Australian Heritage Sheep Magazine

25/06/2024

There were some rather large sheep at the Victorian Sheep Show on Sunday and then there was this little guy. Say hello to this little guy, as yet unnamed, the little Shropshire lamb being bottle raised by Becky and Nikki, from Acorn Creek Shropshires. Baby Shrop is getting an early introduction to the Show scene and typical of the lovely temperaments of the Shrops, took it all in his stride. Well done, Baby Shrop! Stay strong, little guy! 🤞
I’m sure he had some great stories to tell when he got back to the farm! 😂
Now, we hope you’re allowing your human Mums to get some sleep, because we have all been there! 🥴😂🩵

24/06/2024

Congratulations again to Bridget and Kane from Boonong Park Hampshire Downs on their beautiful ram being awarded not only Champion Hampshire Down ram but also the Australian Stud Sheep Breeders Association Interbreed ram.🎊🎉

24/06/2024

Congratulations to Chandpara on winning Champion Southdown ram and Reserve Champion Southdown ewe, and to Lansdale Pure Southdowns on winning Champion Southdown ewe and Reserve Champion Southdown ram at the Victorian Sheep Show. 🎉👏Chandpara also went on to win the Jessie Dehnert Memorial trophy, which was an emotional presentation for Lyn and Graeme Dehnert as well as for Andrew, the recipient of the award. Jessie has been much missed at Southdown Shows since her passing. ❤

24/06/2024

Congratulations to Aurora Park on winning Champion Shropshire ram, Acorn Creek on winning Champion Shropshire ewe and Holbeck Park on winning Reserve Champion Shropshire ram and ewe. Great work, everyone. 🎉👏

24/06/2024

Congratulations to the Chapman family, Woodhall Stud, for their Champion and Reserve Champion awards for their Dorset Down rams and ewes. 🎉🥂 Woodhall will be at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show, exhibiting their young Dorset Down rams and ewes produced from their AI program using twenty year old stored semen. I had a sneak peek yesterday and they are looking fabulous. 🤩

24/06/2024

How impressive are the horns on these magnificent Dorset Horn rams? Congratulations, Grieve family, Hillend, on winning Champion and Reserve Champion Dorset Horn ram and ewe. Fantastic! 🎊👏 Judge, Doug Deppeler, is also pictured.👏

24/06/2024

Congratulations Kane, Boonong Park, for winning Champion Hampshire Down ram and ewe and Reserve Champion ewe at the Victorian Sheep Show and Matt, Aurora Park & Burandool Studs, for winning Reserve Champion Hampshire Down ram. Well done, guys! 🎉👏Pictured with judge, Doug Deppeler, who was kept very busy yesterday.

23/06/2024

Congratulations Matt and Sam from Aurora Park, on winning Champion Border Leicester ram and Reserve Champion Border Leicester ram, as well as Champion Border Leicester ewe at the Victorian Sheep Show. Well done, guys! 🎊👏❤

23/06/2024

Today was the Victorian Sheep Show and although we seemed to be down in number of exhibits, those on display were beautiful. I will post the Champions of each breed over the next few days, starting now with the English Leicesters.
Congratulations to Dalmalley Stud on winning Champion Ram and Champion Ewe and to Kiah Killibinbin on winning Reserve Champion Ram and Ewe. 🎉👏❤

22/06/2024

Stay tuned, as tomorrow, Sunday, June 23rd, we will be sharing the Champions and exhibits from the Victorian Sheep Show in Ballarat. As a little taster, here are some of the Champions from last year's Show. Good luck tomorrow, everyone. 🤞😍

20/06/2024

Come and say hello to the Hampies. ❤️🐑

This Sunday! 23rd of June is the Victorian Sheep Show, held at Ballarat Showgrounds. Come for a look, we’ve got a few exhibitors keen to show off their 2023 drop lambs.

18/06/2024

Just a heads-up, in case anyone was thinking of selling rams at this year's Sheepvention. :(

𝙄𝙈𝙋𝙊𝙍𝙏𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙊𝙍𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉: 𝙍𝙖𝙢 𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙚 🐏
The committee has announced a strategic decision to cancel this year's Ram Sale.

The Ram Sale has long been a highlight of the event for over 40 years, drawing breeders and buyers from across the country. However, this year's entries did not reach anticipated levels.

Rather than proceeding with a suboptimal sale the committee has chosen to take this opportunity to regroup and come back stronger. The decision presents an opportunity for the committee to gather feedback, explore new ideas, and implement strategies that will enhance interest and participation into the future.

