We purchased our first lamb some seven years ago and must admit that we had no intention of "having a flock of Southdowns". That little ewe lamb was for our children as a hobby, but, as the kids got older and lost interest, as kids do, the lamb became three lambs and we had to look for a ram. We decided to go to the Stoneleigh Show and Sale; with nothing other than a fairly good pair of eyes we bought a Moulton ram (Lancelot).
At the time we had no idea what Moulton meant, but we do now. Most of our flock have Moulton blood - a lot of them are pure Moulton.
Apart from the fact that they are a lovely docile breed of sheep, they are also "easy lambers", and it's a shame that more commercial farmers do not believe that a Southdown sire crossed on almost any breed can only improve their lambs and lambing problems. We have loaned out a shearling ram to a mountain farmer to cross on Welsh Mountain sheep, just to prove a point, and are looking forward to hearing the results.
My two favourite times of year are lambing time and the show season. Both are very hard work but can also be very rewarding - most of the time, anyway. But the help and advice that we have had over the years from our fellow Southdown breeders, especially Mr. & Mrs. J.D. Goode, have been invaluable and we hope that we can also be of help to any newcomes in our area, and these are multiplying - but not as fast as a Southdown flock.
We cannot imagine not having our flock these days, but I am sure if the sheep could talk, when they see a trailer coming ready for a show, "Oh no! Not again!" would be the first words they would say.
LYNNE & THOMAS ROWLANDS
We are newcomers to the breed and purchased four ewes in January, 1999. The background to this is as follows:-
We are fortunate to live in a picturesque area of the Chiltern Hills, at the commencement of the Ridgeway Walk. Mid-summer, 1998 two other families and ourselves agreed to form a small consortium to own some sheep. Rather than simply going to market and buying a few store lambs, we decided that we would select three traditional English breeds and have one breed each. Our village is extremely popular with visitors and we thought they would find it interesting to observe the characteristics of the different breeds. That September, whilst visiting the Bucks Show, I paid particular attention to the various breeds on show and was attractedto the Buckland Southdowns being exhibited by Miriam Parker from Cheddington. Our introduction to Southdowns commenced from this point and we purchased that Winter three ewes in lamb and a shearling from Miriam. Our friends ventured into Dorset Down and Hampshire Down breeds and we named the complete flock "Aldbury Downland Sheep".
The consortium approach enables us all to participate by way of two of us taking it in turns to care for the sheep on a weekly basis and the third member looks after weekends. We have various pieces of land around the village that owners kindly allow us to use, and the small attractive flock is most welcome. Once a year we have dinner together and, as you would expect, our lamb is on the menu!
The Southdowns are real characters and like to keep themselves separate from the others most of the time. One in particular, named Tina T16, has an air of arrogance about her and stands apart in a crowd.
Spring came and we became the proud owners of five Southdown lambs from the three ewes. In all that year we lambed a total of eleven lambs and this was all completed successfully in the paddock/stable area adjacent to our home. The biggest Southdown ram was 11 lbs. and it took him a week to get up and run. However, he eventually became as active as all the others.
A public footpath runs along the paddock fence and one day it was a sight to see nine spectators being entertained by the new lambs. At Easter time we were very popular with our friends, who brought their grandchildren to see the lambs.
The Summer produced no difficulties and regular attention ensured that the flock did not suffer from either fly or foot problems.
We are now preparing for next Spring and have borrowed Peter to do the business with our four Southdowns. Our modest flock provides us with a lot of fun, and is enjoyed by many people in the village.
NEIL & PAM DICKENS
In common with many others, we decided to buy some sheep to help our horse keep the grass down. We chose sheep as you can foot-trim, inject, and do most jobs yourself and, as we are not farmers or vets, this was a most important factor.
We thought a rare breed would be different and so we went off to a couple of Rare Breed Show & Sales. We looked at all the breeds and chose Southdowns as they were lovely to look at, stocky, docile, and we were told they would keep condition with little feeding.
We purchased our four sheep seven years ago and very soon realised what a good choice we had made. They are easy to handle, making all the management jobs far easier. They get in lamb easily; people say if they get too fat they are difficult to get in lamb but we have never had that problem. They lamb easily - problems usually consist of one leg back, which is easily dealt with, and they are good mothers. The lambs reach butcher's weight very quickly and the meat is the best we have tasted.
