- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Because they'd die if left to their own resources?
Help needed. Greyface DM Lambs
- Thread starter Lucy123xxx
- Start date
Because they'd die if left to their own resources?
Well yes they were man made i suppose once upon a time.
Anyway...pity to let them die out.....they might be needed in some way
in the future.but I suppose their dna could be put into 'storage' for possible later reincarnation like the woolly mammuff
GrannyAching
Member
- Location
- Mynyddoedd Preseli
Mean but also with a grain of truth, I know. I look back at the Hebs we had years ago and marvel at how far they had been moved away from their original natural qualities which I what we thought we'd be getting. I appreciate there is more genetic knowledge around now and in fairness these sheep are all inside on cake and forage and I have yet to see a cake or silage tree growing anywhere.
There was a wink and grin emoti at the end there but my phone doesn't seem to cope with them!
Philip Watkins
Member
- Location
- Back in Shropshire
In the post after you suggested doing it.
Northeastfarmer
Member
- Location
- Cleveland
Yea but the enema was suggested first? No mention of pulling the tail away before that?
Philip Watkins
Member
- Location
- Back in Shropshire
Correct.
Northeastfarmer
Member
- Location
- Cleveland
So what are you getting at?
Lucy123xxx
New Member
Please don't argue! He's can go now; just think it's literally just hurting as there's a bit snagging on his wool. He'll be ok. And thanks all for your help
Philip Watkins
Member
- Location
- Back in Shropshire
I was just answering your questions.
Northeastfarmer
Member
- Location
- Cleveland
Thank you
Lovegoodstock
Member
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
Some say rare breeds are rare for a reason. Yet Adam, ginger tool, Henson makes a great living from them, swans around all over the country on the back of an odd highland bull and Oxford sheep, all of us need to up our game surely?
- Location
- N.Lincs
IMHO they are, as you say, rare for a reason - they can not produce economically under the commercial constraints currently prevailing. Who knows when that may change?Some say rare breeds are rare for a reason. Yet Adam, ginger tool, Henson makes a great living from them, swans around all over the country on the back of an odd highland bull and Oxford sheep, all of us need to up our game surely?
We keep a few Lincolns purely to maintain the genes that have been developed in this county for hundreds of years. They take far more looking after, eat much more, produce a lot less than our commercial sheep but it would be a shame to let them die out like the Curly Coat pig. If the oil ever runs out and with it, man made fibres, we've plenty of wool genes to take up the slack.
Adam Henson is able to do what he does with rare breeds 'cos he's been clever enough to get the BBC and the punters that pay to visit his farm park to pick up the tab.
Lovegoodstock
Member
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
And good on him to be fair, mum went to some do where he was an after dinner speaker, now I think that figure would buy him most highland cattle registered on BCMS!!
- Location
- N.Lincs
Our breed society 'looked into it' for our 125th anniversary dinner - bit out of out league
what about the likes of the Herdwick though ?
Lovegoodstock
Member
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
Are they classed as a rare breed? May be I don't know. They serve a purpose undoubtedly, where as the rare lowland breeds rightly or wrongly have become fairly of serving no purpose, which is a shame but keep them going by enthusiasts or open farms?
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
What about them? Does keeping any of these rare breeds that can thrive on nowt, on the lush pastures of a lowland farm, or a good lifers place with a feed trough in front of them every day, really preserve those genetics for prosperity? Or does it just keep a group of animals going that have a passing resemblance to them, but few of the 'hard as nails' qualities?
I was chatting to a retired judge living in the Shropshire borders a while back. He'd moved to a smallholding and fancied a herd (fold?) of Highland cows, which is fair enough I guess. He said it took months to get them eating nuts, which he liked to give them every day, and that he was even buying specialist 'Highland Cattle nuts' (WTF?) for the job. He, of course, has every right to have some nice looking cattle about the place, but to suggest that type of place is preserving genetics is daft IMO. How many generations would it take under that management, to breed a soft, Southern teddy bear out of a breed that can winter in the snow of a Scottish mountain?
My original comment about dieing if left to their own resources was tongue in cheek btw.
Yes i know it was tongue in cheek,
I have a feeling that in the not to distant future other sheep breeds will be on the rare list. or anyway substantially reduced numbers, as what actually is a commercial sheep comes more under the spotlight. - some surprises.possibly.
i know i dont have the room for them anyway, the pony is gone now and the two dogs that don't work
will have to be very nice to me.....