👉 Read media release: https://tinyurl.com/yatnwj94

14/06/2024

Wow!

A stud ewe has given Marrabel Poll Merino breeders a moment to remember today, giving birth to not...

14/06/2024

Do you know? 🤔🤔🤔

Answer will be in comments next week but if you can’t wait, click here to our website https://www.australianfibrecollective.org/funfactfriday

13/06/2024

The Sheepvention Sheep Show will be held at the Hamilton Showgrounds on Sunday, 4th and Monday, 5th August. Entries close on June 30th. You will find the necessary information in the “Competition and Sales” section of the attached link.

08/06/2024

Grand Ridge Cheviots will be one of our Heritage breeders with sheep on display at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show during July 19th ~ 21st at the Prince of Wales Showgrounds in Bendigo. Pop in and say Hi to Rob and his beautiful Cheviots.

Only a bit over a month until the Bendigo sheep show. This ram lamb from last year has been used in the stud this year and will be on show again this year.

06/06/2024

Thanks for the reminder Australian Hampshire Down Breeders Association. Looking forward to seeing all our Heritage breeds in Bendigo. ❤️🐑

REMINDER.
Entries close for ASWS in one week!
Entries- www.sheepshow.com

03/06/2024

This breed received a lot of love during International Heritage Breeds Week, and here they are in the ring, at the Lincoln Feature at Holbrook Sheep and Wool Fair. ❤️
Congratulations to all exhibitors! 👏🎉

03/06/2024

Great to see such a terrific Hampshire turn-out. Congratulations to all exhibitors! 👏🎉

24/05/2024

A reminder email entry closing date for the Victorian Sheep Show is WEDNESDAY, 29th May.

The Show will be held at the old showgrounds in Ballarat and the Feature Breed is the Suffolk. ❤🐑

23/05/2024

The Hampshire Down
When you read about the Hampshire Down, like many breeds it has evolved throughout its history to meet the demands of the current market. In this case, it was the Old Hampshire, the new Hampshire Down and today’s modern Hampshire Down, developed as a top terminal sire and prime lamb producer, excelling in both of these.

Early in its history it evolved in response to the need for more and more meat in the mid 1800s. During this time English agriculture had improved and it was realised crops could be grown to feed livestock, making lamb, not just mutton, more readily available for everyone, and the development of the Hampshire Down had begun.

Not surprisingly, its dominant parent is the Southdown. The Berkshire Nott, which was similar to the Wiltshire Horn, although dark-faced and sometimes polled and is now extinct, a primitive Old Hampshire sheep, which was tall, horned, narrow in the carcase, with white face and legs and the Wiltshire Horn, each supplied some of the female ancestry.

It is recorded when William Humfrey, a Berkshire farmer recognised as the chief developer of the Hampshire Down, attended the first show of the Royal Agricultural Society of England in 1839, he was so impressed by the quality of Jonas Webb’s Southdowns that he purchased a son of the Champion Ram and set about infusing more of the breed into his Hampshire Down.

By 1861 the Hampshire Down was a recognised breed and was allocated classes at the Royal Show, by the Royal Agricultural Society of England. A breed society was formed, and a flock book published in 1890.

Hampshire Downs were present in Victoria by 1861 where they were shown at Port Phillip Farmers Show by J. W. Brown and Cyrus Hewitt, but there is suggestive evidence they were not persisted with at this stage.

Hampshires had a more permanent reception in Tasmania where they were introduced by William Hartnall in 1866. Of even more significance were two consignments which arrived in Victoria in 1888; one for the Hon. William McCulloch of Colac and the other of 25 ewes and 2 rams for the Hon. William Water-lrving of Pin-on Yallock.

Three Hampshire flocks were registered in Volume 1 of the Flock Book (1898) but Volume 27 (1935) recorded only one. By 1970 there were 11 flocks, but there was growth to over 50 flocks in the 1980's. Much credit for the maintenance of the breed through the 50s, 60s and 70s must go to E. E. & R. C. Cotton of Oberon, New South Wales. They were mating over 200 ewes in the 1970s and they exhibited and promoted the breed with enthusiasm.

Hampshire Downs wool is white, with around a 9cm staple, and is quite fine. The fleece is a typically Downs variety and has elasticity, so can be blended with fibres with little memory. It is a classified as a short wool with 26 micron and is perfect for socks mittens and similar projects.

