Michael Keegan, the new Southern Ireland Lleyn Sheep Breeders Club Chairman, is a relative newcomer to the breed, but is already feeling the financial benefits of running a pedigree Lleyn flock.

‘I had heard a few favourable reports about the Lleyn over a couple of years, and decided to do a bit more research’. After having contacted Robin Darker, the Chairman of the Southern Ireland Lleyn Breeders Club at the time, Michael went to look at a local flock of Lleyn.

‘I was impressed with what I saw and so in 2007 I decided to buy 20 shearlings from Derek Steen as a test’. These ewes were run alongside Michael’s existing flock of 350 Suffolk x Cheviot ewes at Ballinagee House, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, and it soon became obvious how economical the Lleyn would be. ‘At first I thought there was something wrong with them. They were only eating half the amount of nuts as the other ewes, but they weren’t going backwards.’

The ewes were put to a pedigree Lleyn ram, bought from Robert Edwards at the 2007 Ballymena sale. ‘They were a pleasure to lamb; I didn’t have to mind them at all. The lambs were very hardy and were put out to pasture quickly.’ No lambs were lost to bad weather, and Michael was pleased with the progeny. The highly successful lambing, along with a need to cut input costs, convinced Michael to convert his whole commercial flock to a pedigree Lleyn flock.

Advice was sought from a few breeders, and after travelling to the UK mainland and visiting several flocks, he chose to source his new flock from John Geldard, in Cumbria. ‘I wanted to get the majority of the flock in one lot as they would have similar backgrounds, making management easier’. The ewes arrived in late summer 2008, after a relatively easy import process.

The flock, now 300 strong, was run with four pedigree Scrapie Type 1 rams. Two were bought from Hugo Warden at the 2008 Lleyn Sheep Society sale in Ballymena, and two purchased privately from Robin Darker and Simon Brown, both in Southern Ireland. The rams worked very well and the ewes have scanned at 180%.

The sheep have been housed since January, and were shorn on bringing in. ‘My winter feed costs have dropped dramatically. In 2008 I used 18 tonnes of nuts to feed my Suffolk x Cheviot ewes, but the Lleyn flock will only need 10 tonnes. Even the triplet bearing ewes are only on 2lb per day.’ So far, a saving of 2500 Euros has been made through a reduction in hard feed costs alone. Michael has also been able to save another 1500 Euros by selling surplus silage, which would otherwise have been fed to the sheep. Expenditure on bedding has also been reduced, as the ewes are not as dirty as the old commercial flock. ‘There is a huge difference in costs. The Suffolk x Cheviot ewes were costing a fortune to feed. The Lleyn are eating a lot less but producing the same amount of lambs, making a significant saving.’

The 170acre farm lies between 600 – 1000 ft above sea level and consists mainly of pasture and rough grazing, with some turnips and chicory grown for fattening lambs. The ability of the Lleyn to effectively convert forage has meant that the amount of fertiliser used has been reduced, providing another saving for the holding. The easier care nature of the sheep has also allowed Michael to farm a little more extensively, providing more time for off-farm contracting work and for the 700 hen free-range laying unit.

The flock is set to increase to 400 ewes, and it is hoped that this can be achieved by sourcing the majority of replacements from the homebred ewe lambs, making it the largest pedigree Lleyn flock in Southern Ireland. Michael would like to sell surplus breeding stock through Society sales, and hopes to see one set up in Southern Ireland in the not too distant future. A handful of promising ram lambs will be kept entire this year, to be entered in the 2010 ram inspections; a procedure that Michael strongly supports. ‘The Society appears to be quality orientated and having one man doing the inspections is great, as it helps maintain and improve the level of quality within the breed.’

In another bid to improve quality within his own flock, Michael is keen to start the new recording scheme that is currently being developed by Irish Cattle Breeding Federation and Sheep Ireland. He hopes that this will concentrate on the maternal ability of the breed and enable selection on several traits, including prolificacy, milkiness, ease of lambing, efficiency and live-weight gain.

Michael is keeping his options open for the future, with possible plans to develop a nucleus flock to provide his replacements. The remainder of the flock would be put to terminal sire rams to produce a slightly heavier, superior prime lamb carcase solely off grass, which would meet the factory requirements.

The new flock at Ballinagee House has settled well and Michael is pleased that he took the plunge and invested in such a large number of pedigree Lleyn ewes. With significant savings already made, the future looks bright for the new Club Chairman.