We started showing a couple of years ago, with a little success. It is without doubt the best way to compare your Southdowns and you learn such a lot. We have made many new friends through showing. The Southdown Society is also a very good Society - you only have to ask for help and other members give you all the assistance and advice they can.
Finally, we sold the horse and increased our flock.
DAVID & CHRIS RHEAD
I first purchased eighteen Southdown ewes in 1965 at the Findon Sheep Fair, eighteen ewes from St. Leonards Forest Farm, and one ram from C. Goodger. From these original sheep I built the flock up to one hundred ewes by 1980, all home bred.
I started showing them, with a lot of help and advice from John Randall, in 1970 at the Kent County Show. The climax of my showing came in 1987 at the South of England Show where I won the Reserve Supreme Champion with a Southdown ram.
When I first had my Southdowns, I had the rough grazing of sixty acres at the Cooden Beach Golf Course. I reduced the number of ewes when the rent got too high. Now I have fourteen ewes on a few free acres of grass. They have been such a big part of my life that I would be lost without them. They make a good excuse to leave family gatherings, etc. when I get bored. I just tell everyone that I must go and feed the sheep.
Looking back, I even got away with that excuse thirty-eight years ago on my wedding day. In those days it was a mixed flock - mostly Kents. My wife realised then where my priorities lay! But we are still together.
PETER BALLARD
When we retired four years ago it was not our intention to buy a farm. We had been looking for a period house, preferably with water, for some time. The various agents with whom we had been in contact sent us particulars of properties on their books from time to time, and among them was Moat Farm in rural Suffolk.
A period house sure enough, dating from the late 16th century, typical of the timber framed houses of the period, completely surrounded by a water filled moat, presumed to be of even earlier date, but with it went 112 acres of mostly arable farmland (now contract farmed) with a few acres unsuitable for growing crops. "Where are the animals?" enquired our young granddaughters on their first visit. They were clearly disappointed when they discovered there were none, for, after all, a real farm must have animals. A few chickens acquired before their next visit were clearly not enough, so what were we to do? Sheep might be the answer, but what breed?
Attending a Smallholders course at the local agricultural college convinced me that they must be small enough to enable us to handle them with advancing years. Clearly Suffolks or their crosses would be too big and, anyway, we did not much like the look of them. Books and articles in the Smallholder magazine suggested to us that Southdowns might be the answer. They were small and said to be docile with a good quality fleece and tasty meat. Our minds were finally made up when our grandchildren fell in love with them at the local agricultural show. They were certainly most attractive to look at, with faces reminiscent of teddy bear faces.
We fenced off a couple of acres of grassland and the following summer, as luck would have it, we were able to buy a pedigree Southdown ewe and her two ewe lambs from a member of the Southdown Sheep Society at the local Smallholders show. They have so far lived up to our expectations and last spring the ewe gave birth to further twin lambs, one of each sex this time, entirely without help from us. Our granddaughters were even more delighted, of course, and even willing to help with worming and foot trimming on their visits.
Mother and the original twin daughters are in lamb and we look forward, hopefully, to a trouble-free spring.
Southdowns have been a great success and are a delight to see grazing across the moat from the house and garden. As yet we cannot vouch for the quality of the meat but I suppose sooner or later we must pluck up courage and arrange a visit to the butcher.
ALAN & PAT LETTIN
We established the Great Fen Flock in 1994. Looking back over the first five years, there are some things we got right but others we would do differently if we were starting again now. I hope our experiences will be of help and interest to anyone setting up a small pedigree flock.
It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to learn what is really involved before starting any livestock enterprise. The largest animal we had ever kept was a bad-tempered tom cat. We decided to sign up for evening classes at our local agricultural college at Milton near Cambridge. There we were fortunate to be taught by the late Penri Jones. Not only did we get a practical and humane education in the various stock-handling tasks, including the night shift at lambing time, but also made friends with other part-time flock keepers. These contacts have proved invaluable, particularly after Penri's tragic death, when we were suddenly on our own.
After going through the shepherd's year with the college flock, and visiting some other flocks, we made up our minds that we could cope with sheep and wanted to try the smallholder's life.