When I first started to collate the Rare and Heritage breed numbers in 2007, the Hampshire Down was sitting at twenty-seven flocks of 968 breeding ewes, so still listed on the Conservation List as “At Risk”. Over the past years the breed has grown to still being counted but listed as Recovering. This year’s count has them sitting at fifty-one flocks of 2064 registered breeding ewes. This amazing turnaround is, I think, due in part to the passion of the breeders and their marketing of the breed as well as their willingness to embrace performance recording, allowing them to produce the livestock and the product, the market currently requires.

In the words of the Australian Hampshire Down Breeders Association:
“Hampshire Down rams are the modern and intelligent choice of terminal sire at a time when the commercial farmer is looking to reduce inputs and increase margins. Cross-bred lambs are fast growing with exceptional feed conversion rates and the ability to finish off milk and grass without the need for concentrates. They will finish at target dead-weights from 12 weeks and grade within the preferred specification.
Hampshire breeders have embraced performance recording allowing them over the last 20 years to produce faster growing lambs with a longer, leaner, more muscled carcase.”

For further information on the Hampshire Down and a list of registered breeders, please click the links below:

https://www.heritagesheep.com.au/hampshire-down
https://www.aushampshiredown.com/

23/05/2024

The Dorset Down
During the 1800’s Britain’s population increased, applying pressure on farmers to supply larger quantities of fresh meat, so larger, faster maturing lambs were required. This was the Golden Age of sheep improvement.

Mr Thomas Homer Saunders of Watercombe, near Dorchester in Dorset was selecting his largest ewes and rams for crossing to become the “Watercombe breed of improved Hampshire Downs”. Mr William Humphrey, of Chaddlesworth, near Newbury, Berkshire, was equally busy, crossing some of his best Berkshire, Hampshire and Wiltshire ewes to pure Southdown rams, from Mr Jonas Webb’s celebrated flock. The resultant progeny of both these flocks were integrated into the downland flocks of Dorset, and the Dorset Down was born.

They are not related to the white-faced Dorset Horn but are distantly related to Suffolk sheep which are a cross between Southdown and Norfolk sheep.

Dorset Down sheep were exported to North and South America, and to Australia where they are, like in the UK, listed as a rare or minority breed. They were also exported to New Zealand and are now plentiful there.

The Dorset Down produces a greater amount of meat and less fat, and Dorset Down cross lambs lead the field in meat to fat ratio. The breed is marketed as “The King of the Prime Lamb Breeds” in the UK. The lambs have a high daily growth rate and the carcasses have good conformation; wedge-shaped with narrow forequarters and small briskets. Rams are good terminal sires as well.
The fleece is dense Downs type, full handling and springy. Staple length is 50 to 75mm and it is often blended with other wools to give crispness and elasticity. The wool can be used for fine knitting, but also for felting.

Walter Turnbull was one of the first to import Dorset Down sheep to Australia. He ordered five ewes from the Torey family in the UK in 1939 but the sheep were not delivered until the end of World War 2, in 1945. They established the second recorded flock in Australia: the first was established in 1937 by L.J. McMaster at “Binnia Downs”, Coolah, NSW but has since been dispersed.
The five ewes imported by Walter Turnbull were quarantined at Coode Island at the convergence of the Yarra and Maribyrnong Rivers in Melbourne, and all produced twins soon after arrival. Walter’s granddaughter, Margaret and her husband Colin Chapman still run Dorset Downs on their “Woodhall” Stud today and are passionate advocates for this beautiful breed.

Sadly, the breed is currently at its lowest point with only four flocks of 104 breeding ewes.

For further information on the Dorset Down breed and for a list of registered breeders, please click the link below:

https://www.heritagesheep.com.au/dorset-down

23/05/2024

The Ryeland
When he visited Britain in 1748, the Swedish naturalist Kalm was impressed with the hardiness of British sheep. In contrast to the Continent, they spent most of their time outside. The native sheep of Herefordshire and adjoining counties were amongst the toughest. The Ryeland was known, in earlier times, as the Ross, the Archerfield, the Dean Forest, the Malvern and the Hereford. They all refer to place names in Herefordshire. Later known as the Ryeland, because of the association with the Rye (corn) plant which grew well on the sandy soils of their region.

The old Ryelands were said to produce the best and finest wool in Britain from the worst feed, and they resembled Merinos in appearance. Queen Victoria, reputedly, would only wear stockings made of Ryelnd wool. In 1779 it was worth 30 pence per pound compared with 18 pence for the next best. At that time there were 500,000 of these sheep in Hereford alone.

