Rhuallan RaptorsEasy care Sheep
Rhuallan Raptors is a home based business where we also farm pedigree sheep. Our variety of sheep is rapidly becoming the way forward in modern farming, giving a new approach to the high costs often encountered.
Easycare facts
Who wants to buy a sheep with no wool?
A Farmer who wants to half his costs!
Easy Care Sheep are a breed that was developed in Wales as a solution to ‘high maintenance’ agriculture. They are a wool-less medium weight meat sheep that started as a cross between the Wiltshire Horn and the Welsh Mountain back in 1965 and are now a recognised breed in their own right.
As wool contributes so little profit, and the harvest costs can be prohibitive, especially in remote areas or islands, these moulting sheep are an ideal solution. This also makes them ideal candidates for organic farmers as they don’t require ‘pour-on’ solutions for fly strike etc. For more information visit www.easycaresheep.com
Ram lambs READY NOW! Genotype 1.
Call or email for more info.Also one 7/8 Easy x 1/8 Cheviot RAM lamb for sale.
At Rhuallan, we have developed our own pedigree herd of Easy Care Sheep and have found that they live up to their name in all aspects. They lamb with amazing speed and without assistance, from a first time gimmer this year who gave us triplets to her 9 year old mother who also had triplets; both took less than an hour from start to lambs feeding! Our older ewes came from Sourhope research station and had lived high in the border hills till they were 7 when we bought them. We hoped to get a crop of lambs and expand from them, but we still have all but 1 of my original ‘ladies’ and they have all given me a third crop of lambs. They all have their teeth and a strong will, but to be honest some have lost their figures!
We have added more ewes from the breed’s originators in Wales to increase the gene pool and this allows me to run 2 unrelated rams with them and cross their young. 2007 was the first year that lambs were born from a home bred ram.
Some key breed features
These facts should prove useful to understand the benefits of Easy Care sheep
- Ewe's body weight around 60kg.
- 1.8 lambs reared per ewe
- Ease of Lambing- specifically developed for this purpose
- Vitality at birth- born with hair for protection
- High growth rate, lambs reach 17kg carcass weight at 12 weeks
- High meat yield
- Strong sires - rams are particularly pre potent and immensely virile
- No shearing and minimal shepherding
- Low veterinary care
- Well protected- unaffected by extreme weather conditions
- Thrives on lowland grass
- Meets modern market requirements
- Healthy constitution- hardy, quick to recover and less prone to many illnesses
- Very profitable- cuts over 80% of shepherding costs
Things you don’t have to do when your flock is Easy Care
- Shear
- Dag
- Crotch for lambing
- Assist with (normal) lambing
- Dip, use pour-on or spray
- Clip crotch and belly when going to slaughter
Things you do have to do when your flock is Easy Care
- Assist with abnormal births – though we have never had one
- Worm if pasture has a high worm count, though they are quite worm resistant
- Round them up, but they soon learn what a bucket is for and come up easily in the winter. They don’t require high feed supplements; they’ll just produce excess milk!
Remember that these are EASY CARE sheep, not NO CARE sheep!
Please contact me for any more information you want. Also please find the breed society address below,
The Easy Care Sheep Society
Secretary: R.I. Owen, M.B.E., F.R.Ag.S.
Glantraeth, Bodorgan, Anglesey, LL62 5EU, U.K.
Tel. (01407) 840250
