quiet breed of sheep mentioned in recent FJ article

cmac

Evening all...
Before Christmas there was a quick piece in the FJ about a Lady farming in (I think) Kilkenny who had picked an unusual breed of sheep. Her reasons seemed to include the fact that the breed was known for being very calm/quiet.
For the life of me I can't find my copy of the FJ, or remember the breed of sheep in question and just thought someone here might know it off the top of their heads.
Failing that, does anyone have any recommendations for a docile breed of sheep?
Thanks.

eire23

Think that article was about zwartbles, could well be wrong though.

Failing that Ya could try lleyns, they are a nice quiet sheep

Username John

We have suffolks, and have always found them quiet.

But for any breed, I think it all depends on how they are treated really...

cmac

Thanks folks.
eire23, I'm pretty sure it was Zwartbles because I was struck by not knowing how to pronounce the name ;-)
UJ, I agree with you in principal about the treatment of animals playing a big part, but I'm still haunted by the memories of chasing my Grandfather's sheep all over the parish every summer while the "farm" dogs sat on the wall and watched!
We're looking for just a few sheep to run after come cows as part of a program to rejuvenate some old pasture. Are any of these breed hardy enough to outwinter in Co. Clare or will they all need to be housed for the next few months?

redzerologhlen

cmac wrote: »

Thanks folks.
eire23, I'm pretty sure it was Zwartbles because I was struck by not knowing how to pronounce the name ;-)
UJ, I agree with you in principal about the treatment of animals playing a big part, but I'm still haunted by the memories of chasing my Grandfather's sheep all over the parish every summer while the "farm" dogs sat on the wall and watched!
We're looking for just a few sheep to run after come cows as part of a program to rejuvenate some old pasture. Are any of these breed hardy enough to outwinter in Co. Clare or will they all need to be housed for the next few months?

I know a lad that keeps pedigree lleyns out all winter right by the coast and it's a bleak spot, he seems to manage alright with them but I wouldn't know much about sheep.

eire23

redzerologhlen wrote: »

I know a lad that keeps pedigree lleyns out all winter right by the coast and it's a bleak spot, he seems to manage alright with them but I wouldn't know much about sheep.

Does he have much triplets with them redzerologhlen?
Bought a few pedigree lleyns this year and nearly half scanned with triplets, couldnt believe it!

cmac

Whatever little you know about sheep, I'm pretty sure I stand a good chance of knowing even less ;-)

tabby aspreme

Not all lleyns are quiet, some of mine are flighty, texels i find very quiet and not inclined to jump fences either

DaNiEl1994

cmac wrote: »

Thanks folks.
eire23, I'm pretty sure it was Zwartbles because I was struck by not knowing how to pronounce the name ;-)
UJ, I agree with you in principal about the treatment of animals playing a big part, but I'm still haunted by the memories of chasing my Grandfather's sheep all over the parish every summer while the "farm" dogs sat on the wall and watched!
We're looking for just a few sheep to run after come cows as part of a program to rejuvenate some old pasture. Are any of these breed hardy enough to outwinter in Co. Clare or will they all need to be housed for the next few months?

we outwinter suffolk and texals just fine they get on grand, they arent subject to the coastline or very harsh conditions though, but this year of all years has seen them mess up some fields very bad even for sheep, but in the dry fields they're getting on grand

jill_valentine

The texels we had were the most placid chaps you could ever imagine. Super calm, and fine looking animals too, but unless you're very confident of your ground, they will drive you absolutely bananas with their feet. I spent a lot of my teenage summers with my hands dyed the most fetching shade of Alamycin blue-green thanks to those big lugs.

I think suffolks are a little sturdier in that regard. Sadly, "placid" and "hardy" don't seem to come in the same package very often.

brian_t

eire23 wrote: »

Think that article was about zwartbles, could well be wrong though.