Around 1800 the Ryeland was found to be the most successful of all British breeds to cross with the Merinos which George III had introduced. From then on, however, the inevitable spread of Leicester and Southdown genes, combined with improved pastures, changed the Ryeland to become a good meat sheep, but to the detriment of the wool. Some farmers, including George III, attempted to preserve the fine wool characteristics of the breed, (he kept a flock on bracken and heath lands adjacent to Windsor Park) but without success.

A description in the mid-19th century states: “….the Ryeland has been enlarged in carcase and lengthened in wool by repeated crosses, to a considerable extent with Leicesters, thus changing in character the finest wool in England.”

By the 1850's it had completely lost its place as a wool producer. Its four-pound clip was worth only 13 pence, whereas the Lincoln's 10 or 12 pound fleece brought an equal price per pound. At the turn of the century other Downs breeds claimed favour, but by 1909 when the first Flock Book was published there was a resurgence of interest.

It is doubtful if there were any Ryelands in Australia prior to 1919 when the New South Wales Department of Agriculture imported 10 ewes and a ram from the English flocks of Herbert Halford and Bray. In the same year J. A. Helling, South Australia, sourced 2 ewes and a ram from England. Between 1922 and 1935 hundreds of Ryelands were imported from New Zealand.

In the 1930's the "Woodburn" stud of the Hon. T. H. Payne of Kilmore, Victoria, which was founded on both English and New Zealand blood, emerged as the leading supplier of rams to other Australian studs. The "Burnwood" stud of J. Mclntosh succeeded to that role by 1950. The number of flocks peaked at over 200 in the 1960's.

Currently, the Ryeland is listed as Endangered, with only thirteen flocks and 324 breeding ewes. We went for a while without seeing the Ryeland breed at Shows, but they are back! And back with a vengeance: when I looked at the latest Stats for the Heritage Sheep Australia web site, the number one page to which visitors go is the Ryeland page. Let's hope this is a sign, the Ryeland's number is on the increase.

For further information on the Ryeland and to find a list of registered breeder please click the link below:

https://www.heritagesheep.com.au/ryeland

22/05/2024

The Dorset Horn
Named after the county of Dorset in the mid south-west of England, the Dorset Horn is ranked one of the oldest and purest breeds in the British Isles.

When he rode over the South West of England in 1724, reporting on countryside activities, Daniel Defoe said that there were 600,000 sheep pastured within 6 miles of Dorchester.

However, they were unlike the Dorset Horn sheep we know today for they had dark noses and hooves. It was the sheep of the adjoining county Somerset, which had the pink pigmentation, the nice curl of horn and the big frames, which are Dorset Horn features today. Fortunately, by the end of the 18th Century, it was the latter characteristics which dominated in the sheep of the region, and they had become famous as producers of "House Lambs” – exploiting a further characteristic which was unique to this one sheep breed in Britain, the ability to conceive at any time of year. Combined with early maturity and intense husbandry, which included housing and force feeding, the Dorset farmers were able to supply sucker lambs for the London market months before any other region.

When the surge of Southdown popularity swept over Southern England in the early 1800's, many Dorset Horn ewes were mated with that breed and flocks of pure Dorsets diminished. However, after 1840, breeders made a determined effort to both improve and promote their sheep. The Dorset Horn was restored to its place of supremacy in its own region and began to claim the attention of sheep men in Canada and the United States of America.

The breed arrived in Australia in 1895 when John Melrose of Ulooloo, South Australia imported eight ewes and two rams. By 1930 there were 142 flocks in the mainland states but only 2 in Tasmania.
Adaptable to a wide range of climate, they are a hardy breed. W.J. Dawkins of South Australia improved the breed in the early twentieth century, adding muscle and stockiness, and exported rams back to England. However, he was one of those aiming to eliminate the horns too. The Dorset Horn was immensely popular in England and Australia - once our major prime lamb producer. These days the polled Dorset breed, carefully developed from the Dorset Horn in Australia, has taken over in popularity.

They remain a good first cross ram to get prime lambs from wool breeds, valuable as a genetic resource for the polled version of the breed. The ability to breed and conceive at any time of year is still a feature of the Dorset Horn. The wool is the fine downs type, of about 27 - 33 microns, staple about 3 to 4 inches and they cut about a 3 kilo fleece without kemp. Great eating they put on loads of condition on basic pasture but a bit of time on crops too, such as canola, or other supplementary feed, makes them top weight on the scales.