We became interested in rare breeds through visiting Wimpole Hall, and eventually narrowed down our choice to Southdowns and Shetlands. Southdowns because of their looks and docility and through living at the time in Babraham within sight of the statue of Jonas Webb; Shetlands for spinning. We eventually bought some of each. That was a mistake. We soon found that the two did not mix. Shetlands show more interesting behaviour, but their wildness kept the Southdowns on edge. The biggest problem was lambing time. If you are lucky, Shetlands will lamb from late March, but in our worst year we were lambing from mid-March on and off to the end of August. This year we have sold the Shetlands and look forward to getting all the lambing done within 3 or 4 weeks.
We also lived to regret keeping a tame ram lamb as a teaser. He eventually became a menace and has now gone to a large commercial flock. Do not be sentimental about ram lambs. If they are not top quality, send them to the butcher. A teaser is a liability in a small flock.
With our long build-up to setting up the flock, we had a lot of time for fact finding. For several years we went to shows, looking at the sheep lines and noting down the names of breeders whose sheep we liked. Valerie Porter's book on Southdowns was useful in learning the history of the flocks, but you cannot beat seeing the sheep in the flesh.
The flocks that caught our eye in the early 1990s were Moulton, Brant, and Dingley. When we had moved house to our fenland smallholding, we were only about ten miles from Moulton and went to Mr. Clark for our first sheep. He picked out three shearling ewes and, later that summer, we went back for an unrelated shearling ram, which we called Bertie. He was followed by four Shetland ewes from the RBST Show and Sale.
L.C. DANE
We moved to Norfolk seven years ago in order that we could start our own smallholding, having previously lived on a new housing estate in a Cambridgeshire village. The house is set on a large plot but had the advantage of backing onto Parish Council Allotments, and we were able to rent a grazing paddock together with a third of an acre allotment, on which we could grow our own "chemical free" vegetables.
Our first livestock were a trio of Buff Plymouth Rock Bantams. As demand for our eggs grew, Welsummers and Light Sussex chickens were added to the flock, and later a number of ducks and geese.
A goat shed was built to house the in-kid Golden Guernsey goat, who went on to produce two male kids. We later purchased another nanny and now have two nannies, a goatling, and our own bred billy, Travis.
After a few years we were able to rent two further paddocks, and three heifer calves were hand-reared for breeding purposes and a commercial rabbit unit was set up. A flock of sheep would complete our range of animals and we decided to go for a pedigree herd.
After reading through the many sheep books, the Southdown appeared to have the qualities we were looking for. Our first two in-lamb ewes were purchased in 1997. The ram lamb was prepared for the freezer and the ewe lamb was kept to extend the flock. With the sale of the Moulton Flock in 1998 it was an opportunity to purchase our own ram and an additional three ewes. In 2000 we will have put five ewes to the ram and have two ewe lambs ready for the Autumn tup.
Our flock has been very easy to handle and their placid nature has made it easier for us to learn our shepherding skills. Our local butcher was impressed by the quality of the meat and commented on the fact that he cannot get "leg joints like this on commercial herds."
The sheep are hand sheared and this is a two man operation. We tend to shear as early as possible in the season, aiming to complete the task in a week. The fleeces fetch a fair price in this depressed market.
We raised three orphan commercial lambs this Spring and these were put to our Southdown ram in the late Autumn and the lambs are eagerly awaited. With farming on a small scale we aim to produce healthy, traditionally reared produce with as little chemicals as possible. We know the history of all our produce and people tell us they can taste the difference.
RICHARD & ANN DAY
The start of our sheep year is 8 weeks pre-tupping, when we finally select the breeding flock for the coming season. During the previous year, plans were laid in our head but these are often altered due to changes in last minute circumstances. For example, it is typical for a fellow farmer to arrive, just as you are all organised, to buy a ram and the shearling you have kept back as next year's stud ram is the only one they are interested in. As we are first and foremost (and let's not delude ourselves here) in the business of selling sheep, we'll be back at the drawing board or, in our case, bring out the old boys.
During the previous lambing season we tag any animal that has a problem. This can be a lack of milk, ringwomb, prolapse, or loss of one quarter due to mastitis, for example, so that, despite notebook jottings, nothing is given a second chance at weaning and is sold on the cull market, normally while prices are still good. This year culls averaged £26 - better value than some mule or cross flocks. Further ewes or good draft ewes are sold to order by July. We often have a waiting list for these ladies and this gives us a chance to keep a younger flock.