It was from the Country Living of Dec 8th. The ladies name is Suzanna Crampton.

http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/local/women-aren-t-sheepish-about-learning-to-shear-1-2674290

http://www.farmersjournal.ie/site/farming-Sheep-thrills-15105.html

ootbitb

snow doesn't seem to bother them

http://zwartblesireland.com/zwartbles/

jfh

cmac wrote: »

Thanks folks.
eire23, I'm pretty sure it was Zwartbles because I was struck by not knowing how to pronounce the name ;-)
UJ, I agree with you in principal about the treatment of animals playing a big part, but I'm still haunted by the memories of chasing my Grandfather's sheep all over the parish every summer while the "farm" dogs sat on the wall and watched!
We're looking for just a few sheep to run after come cows as part of a program to rejuvenate some old pasture. Are any of these breed hardy enough to outwinter in Co. Clare or will they all need to be housed for the next few months?

down in clare too, we have charollais and they are crazy, hard devils to catch. the llyns are definitely a quieter type of sheep, easier to look after all round, better feet for sure. as suggested suffolk are quiet too,
with any sheep, you need the right fencing too.
any sheep would out winter this year.

Username John

cmac wrote: »

Thanks folks.
eire23, I'm pretty sure it was Zwartbles because I was struck by not knowing how to pronounce the name ;-)
UJ, I agree with you in principal about the treatment of animals playing a big part, but I'm still haunted by the memories of chasing my Grandfather's sheep all over the parish every summer while the "farm" dogs sat on the wall and watched!
We're looking for just a few sheep to run after come cows as part of a program to rejuvenate some old pasture. Are any of these breed hardy enough to outwinter in Co. Clare or will they all need to be housed for the next few months?

What kinda fencing do you have? If you dont have good fencing as JFH said, you're just setting yourself up for a fall. (and more running around the parish am afraid)
Most sheep would outwinter good enough, as long as there is some shelter they should be ok.

redzerologhlen

eire23 wrote: »

Does he have much triplets with them redzerologhlen?
Bought a few pedigree lleyns this year and nearly half scanned with triplets, couldnt believe it!

He had 98 lambs alive out of 45 ewes last year, I think he said he lost about 20 so thats a lambing rate of roughly 2.5 which sounds a bit crazy really. He had over 20 pet lambs and he got a special feeder for giving them frisky as far as I recall.

Username John

redzerologhlen wrote: »

He had 98 lambs alive out of 45 ewes last year, I think he said he lost about 20 so thats a lambing rate of roughly 2.5 which sounds a bit crazy really. He had over 20 pet lambs and he got a special feeder for giving them frisky as far as I recall.

Holy God... :eek:

Like you say Redzer, that's a scan rate over 2.5... which means around 2/3 having triplets and the rest doubles (although am sure there was a few quads in there as well)

Good few losses though, but maybe at those numbers a higher rate of losses is expected?

redzerologhlen

Username John wrote: »

Holy God... :eek:

Like you say Redzer, that's a scan rate over 2.5... which means around 2/3 having triplets and the rest doubles (although am sure there was a few quads in there as well)

Good few losses though, but maybe at those numbers a higher rate of losses is expected?

It's sounds crazy alright but like I said I don't know much about sheep, he was saying to me earlier that the llyen society wanted him to cull any ewes that had triplets so they must be trying to breed it out of them. Ya I think he had a good few quads aswell.

Zwartbles Ireland

You were reading a piece about me in the Irish Farmers Journal. They were Zwartbles sheep which are so mild mannered no dogs are needed at all & no need to chase them around fields as they come to the sound of a bucket of nuts & follow you once they get to know you & know your not a monster. Yes I'm based down in Kilkenny.

cmac

Thank you so much for all the replies, and especially Zwartbles Ireland.
And apologies for letting the thread hang for so long. Suffice to say, due to extreme technological meltdown, my computer use ceased, and my blood pressure was best served by staying away from technology for a while
I'm assuming it's a little too far into the lambing season to think about putting together a small flock? Perhaps in a few months time would be more suitable.