Breeding Sheep
When we are asked how many sheep we have our response is often just the number of breeding ewes. These breeding ewes join the flock in one of two ways:
We breed our own. Choosing a selection of 60 or so North Country Mules and putting them with a specific Texel ram we can track the heritage of our homebred ewes and make sure that the females are not back in the same field as their father during the mating period. All of this information is computerised for us, but to keep it simple we spray a purple dot on the necks of the chosen Mule mothers and at lambing if they have a strong female lamb we tag her with a blank purple tag. As she grows we can track her and will keep her for our own breeding flock if we are pleased with her health and rate of growth. All of our Texel X Mules on the farm are homegrown at the moment.
2. Bought In. For us, this tends to be through our local markets; Thame Fair or Rugby Farmers Market. The advantage of buying from another farm is that you’re bringing in fresh blood to the flock. Also, the breed that we buy is generally North Country Mules so that we can breed our own Texel X Mules. However, it does come with some disadvantages such as potentially bringing diseases onto our farm and, depending on the year, a high cost. We check animals closely before purchasing them and ensure they are on our vaccination system. When we get them home we check over them once again and treat as necessary to ensure the chance of bringing in any illnesses is reduced. All the ewes are then put onto our computerised tracking programme and throughout their life we can keep a close eye on their health and performance.
