LLEYN ON DEVON HILLS

On Sunday 8th August, over 70 farmers converged on Chilthorne Farm, Bampton, near Tiverton for an Open Day organised by the West Country Lleyn Sheep Breeders Club. The land ranges from 600-750 ft and is well drained, ideal for sheep. Chris and Alison Crudge, the hosts, have 325 ewes, the best 180 of which are bred pure with the rest going to Charollais or Texel rams. The visitors were given an introduction to the Lleyn breed and the Crudges’ farming system, followed by a farm tour of their excellent sheep and wonderful views. ‘What better way could there be of spending a Sunday afternoon?’

Before 2000, the Crudges had North Country Mules which they crossed with Texel. Retaining their ewe lambs and putting them again to the Texel gave excellent carcases but the lambing percentage was getting lower and lower. Being worried about the risk of disease, they desperately didn’t want to go back to buying in ewes on an annual basis. Having heard about Lleyn ewes, Chris and Alison went to the Exeter Society Sale in the early 2000s and bought foundation stock from respected flocks.

Chris and Alison explained that ‘We work together on the sheep but, as Chris works for a contractor, the sheep have to fit in with the time available. Needing relatively little care, the Lleyn are ideal. They also have plenty of lambs at a good weight and they don’t eat so much, so we can keep a few more; and the most important plus for us is that we can have a closed flock. All in all, since we found out about Lleyn, we haven’t looked back’.

The ewes are fed round bale silage from the end of November and are housed in January after scanning (usually between 180 and 190%). ‘Mid March lambing means that there is enough grass at turnout so we don’t have to feed concentrates’ said Chris. Ewe lambs are grown on as replacements or for sale as 2-tooths, mostly at the Exeter Society Sale. Fat lambs are sold via Sedgmoor or South Molton markets.

All in all, the Open day was extremely friendly, enjoyable and informative. The guess the weight competition was won by Karen Stephens of Callington who, unbelievably, guessed the weights of each pen exactly!

For those interested in Lleyn, the next Society Sale will be held at Exeter Livestock Centre on Thursday 26th August at 10 am (01392 276668).

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