The very impressive Dorset Horn is struggling a little in number, reaching its peak in the past fifteen years in 2015, when there were seventeen flocks and 622 registered breeding ewes. Today that number has slipped to twelve flocks of 308 breeding ewes, putting it in the Endangered category.

For further information on the Dorset Horn and a list of breeders, please click on the link below:

https://www.heritagesheep.com.au/dorset-horn

22/05/2024

The Shropshire
The Shropshire's ancestry, like many other breeds is clouded, but in its primitive state it was considered a heath-land breed, able to survive and produce fine wool on poor nutrition. They were originally developed in Shropshire and the West Midlands and their Breed Society, the Shropshire Sheep Breeders Association is the oldest breed society in Britain, being formed in 1882. Like numerous other breeds it was, between about 1800 and 1840, infused with both Leicester and Southdown genes. This resulted in the Shropshire becoming, by around 1850, the biggest downs type sheep in England with the most wool.

Its official recognition as a breed came in 1860 when classes exclusively for Shropshires were listed at the Royal Show. By now fleece weight had increased from the 2 pounds on the primitive sheep to 7 or 8 pounds, and carcase weight had doubled. It was declared "the best of the modern breeds" and attracted a huge following.

The importations of Charles Price to South Australia in 1855 were probably the first shipments of Shropshires to arrive on our shores. Boulton Bros. brought some to New South Wales shortly after, while those for Robert Russell of Bendigo, Victoria arrived in 1865 and for George Wilson of Jericho, Tasmania in 1872.

It was in Tasmania in the 1890's that the fires of enthusiasm for Shropshires were really fuelled. Tasmanian breeders sent sheep to shows and sales all around the eastern seaboard of Australia and their successes led to unbridled euphoria. One, Andrew Mansell, advertised himself as being The World's Leading Ram Breeder. Three leading Shropshire breeders migrated to that State from Britain, bringing their elite flocks with them. However, Thomas Burbury, a Tasmanian farmer, was probably the most successful breeder in Australia.

Shropshire Breed Societies were formed in both South Australia and Tasmania in the mid 1890's. They each published a Flock Book but later amalgamated. Eleven hundred Shropshires were imported in one year and in 1903, six hundred Shropshires were sold at the Royal Melbourne Show Sales.

The Shropshire boom coincided with the greatest expansion Australia's sheep meat industry has seen. Prior to 1900 only about 20,000 lamb carcasses left Australia each year. Ten years later there were several millions, 70% of them sired by Shropshires.
From about 1920 the breed went into sharp decline. It was a period of economic depression and the housewives of Europe only wanted small Joints. The Shropshire was too big and it was found that the smaller carcasses sired by the then smaller Southdowns were more marketable.

With such a successful history, it’s hard to understand why the Shropshire is on the Conservation List, but it seems to be making a bit of a recovery, with new breeders interested in the many attributes of this versatile breed.

Shropshires are a tri-purpose breed, great for meat and wool, and tree friendly as well, so perfect for w**d management and grazing in orchards, vineyards and tree plantations. They are hardy, great mothers, with the ability to lamb early and rear twins easily. They are not a large sheep so easy to handle and quite a docile breed, so suitable for Hobby farms where children are involved. As meat producers they excel, both as prime lamb producers and as terminal sires over commercial ewes. With a CV like that, one can only wonder why they are listed as Endangered, with only twenty-four flocks and 394 ewes. The good news is the flock numbers are now increasing and the sheep are getting harder to source, as people realise what an all-round gem of a sheep this breed is.

For further information on the Shropshire and a list of registered breeders, please click on the link below:

https://www.heritagesheep.com.au/shropshire

21/05/2024

Until you have parted the fleece on the back of one of our beautiful wool breeds, it’s hard to really appreciate the beauty of wool in its original form. 💚💚💚

Due to wool fibres being like a coiled spring they return to their original shape during wear and have a natural resistance to wrinkles. They have a high tear strength and are able to be bent back and forth on themselves over 20,000 times without breaking. Wool is a very resilient and strong natural fibre 💪🐑

📸 Abelusi Wool

21/05/2024

The Southdown
In its relatively unimproved state prior to the end of the 18th Century the polled, grey-faced sheep which had grazed the Downs of Southern England for centuries possessed several qualities which were combined in no other breed in England. It produced a relatively good fleece of fine, high-priced wool, its hindquarters were heavier than the front and it could thrive on low nutritional heathland.

