better after new year ,ideally suited to turnip finishing to hit the spring trade. Suffolk cross wedders are really versatile finishing off their mother’s or can be kept right through,usually get a premium for them through the store or fat .

Top Tip. · Apr 17, 2021

Tupper said:
No offence to anyone, Always found the cheviot just not to be my cup of tea, not that prolific and a pig of a sheep to handle, and come clipping time I couldnt think of a worse sheep but every sheep has its cons..
Iv been looking at Derbyshire gritstone breed, are they not similar to cheviots and why have they never really hit off, they used to be kept by King's so they must have been thought after once of a time. Any gritstone experiences on here? Would a Lleyn x gritstone be a good ewe?

I would respectfully say that you have been working with the wrong type of Cheviot. We scan 180% which is plenty for me running at 900 to 1200 ft up in the Cairngorms. As for shearing they are the very best of shearing always my favourites this also makes me wonder what type of Cheviot you have worked with. The gritstone will have about as much in common with the lairg Cheviot as an apple has with an orange.

Pistonbroke · Apr 17, 2021

Thought brecon hill Cheviot started as south country's shipped down to stock up Cnewr estate. Often get a Scottish judge down to judge the tup sale

Agrivator · Apr 17, 2021

Tupper said:
No offence to anyone, Always found the cheviot just not to be my cup of tea, not that prolific and a pig of a sheep to handle, and come clipping time I couldnt think of a worse sheep but every sheep has its cons..
Iv been looking at Derbyshire gritstone breed, are they not similar to cheviots and why have they never really hit off, they used to be kept by King's so they must have been thought after once of a time. Any gritstone experiences on here? Would a Lleyn x gritstone be a good ewe?

The Derbyshire Gritstone is one of the few breeds that can change colour. It used to be a dirty grey, now its almost white.

Can anyone explain that? And anyway, its more of an upland breed rather than a hill breed.

Hilly · Apr 17, 2021

Old Tip said:
The Lleyn is a costal breed with the addition of a few other breeds in its modern form, definitely wouldn’t class it as a hill breed. Cant go wrong with a Lairg type Cheviot you won’t get as many lambs but you will save a fortune on feed over a Lleyn or a Swale and you will have something nice to look at

You can go wrong with lairgys , you have to tread carefully with them.

Breeding a good hill ewe

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