Flock Features from Scotland

Nice and Simple

J.M. Aiken, Carlophill Farm, Carlops, Penicuik, Scotland

Willie Aiken and his father John farm at Carlophill Farm.  They have 1000 acres from 900 – 1700ft, ranging from wet heather hills down to peat and clay fields which are better suited to a dry summer.  “We get a lot of rain in this part of the world” states Willie.  They farm 930 Lleyn and Lleyn cross ewes which are all put to the Lleyn ram for early April lambing as part of this commercial system.  Alongside the sheep they farm 190 Saler cows.  Willie states that he wants a life. Therefore the livestock have to work around him so that he can have a life at the weekends. [Read more]

Laga Farms - Where the number of lambs matters!

Laga Farms Ltd, Evie, Orkney Flock 971

When you look at a map of the UK look as far north as you can and a bit further and you come to the Orkney Islands. This is the home of Laga Farms Ltd, flock 971. This family run business consists of brothers Michael and Martin Cursiter. Michael’s son Sean works at home when he is not away shearing and Michael’s wife Ruth works alongside him whilst also juggling a job at their children’s nursery. [More]

Lleyn key to Commercial Success on Bute

To me it seemed obvious that we were playing a numbers game, and not giving ourselves enough time to identify inefficiencies and problem ewes" says Janet. So they set about thinking how they could reduce ewe numbers whilst keeping productivity up and altogether running an entirely more efficient system. Being a closed flock, she wanted to find a breed that would produce ewe lamb replacements without having to go through the two-tier system associated with mule breeding, and a breed that was more prolific and had a better wether lamb so that more lambs could go away finished rather than store. [More]

Profit without Subsidies

Lleyn may not be the biggest or the showiest of breeds, but, these increasingly popular sheep, which in the 1970's were classified a rare breed, are now common place on upland and low ground units alike, as flockmasters are forced to continually cut costs to make ends meet. And, as 2013 fast approaches, and with it, the proposal that single farm payments be phased out, we could see an ever increasing number of these white Welsh sheep adorn our landscape in years to come."The Lleyn is the breed that produces the greatest net margin on our land, and it's the one that is most likely to leave a profit without subsidies," said Duncan Allison, who farms in partnership with his mother Nancy at Anston farm, Dunsyre, Lanarkshire. [More]

Fickle hand of fate makes transition to Lleyns much smoother

Falling demand for Suffolk cross lambs out of their Scotch Half-Bred flock left a Borders farming family with no choice but to look at other options. A brief encounter with the Lleyn breed took their farming in a new direction. Coincidence brought the Lleyn breed and the Mitchells, a Borders farming family together, fulfilling their need for an easy to manage sheep that combined the ability to produce good quality meat lambs and to produce good females for breeding flock replacements. [More]

Earl of Rosebery - Lleyn making big savings

When the Lleyn was suggested, and its proven achievements discussed, Mr Stewart admits: “It just all seemed too good to be true. We asked ourselves if the Lleyn really could solve all our problems and make it seem so simple.”  [More]

Ballylinney Lleyn Flock

Much has happened in the life of Derek Steen over the last decade, Derek has been firmly focussed on the type of sheep he wants to breed "I'm aiming to breed sheep with maternal qualities, sheep which will produce and rear plenty of good shaped lambs with minimal shepherding. When buying a breeding tup, I look for strong maternal characteristics in his bloodline history. Visually I consider skin, conformation and correctness. [More]

Janet Hill talks Commercial Lleyn