Published in Farmers Guardian - 30th May 2025
In an ever-changing industry, adaptability and development are crucial for positive progress – and that is exactly what the Lleyn Sheep Society aim to do with the help of their Breed Development Committee.
Transparency is a key feature when it comes to marketing a breed, and this is what the Breed Development Committee are focussed on achieving.
“The role of the committee is to scrutinise and then communicate with members about topics within the breed or the industry that enable them to be more efficient or sustainable within their own flocks,” stated Richard Twose, Breed Development Chair.
“The committee should be the technical branch of the Society, and we aim to utilise all the information available to monitor the current performance of the breed – and where the relevant information is not available, we aim to generate it ourselves.”
“With our feet firmly on the ground, we are proactive in updating the key performance indicators for the Lleyn breed - using accessible data from Grassroots, Signet and project work - so that flock masters are able to understand any progress related to our breed,” he added.
Having marked a decade since its formation, the committee are as dedicated as ever to ensuring the breed continues to move in the right direction – focusing on the several tools in place to help improve overall breed efficiency, notably:
- RAM INSPECTION - Pedigree Lleyn Rams are inspected and registered before use, with a Society appointed Ram Inspector covering venues across the whole of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, in June to August each year. Every ram that is passed has not only been inspected for cosmetic breed traits but also for physical correctness including teeth, feet and testicles. This cements a level of confidence for buyers that they are purchasing a ram that is capable of performing well, regardless of whether he is purchased privately or through a Society Sale.
- MATERNAL PERFORMANCE – The Cardiff project - a project in conjunction with Cardiff University where we investigated genomic markers in order to help identify prolific and superior milking traits within the breed.
- LLEYN GOLD – A simple Society Scheme which is free to all members. This scheme allows breeders to make objective breeding decisions based on weight ratio (kg lambs reared to 56 days) divided by weight of ewe at weaning – optimising ewe efficiency.
- PROLIFICACY - Gathered data on the how the prolificacy of Lleyn has changed over the last 20 years and generated an understanding of prolificacy (prolificacy genes and modelling) and how a breeder can modify his flock prolificacy (up or down).
- GENETIC MARKERS – Allows the early selection of best/worst stock (as lambs) before performance records are available. In place currently are Scrapie Resistance, Myomax Carcase Muscling, Prolificacy Genes and FecXG/FecGH markers.
- SOCIETY FLOCK BOOK – Utilised through Grassroots.
- SIGNET PERFORMANCE RECORDING - Estimated Breeding Values & the Lleyn Index.
“In the past 5 years there has also been some additional Lleyn related technical developments including the Breed For Change Project to minimise methane production and improve environmental performance, which has been undertaken by the Performance Recorded Lleyn Breeders, SIGNET and others,” commented Kathryn Dick, Promotions & Communications Officer for the Society.
“In addition, the committee are open to the idea of exploring new projects, including new DNA Markers / GEBV’s for characteristics that are difficult to measure in sheep, for example, milkiness, mastitis susceptibility and worm resilience. However, one of the biggest technological achievements this year, so far, has been the industry-wide MV resistance marker which has been tested, and results are now available to members. We are hoping to have a marker for maternal rearing ability available to members in 2026,” she added.
“Going forward, there are further topics that we hope to start some discussion on, including entropion propensity and wool shedding within the breed.”
Building on the topic of transparency, the Society and committee together are in regular contact with vet’s and sheep specialists from across the country and are focussed on encouraging members to ‘get talking’ about the real issues that the industry is currently facing.
“The Breed Development Committee recently held an online Johnes workshop and discussion group, in conjunction with Kate Ingram - BVetMed MRCVS and Technical adviser (Ruminant) at Virbac. The Society is aware that the topic of Iceberg Diseases can be seen as a bit of a taboo subject within the sector, and so we wanted to give our members the opportunity to be able to learn about the signs and be able to ask the right questions to the right people,” stated Kathryn.
“We truly believe that discussion groups, like this, plays a huge part in the prevention of problems and we have always encouraged our members to be transparent when it comes to their flock health – in a bid to better the industry as a whole.”
Commenting on the workshop, Kate Ingram added: “It is really progressive of the Lleyn Sheep Society to not bury their heads in the sand and be open to a discussion on the topic of Johnes. It is such a prevalent disease and there is no shame in discussing it.
“Our aim, as a company, is to raise awareness of the disease itself because the prevalence is so high, so what we are trying to do is to get farmers to look for it and know the key signs. It was really nice to engage in a discussion with a Breed Society who are proactive about flock health, as well as having a local vet present on the workshop - as they are the individuals who are doing the testing and prescribing on the ground,” she explained.
Looking to the future and continuing down the path of research and project analysis, the Society are dedicated to securing the Lleyn as one of the most sustainable and efficient breeds available to sheep farmers across the country. Their mission is to continue to provide all the relative information that the members of Lleyn Sheep Society need, to ensure that the breed stays at the forefront of the industry.
For further information, contact the Promotions & Communications Officer, Kathryn at: promotions@lleynsheep.com
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