3 to 6 weeks before the ram goes in, we start flushing the ewes on better keep and the sheep extra-energy crystals. The reason we use blocks is because our chalk soil is very thin and lacks selenium and other nutrients. I also believe that energy is important at this point. Protein comes from the grass, but it is only able to provide 50-60% of a full balanced mineral/vitamin profile. The other reason is, quite simply, because the system works for us. The blocks stay with the sheep until they are housed. This tells us what the grass is doing and when to supplement hay at pasture. The ewes and rams are also all drenched 6 to 8 weeks pre-tupping and all at this point are foot-trimmed and dagged regardless of being clean or dirty.
Pre-tupping is also the start of our year for drench rotation. Fortunately we do not have a resistance to white drenches, therefore all three groups, benzimidazoles, ivermectin, and lemavisoles are used in three-yearly rotation. White drenches are also used on all lambs yearly at weaning to control tape worm.
Rams are fed a proprietary mix from Harbro Feeds eight weeks before tupping - up to 1 lb. per head. This stops when they run with the ewes. They also utilise the blocks. The rams are allowed to run with the ewes for eight weeks before being removed, re-wormed, and foot-trimmed, and are returned to ram rations until May - about ½ to ¾ lbs., plus grass and hay. The ewes after tupping are kept on good, but not overly good, grass until housing. Normally we house them four weeks before lambing, whilst foot-trimming, foot-bathing, worming and vaccinating them with Heptivac P Plus, all at once on the same day. This is always done on a dry day rather than a set date, as dry sheep do not abscess when injected, and foot-bathing is more effective.
Once in, we flat-rate feed a Grain Harvester 18% High ME Nut, which is floor fed. Trough feeding was stopped about ten years ago because of stress abortion through jumping and bumping at this time. No problems have been encountered on this system and, again, it works for us. They also have a high selenium Descovit drench two weeks before lambing, plus mineral buckets and hay of about 2 lbs. per head per day.
At lambing, all ewes are penned individually for up to 48 to 60 hours until well bonded with the lambs, are recorded, tagged, tailed, and, where needed, castrated before being turned into mothering yards of up to twenty couples before turn out at about 3 weeks old. Alas, we have had a serious fox and badger problem over the years and, since we have adopted this approach, no losses to these bandits have occurred. Let them live on the town's dustbins, is my motto, not on prime lamb which I can't afford to lose.
Lambs start creep feeding at around 3-4 weeks old, starting indoors on a Grain Harvesters Creep Feed. We have tried others and never achieved the growth rate we do with this pellet. This is continued until weaning at 12-14 weeks.
At 6 weeks mean flock age, all lambs are vaccinated with Ovivac P Plus, more to guard against tetanus (a real menace on these soils) than any other reason, drenched and foot-bathed for the first time. The ewes are also drenched at this time and not again until pre-tupping. The lambs are usually re-drenched every four weeks or when needed until weaning. Once again, they are also drenched, if needed, with a coccidiostat vecoxan. A new product from Janssen Animal Health was used last year to good effect and will be the product of choice this year.
When the ewes go into the mothering pens, the feed is stepped up to 1½ lbs. per head per day, split into two feeds a day. This is reduced to ½ lb. a day at eight weeks, stopped totally by ten weeks, and they are left on just grass until weaning. At weaning they come in on straw and water for three days, as they often seem to still have plenty of milk and this is the only way to dry them up without major mastitis problems. However, we still seem to cull about 2 or 3 percent of the flock for this each year, no matter what we do.
Weaning is the most exciting time of the year for me, as this is when we do our first future flock selection and pick out initial choices for showing. Disappointments always occur as well - when an animal reveals bad feet or testicles, for example. Out of our flock normally only about 6 to 8 ram lambs make the grade to go on and around 12 to 15 ewe lambs; the rest all go for meat. It really isn't worth deluding yourself by running on poor or sub-standard lambs for the breeding flock, as you only end up disappointed at the end. Being strict through limiting numbers is not only the cheapest option but is best for flock improvement in the long run.
