Best of native sheep

We talk to Debbie Kingsley, who keeps three native breeds of sheep on her Devon farm – all from different areas of the country and all with very different characteristics.

We have an astonishing 57 breeds of sheep on these islands, more than any other country in the world – so picking which three to feature wasn't easy, with breeders spread far and wide. Once you start talking to Debbie Kingsley about sheep, however, you know you've found your woman. Incredibly enthusiastic and cheerful, Debbie lives and farms with husband Andrew Hubbard at South Yeo Farm West, a few miles from Dartmoor. "We came here 14 years ago, having had a smallholding in Warwickshire. It was a huge jump – from three and a half acres to 110! We knew this was going to be a long-term project, and that it would probably take us 25 years to get things as we wanted them – we've done it in a decade."

What set the farm apart was that it had retained its medieval layout of fields – small blocks of pasture separated by hedgebanks. "Which made it perfect for us to be able to keep several different breeds on a relatively small scale." It also means that they can produce 100 per cent grass fed animals – including a small herd of Devon Ruby cattle. Debbie and Andrew produce meat boxes. "We do lamb, hogget, mutton, beef, and pork. What is fascinating is that hogget has become so much more popular. It's now really worth keeping more lambs for hogget, as it does fetch a premium. Mutton has a small but loyal following, we find." It's thanks, in large part, to TV chefs, says Debbie, that hogget has made such a return. "People have realised that it has so more flavour and less fat than lamb." The carcass is bigger, and leaner, and they sell twice as much hogget as lamb. Another stream of income is to send the skins to the local tannery and sell them. "It doubles our return on the sheep, so it's worthwhile doing on this scale." With approximately 100 breeding sheep in all, split into four flocks of around 25 each, Debbie says, "That's it. We're not getting any more breeds! This is ideal – we can keep closed flocks except for bringing in rams, and manage it just between the two of us."

Welsh Mountain Badger Face

This unusual breed has two lines – the Torddu (pronounced Torthee) and the Torwen. Torddu means black belly – so these are predominantly white with black markings, while the Torwen are predominantly black with white markings. The markings are unmistakable – on the Torddu the belly is black, with a black band connecting the underside of the jaw with the belly; the legs should be mostly black with a light tan stripe; the inside of the ears should be dark; and, most distinctively, the face has the "badger" stripes above the eyes. In the Torwen, the colouration is reversed. The tail should be full length – this being a Welsh Mountain sheep, and the ewes are polled and the rams have impressive dark spiral horns.

The origins of the breed are not entirely known, but the Torwen markings are not dissimilar to Soay and Mouflon. What is known is that a huge number of breeds around the world carry the badger face gene, and lambs with the face markings often appear, particularly in Welsh Mountain flocks.

The Badger Face has become increasingly popular thanks to its hardiness, and, according to Debbie, "they are really popular with people wanting to keep sheep for the first time. They are a stoic breed, I'd say. They don't make a fuss and recover from minor ailments on their own. They lamb easily and make fantastic mothers, and the lambs stick to the mothers like glue." Interestingly, Debbie says they find the Torwen slightly more wary in nature. The lambing rate is around 150 per cent at South Yeo – but that can vary according to climate and whether the flock is fed concentrate. Debbie says she'd pick the meat from Badger Face over the other breeds she keeps. "It's got a fantastic depth of flavour, giving a really sweet, tender meat."

Herdwick

A breed native to the Lake District is bound to be pretty hardy, and the Herdwick certainly fits that category. The name, incidentally, has nothing to do with hardiness – Herdwyck means sheep pasture. The rams should be "masculine in character, face of medium length, broad and full between the eyes, muzzle strong, nostrils, wide open; strong jaw ears of medium length, white and alert. Eyes, prominent and bright. Face, jaws and top of head covered with strong, bristly hair and free from wool. Horns smooth and round…" The ewes get a rather shorter description: "To correspond, except that the head should show a distinctly feminine character and be entirely free from any sign of horns." Debbie and Andrew added the Herdwicks to their farm in 2015, having admired them while on holiday in Cumbria. "I'd say that they are independent. They aren't exactly wary, but they don't particularly want looking after, either. The one thing that is hard with them is turning them over – they really resist that, arching their backs and making it tricky. I think it is an evolutionary instinct – if they stay on four legs they remain in control." While on the Cumbrian peaks, the Herdwicks mostly have a lambing rate of 100 per cent. "Our softer conditions mean we have a lambing rate of 170 per cent." Mostly, Debbie says, they keep the Herdwick lambs for hogget. "The meat has a very distinctive flavour – almost a bit gamey. What is fascinating is how much thicker their skins are – when we ear tag them, the ears are two or three times as thick as the others, as are
their lambskins."

Whiteface Dartmoor

"We chose these because we wanted a local breed," Debbie explains. "Partly so that we didn't have to travel so far to find rams." There was, says Debbie, quite a list to choose from when it came to local breeds, but the contrast between the Whiteface and the two hill breeds was irresistible. Thought to be one of the most ancient breeds, the Whiteface has a long, "lustrous" and curly fleece. Despite their lowland heritage, they are hardy, too, being used to moorland living. "They are very docile," Debbie says, "but the ewes do wander a bit from their lambs." And while the hill breeds move enthusiastically on to new grazing, Debbie says the Whiteface take a little more persuasion. "We need to push them into a new field – they just stand there, looking at you as if to say 'No, we are fine here, thanks!'" The lambing rate is the lowest of the three breeds at South Yeo, "Normally around 120 per cent. They do have much squarer, more boxy heads, so are more likely to need help, particularly the first time." The thick fleece looks beautiful, says Debbie, but it isn't without its issues: "It is incredibly heavy – at least four kilograms dry, and a lot more than that when it is wet. It means that the Whiteface have more of a tendency to get cast – particularly close to lambing and when it is raining, so we do have to check them all the time in the run up to lambing." The meat from Whiteface, incidentally, is known as "Angel's meat", thanks to its sweetness.

For more information on South Yeo Farm West, where Debbie and Andrew run courses on smallholding and keeping livestock, or to order meat, visit southyeofarmwest.co.uk