Lleyn Sheep Society

Q -- How big is your unit, how long have you been farming there and what is the land mix.
A - Farm size is about 230 ha: I have been farming it since 1979. The farm consists of about 105 ha grassland, 70 ha of willow coppice and 30 ha of let arable land. The grassland is permanent or long ley as, due to the lie of the land and flooding problems from the Wharfe rotating it with arable has not been economically viable.

Q - What other enterprises take place on the farm.
A - For the last four years the farm has been undergoing major changes. Most of our arable land is on shallow silty clay soils over clay and very liable to waterlogging. These areas have been converted to willow coppice. It was not acceptable to retain the grain infrastructure for 30 ha . so this land has been rented out to a neighbour.

An award winning office complex has been created out of some redundant farm buildings, and three residential properties on the farm have been converted to high quality short to medium term lets. The offices and two houses are heated by a central wood chip boiler. We are fortunate in being close to Leeds, Harrogate & York.

Carlshead Twins

Q - What influenced you into using the Lleyn and when and where did your original ewes come from.
A - We have tried a number of sheep breeds to find those tolerant to trace element problems (high iron levels locking up others) and over the years have found Welsh breeds to be best. We have run Welsh mules, briefly Welsh Halfbreds and then struck on the Lleyn in 1992 and were impressed by ease of management and carcase quality. Our first few batches came from Gaerwen, various breeders. For many years, we ran a commercial flock of about 700 ewes of various breeds and did not get involved in pedigree work until flock reduction in 1999-2000. We are now running less ewes, have the same turnover and less work.

Q - What is the pros and the cons of the Lleyn.
A -PRO'S; economy of feeding, general management and size, mothering and milkiness.
CON'S: relatively slow maturing, females prone to going to fat.

Q - What age and weight are lambs sold fat and where are they marketed - how successful.
A - Lambs are sold for slaughter from 5 1/2 months. Ram lambs run from 38 -50kg. Ewe lambs go from 38-43kg whenever possible and are usually 42 weeks +. We sell through the local livestock market: premium prices are normal and we are nearly always in the top 10%. We have used deadweight in the past but transport costs became a problem with small numbers after flock reduction.

Q - Do you run your ewes with 3 lambs or do you lift a lamb?
A - We occasionally run a ewe with three lambs: it depends entirely on the milkiness of the ewe and the availability of sufficient high quality grass (we lamb from Feb 25th to 10th April in general)

Q - Do you lamb hoggs.
A - We do not lamb hoggs. This has been tried and it proved very difficult to control the nutrition of the hogg to avoid large lambs. We lost a lot of hoggs due to consequential problems. I would think that lambing hoggs with this breed requires a December birth to give sufficient maturity.

Q - Ram history - have you used a specific type or from a certain breeder?
A - We have not been limited to a specific breeder for rams. Our criteria in the past have been for a ram with good conformation. standing well, good feet and true Lleyn head. We are now looking for good teeth to get more age on our ewes and a tighter coat as well.

Carlshead Shearlings

Q - In your opinion what does the Lleyn have to offer the sheep industry?
A - The Lleyn has a good carcase, is economical to manage and will be ideal for running sheep in conjunction with environmental programmes.

Q - You run 60 unregistered Lleyn to the Charollais to fulfil first cross ewe lamb orders. How does the performance of your Charollais x Lleyn compare to the pure ewe. - will they still play a major part in the flock makeup.
A - The Charollais x Lleyn ewe produces a heavier and more compact carcase and grows faster. Lambing percentage is a bit lower but we have clients with small flocks who regularly get 200%. We do not use many of these ewes ourselves due to our policy of producing breeding sheep. The Charollais x Lleyn lamb has been much in demand for store lambs.

Q - Are male lambs left entire?
A - Males are left entire. Separated at 6 months, fed a little concentrate until their weight is suitable and the finished intensively for 10-14 days.

Q - Where do you sell your pure sheep - repeat customers?
A - We have not been at the pedigree game for long enough for a proper picture to appear. We have private customers and also sell through Society sales. However, we still have a fair number of unregistered sheep and all these go privately or, in times past, via the Yorkshire Sheep sale.

Q - Where are you heading in the next 5 years.
A - Very difficult to say: we are now squarely in the hands of EU bureaucrats who could easily wreck the industry.

Carlshead ewes

Q - Where do you see the future of the Lleyn?
A - I think the Lleyn will become well established as a quality sheep in areas where environmental management is important and where ease and cost of management is important (as opposed to intensive sheep production where faster maturing breeds are required).