At weaning we split the sheep into four groups:
The show strings come in for convenience and are fed to eye on Harbro Feeds. The ram lambs are fed and kept on grass. To keep them growing, a 2:1 ratio ration of Rowett tup and soaked sugar beet is fed - about 1 lb. of this mix a day, depending on the grass (drought is a problem here in July and August most years). The ewe lambs go out on to grass alone. Blocks are introduced, normally at the end of September. The butcher's lambs are kept on grass and, in the past, have been sold by June. This year, because of market forces, some have been retained, but all were sold by the end of October. Our Poll Dorset flock will in future be sold to fill the gap of June until October for our private market of local farm shops, restaurants, and deep freeze customers.
The previous year's shearling ewes are kept on a tight grass diet from March until joining the breeding flock, to stop them becoming overly fat - a major cause of non-breeders, if you don't keep control of their nutrition. The shearling rams again remain on the same ration from weaning as lambs through to sale. Most of our rams are sold between May and July. However, for the last three years we have kept back a number for our hire business to promote Southdowns on commercial flocks and for smaller pedigree breeders. We feel it is one small way that we can contribute to and promote the breed, although it can be frustrating when you go to pick up a ram that is still three fields away with forty ewes and no pens in sight. The £30 hire charge does not cover your time in these cases, and your patience and generosity can be tested to the full. However, it is a policy we will still continue for a bit longer yet.
We also have a further selection at shearing for male and female shearlings and anything not up to scratch or that hasn't grown well is sold for slaughter. We use Vetrazin for protection against fly strike throughout the summer season, starting the last week of April on all sheep. Some of you may gasp at this, but it is better to have protection than to need a cure, and the key to success is to start early enough. Fly strike here normally starts in the middle of May.
Any sheep that are bought in are injected with Dectomac injection, 1ml. per 33 kg. bodyweight. This worms and guards against scab. At the same time they are also foot-trimmed, bathed and quarantined for 28 days. Our dip was filled in six years ago, something I do not miss doing.
Finally, I would like to point out that the management system here will not be accepted by all, but, as I pointed out earlier, it works for us. To any newcomers, there are plenty of people available to get advice from but in the end there is no right or wrong system, only trial and error will be your judge. Once it works, though, think twice before making changes for change's sake. Only consultants earn money from this - the rest of us get poor.
Good luck to you all for the next millennium and may the Southdown rise back to the heights it so rightly deserves.
M.W. LITTMODEN
Why choose to keep Southdown sheep? There are probably as many reasons as there are people keeping them, but I can only write for myself. I have only a small number of sheep (32) and so far only six are Southdowns, so it's hardly a full-scale commercial undertaking.
I have kept other sheep and goats for some ten years and I am always reminded of what I don't know - it's a constant learning process. In fact, I may not know much but I know what I like. I was once on a farming course at Merrist Wood College and the instructor said, amongst other things, that if you were going to keep sheep you might as well get a breed you like looking at - and I like looking at them. I could advance many other good reasons for choosing Southdowns but for me, I think, it's as simple as that.
I have sometimes heard Southdowns described as boring, but I don't think they are; I would rather describe them as placid. There's a big difference. They seem to be contented and looking at them seems, to me anyway, to relieve stress. In my own limited experience that certainly can't be said of all breeds of animal. If you want an adrenalin rush, I recommend keeping goats. You never know for sure what they will do next or what fence they will attempt to get over, under, round or through!
It took me a long time to get my first Southdowns. I had seen pictures of them in books and seen some at shows but only decided to start a flock of them this year. I decided to follow Jonas Webb's example and buy the best bred sheep, "regardless of expense" - The Southdown Sheep, by Valerie Porter, Weald and Downland Open Air Museum. My wallet is now recovering but I thought that it would make the most sense to start with a nucleus of the best animals.
So far, I am pleased with them. They give me pleasure just by being there and I hope that I will be able to breed some good animals in the future. I don't know what will happen after the millennium, but the ram has been put to the ewes and we'll see.
If you are thinking of keeping Southdowns, I recommend you go and have a look at some. You may find that you like looking at them, too.
DR. ANTONY LOCKE
Although not a newcomer to sheep breeding, I am to Southdowns. It would, therefore, be totally inappropiate for me to offer any advice about this breed to established, or even new, breeders. What may be of interest, however, to potential breeders of Southdowns is my reason for introducing a flock to Llwyntidman Farm.
