The Keepers Flock
Keepers Farm, Milland, West Sussex , England.
History
The Llanwenog breed of sheep originated about a hundred years ago in and around the broad grasslands of the Teifi valley in Dyfed, Wales. Strong demand for quality lamb carcasses from the towns of the South Wales coalfields resulted in the Llanllwni breed of horned blackfaced mountain ewes being crossed by Shropshire Down rams from the Welsh Borders. The resulting cross gave rise over time to the Llanwenog breed of sheep which retained the milkiness and hardiness of the Llanllwni and the wool and conformation of the Shropshire Down. The breed was officially recognised in 1957 with the establishment of a society to improve and promote the national flock.
Prolificacy with Low Maintenance
Llanwenogs today still retain the original characteristics of those early crosses. Their mountain ancestry giving them a prolificacy that is hard to match with flocks regularly achieving lambing percentages of over 200%. Moreover, the lambs have a strong will to live which when combined with their mother's milkiness means lamb mortality rates are extremely low. Unlike many mountain breed crosses, the Llanwenog is docile, easy to handle and not prone to wander. It takes easily to housing in winter but will contentedly lamb outside in the harshest of conditions. Strong black hooves minimise foot problems and that mountain thriftiness allows it to prosper on the roughest of pastures.
Meat Qualities
On lowland farms the breed comes into its own offering a hardy, disease free animal with an ability to take advantage of the sweeter pasture. Although in general the breed is a small, compact and thrifty animal, under lowland conditions ewes will grow to 55-60 kilos and lambs will kill out at 18 kilos or more, an ideal weight for the butcher or supermarket trade. With proper feeding, conformations of E or U can be achieved.
Wool
The wool is considered to be among the finest in the UK with a Bradford count of 56/58 and a staple length of 7.5 cm. Fleeces average around 2.75 kilos. The wool is ideal for hand spinners and weavers.
Registered and Scrapie Tested Flock
The Keepers flock is kept at Keepers Farm in Milland, West Sussex. The flock is registered and scrapie tested with a genotype of ARR/ARR. We always have ram and ewe lambs for sale which can either be bought at the Annual Breed Sale in Llanybydder, Dyfed, Wales in the Autumn or viewed and purchased at the farm. If you are interested in adding to an established flock or just starting out we would be glad to show you our flock.
Polwarth and Llanwenog Fleeces for Spinners
As a hand spinner I also keep a few pure bred Polwarth sheep for their beautiful Merino quality fleece and usually have selected Llanwenog and Polwarth fleeces for sale. Occasionally I have Polwarth lambs for sale.
Jackie Webb
Keepers Farm
Cooks Pond Road
Milland
Hampshire
GU30 7JY
Telephone: 01428 741337
Email: shepherd@llanwenog.org