John Ellman, a Sussex farmer had, by 1800, brought the Southdown to new heights of meat productivity and early maturity which claimed the attention of sheep men throughout Britain. Where Downs wethers were previously not fit for the butcher till 3 or 4 years old, they were now ready at 18 months. The Southdown was infused with every meat breed in Britain and found favour in Europe and the New World.

Thomas Coke (later Lord Leicester) and the Duke of Bedford, who both organised the famous agricultural gatherings known as "Shearings' on their estates at the beginning of the 19th Century, were Southdown enthusiasts. In 1802 the Duke of Bedford paid Ellman the astronomical sum of 300 guineas for the use of one ram for one season.

Jonas Webb succeeded Ellman as the premier breeder of England and some sheep from his Babraham stud came to Australia in the 19th Century. Southdowns attracted the attention of British Royalty. George III started the Goodwood flock in 1787.

It can be safely assumed that the Southdown was the first recognised breed of British Sheep to be introduced into Australia. It is certainly the first documented. Major George Johnstone reported, in official correspondence, the importation of a pure ram before 1800, and in a sheep census of 1804 the Rev. Samuel Marsden reported that he favoured and had used the Southdown.

In the late 19th Century several Australian breeders were using rams from the Sandringham flock which was founded in 1866 by Edward VII, then Prince of Wales. Sir Richard Dry, Australia's first native born knight, purchased sheep from the Duke of Richmond in the 1850s for his stud at Quamby, Tasmania.

In the hungry prison colony of New South Wales, meat was of infinitely more importance than wool and it is not surprising that the few people interested in sheep sought the leading meat breed known to agricultural experts of the period. The Southdown is frequently mentioned in 1820 commentaries on Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) and many of Australia's registered flocks can be traced back to an importation to there of sheep from Ellman's flock by a partnership known as the "New South Wales and Van Diemens Land Establishment" in 1826.

Over a period of 150 years there were many importations of Southdowns from Britain, but in the last 50 years great benefits have come from sheep sourced in New Zealand.

The Southdown remained Australia's premier terminal sire from colonisation through till 1950. It has remained inherently popular and is well marketed by the Association’s members as a top terminal sire producing vigorous lambs with fast growth rates and outstanding carcase and eating quality. There is rarely a Show without the Southdown breed being present. Their numbers are safe and are usually on the increase each year. This is the first time for some years they have been slightly down in both flock and breeding ewes, but the breed is still more than safe with sixty-two flocks and 4045 breeding ewes.

For further information on the Southdown and a list of registered breeders, please click the links below:
https://www.heritagesheep.com.au/southdown
https://www.southdownaustralia.com.au/

20/05/2024

The Cheviot
Originating in the bare windswept hills between England and Scotland, the Cheviot was recognised as a hardy breed as early as the 14th century.

As with many other breeds, the Cheviot underwent a program of improvement in the late 18th Century when New Leicester infusions increased size and early maturity. If the Leicester can be said to have influenced all England, it was the Cheviot which spread north over all Scotland. The breed was given its name in 1792 by the great Scottish agriculturalist Sir John Sinclair, but it was farmer John Robson of Bowmont Water who led a group of breeders in the improvement of the breed.

The Cheviot is an alert, superbly mobile sheep with a tough constitution, yet good fleshing qualities. The dark hooves are great in wet weather and its dense fleece is the most valuable of all hill breeds. The breed is easy to lamb and the ewes have extremely good mothering abilities, producing fast maturing, lean prime lambs. Their active nature means they put on muscle rather than fat, and they have a high dressing percentage. The wool has a distinctive helical crimp, giving it desirable resilience and durability. It is dense, long stapled and springy to the touch.

The breed was introduced into Australia by the Van Dieman’s Land Company in the 1830’s, but they were not as successful as some of the other breeds. Another importation occurred in 1856, by Dr Grant in Tasmania, from some of the purest flocks of the Cheviot Hills.

They became popular again in the 1950’s, but all of the sheep imported into Australia during the 1900’s came from New Zealand, where they were much admired for their ability to thrive in wet, cold weather.

Sadly, their numbers have reduced to nine flocks with 524 registered breeding ewes. Of those nine flocks, eight are in Victoria and one in New South Wales.

This year is a very exciting year for the Waddell family of Grand Ridge Cheviots, as Rob has embarked on an AI program using the stored semen from two New Zealand rams from 1990, to enhance the Cheviot gene pool in Australia. We wish you all the best Rob, and look forward to sharing the lamb photos.

For further information on the Cheviot and a list of registered breeders, please click on the link below:

https://www.heritagesheep.com.au/cheviot