After over ten years of breeding Wensleydales, both white and black, I retired this year. They were simply taking up more than their fair share of my time and energy. I have also kept, for a similar length of time, North Ronaldsays and Balwens. Ronnies are enormous fun, particularly at lambing time, when one never knows what colour lambs one is going to be presented with. They are also both hardy and thrifty and are not in the least demanding. Balwens are similar in management terms. However, even with the best pedigrees, achieving lambs with correct markings remains something of a mystery to me! Whilst my main interest lies in conservation, I felt it made sense to introduce a breed of sheep that were also commercially viable. The main criteria for selecting another breed were:-
Southdowns purchased at the RBST Show & Sale at York in October, 1999 mark the beginning of the LLWYN Flock. On the day, they stood well against some really excellent sheep forward. Indeed, it was a Southdown yearling ewe who took the Supreme Championship. Needless to say, she travelled back to Shropshire with the champion ram - a lamb - and young followers. The Southdowns meet my criteria admirably. I would imagine they would be equally suited to a beginner or an experienced shepherd needing a lighter workload. Above all, daily they make me laugh.
JO WILLETTS
It was some thirty-five years ago that we bought our first Southdowns and these years have seen a great change, including the number of flocks, their size and, in some cases, the sheep themselves.
At that time there were still a number of large flocks of around the two to three hundred mark. This soon changed, and within ten years, these large flocks, with perhaps one exception, had either been dispersed or reduced. By the early seventies the exhibitors at the Royal were for two years reduced to two members - Mr. Hugh T. Clark and Mr. L.T.S. Hawkins. Then George Hughes and ourselves started exhibiting and for several years we four were the only ones there. One must remember at that time there were only just over sixty members of the Southdown Sheep Society. Now, with over two hundred members, a great revival has taken place - most of our new flocks are small ones and have been founded for many reasons, in many cases looked after by ladies who prefer these small, docile, attractive, easily managed sheep to the larger less tractable breeds which require more space and food.
The other thing that has happened in the last twenty years has been the introduction of New Zealand and French blood. Like so many breeds, some of our members have become obsessed with size. I have no objection to size, provided it is obtained within the breed, but when you start using sheep that have an infusion of blood from another breed to achieve extra size you are embarking on a journey into the unknown.
Every breed has its good points. I will attempt to list a few of the Southdown attributes:-
The trouble when outside blood is introduced is that there is a great danger you will lose or greatly reduce some or all of these exceptional attributes. The gentleman who perhaps had the greatest influence on my thinking on sheep breeding, and who himself was an outstanding breeder of both Dorset Down and Dorset Horn sheep, was the late William J. Hooper. His adivce to me many years ago was: when you are a pedigree breeder at no time must you be prepared to give up a good point you already have in an effort to obtain something else, for, if you do, you will end up with nothing.
Again back to the argument over size and length, think for a moment what breed is winning so many of the carcase competitions today and, surely, the carcase is the ultimate. It is there for all to see and most, if not all, are judged by either butchers or supermarket buyers and these gentlemen are repeatedly putting up Beltex. The Beltex is a small, very short sheep with great back ends. At the last Royal Smithfield Show, in the lightweight carcase competition, there were seven entries - six Beltex and Texels and one lone Southdown, which came a very close second. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
JOHN RANDALL
Following Alice's arrival in 1993, I managed to persuade Lucy that, as new parents, it was essential to cultivate our new baby's interest in all things rural immediately! Lucy maintains that the initial investment in four ewe lambs from the Canterbury Oast Trust was more for my benefit than Alice's, but I beg to differ.
The arrival of the sheep followed a couple of years' pondering, having retired from showing our family's pedigree Simmental cattle and having begun to miss all the fun of the shows.
Alice and I were not the only happy ones; my father (or Alice's grandfather) couldn't believe his luck in having sheep on the farm again, especially as we live ten miles away, but the elation of yet another granddaughter made him see sense. Even the liberal use of his Grain Harvesters feed account and the lack of any rent has not deflected his dedication to the cause.
It was most fortunate that the Southdowns were easily bucket trained and quite responsive to a few choice words at volume, normally getting them going in the right direction if anything needed to be done.
That was seven years ago and many happy days showing and good results in the Flock Competition since have made all the effort worthwhile. Sales of lambs at Maidstone Market at excellent prices and red rosettes from Fatstock Shows do prove that these "hobby" sheep have a commercial edge. Southdown sheep were a good choice. Lots of new friends and some happy days at selling some sheep for such quality flocks as Moulton and Greencross are the icing on the cake.
ALAN MUMMERY