We are novices at keeping sheep, having just raised a few orphan lambs over the last couple of years alongside our herd of White Park cattle. Then, when we purchased some extra land, including 30 acres of SSSI downland, it was apparent that we had the opportunity to increase the flock to something resembling a commercial scale. But what breed? Being registered organic and keen members of the RBST, it was obvious that it had to be a rare breed, but which one?
The criteria we look for in any animal to come onto the farm are: good general health, good growth on extensive grass and forage with minimum need for concentrates (preferably none), good feet and high quality meat. In addition, we like to be proud of our animals, so they have to look nice and be pleasant to deal with. Looking around, we were impressed with the reputation of the Southdown to produce high quality meat on small amounts of grass. At the shows we could see that they clearly fulfilled our requirements on character, looks and handleability, but were these lovely little teddy bears a good commercial proposition? Reading further, we discovered the breed's reputation for thriftiness and quick growth, with excellent conformation thrown in for good measure. The choice was made!
We bought a ram to use on our five existing cross-bred lambs; the lambs looked good, grew well, and fattened quickly. In fact, the singles perhaps fattened too quickly - the carcases were of good size (18-20 kg) but with a tendency to fat. The flavour is as good as we could hope.
So, into the Society and buying some pure-bred ewes. Our impressions so far are that we have made the right choice - but are not quite sure what to breed for yet. Given the size and steepness of our downland fields, the longer-legged types look useful, but we do not want to lose the conformation. The front legs look knock-kneed to us, even the winners at the shows, so maybe there is room for improvement there. They are just lovely to deal with; friendly but not pushy, and they seem to respect electric fences much more than their black-faced cousins. We are not convinced about their feet yet - time will tell.
This year we are only putting a handful of ewes to the ram, but we have also bought a nice bunch of lambs coming along to add to them next year. They look great on the downs, and we look forward to learning more about them.
ANDY & CHRISTINE HUNT
I married Carolyn in my late thirties and resolved to celebrate the day each year with a token of my love for her.
Our first year of marriage saw many changes in my hitherto "Bachelor about London" life, including a move to our idyllic country cottage and its eight rolling acres of beautiful grass paddocks. In celebration of this first year, I followed tradition with a gift of paper. In this instance it was two tickets to Venice. My wife of one year was overwhelmed with my romantic spirit and the trip was an outstanding success.
In our second year our love continued to grow ........and so did the eight acres of grass. We began to think that we should do something about it and began to visit Agricultural Shows. Whilst I spent time looking at exotic grass cutting machinery, Carolyn was drawn each time to the livestock and, increasingly, the sheep tents.
So it was that in the week preceeding our second Anniversary, I found myself covertly calling a recommended breeder of Southdowns (Sharon Pond). "Can you deliver three ewes on June3rd, without letting my wife see you or the sheep?"
My wife's joy on finding the well-hidden sheep at the end of an elaborate treasure hunt exceeded that of our trip to Venice the year before, or any anniversary gift since. Before anybody writes to say that it's obvious I am a townie, I know that year two is the "cotton" anniversary and it is wool that comes from sheep and not cotton. What I will, however, confess, is that I did not realise that three Southdowns would make little impact on eight acres!
Fortunately our flock has since gone from strength to strength and every time I look at our Southdowns they remind me of my love for my dear wife, Carolyn.
PETER WARNER, FLOCK NO. 611
Arriving on our smallholding nearly eight years ago, lacking in experience but full of enthusiasm for our new lifestyle, we turned to John Seymour's "Self Sufficiency" for advice on what livestock to keep. We were looking for traditional hardy breeds - easy to handle and cheap to keep. For cows we chose Jerseys, the archetypal house cow; for poultry, Dorkings, a dual purpose breed; and for sheep, Seymour suggested Southdowns - quiet and docile, easy lambers and with good conformation.
Until we arrived in Shropshire we had never seen a Southdown, but, once we contacted the local branch of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, we found that there were a number of local Southdown enthusiasts.
We started off with five ewes - two of which are still with us seven years on. At first we had too much grass, too few sheep, and the loan of a ram with handsome looks but a disappointingly low sex drive. Our sheep got fat, got fly struck, and rarely got pregnant. We struggled on, determined to make a success of our venture and already in love with the breed. We learnt to trim feet, drench, inject, and deliver reluctant and awkwardly placed lambs. Our sheep put up with our fumbling and our hesitancy without complaint.
Slowly things improved. We grew more skilled in our handling of the sheep. The flock began to grow. We acquired our own, more potent ram, and saw conception rates rocket. Our slimmed-down sheep lambed easily and were attentive and careful mothers. When our farming neighbours stopped to admire our lambs, we knew we were beginning to make the grade!
Showing opened our eyes to a whole new world of sheep-keeping. Our Southdowns will never seriously compete in the tough world of the show ring - on our wet ground, prone to regular flooding and with a small acreage and limited housing, we tend to lamb late and let the lambs grow on at their own rate, without much creep feeding. But we enjoy meeting other owners and the public is always entranced by the Southdown sheep, which enjoys having its chin scratched and is willing to put up with any amount of fuss from a passing stranger.
At the market we find our lambs sell well, and the meat is always in demand among family and friends. Even the butcher has been known to comment on the quality of the joints - of a good size for the modern family, sweet and well-textured.
For us - small sheep keepers whose livestock have to earn their keep, but who do not have to bow to the demands of commercial farming - Southdowns are the perfect sheep. Friendly, healthy, and hardy, they are easy and rewarding to keep. And for me their greatest attraction is their character - utterly laid back and relaxed (to the point where I have had to shake a sleeping sheep awake just to be sure it was still alive), loyal to their particular friends within the flock, and regarding our dog with amusement and a little disdain. These are sheep with attitude and we wouldn't change them for the world.
P.S. & C.S. HARRISON
When we moved to our ten acre place in Staffordshire some fifteen years ago, there was only one choice of ovine stock - they had to be Southdowns. Jane's father, Jack Henderson, had kept them, with intermissions, since 1928; even before then he had been a farm pupil of Mr. Owen Webb at Streetly Hall, Cambridgeshire.
Some would say that this was a totally wrong and conservative reason to adopt a breed, particularly in view of our heavy clay soil. However, we have not yet found a breed that we would prefer, despite having looked around on our many visits to the RBST's Show and Sale at Stoneleigh. Wiltshire Horn might alleviate our annual fly-strike worries, but would probably damage boundaries. Other breeds are lanky, or skinny, or prone to wander. Current commercial breeds lack the interest and history of the Southdown, and are generally too hefty for elderly amateurs to handle.
The down side of the breed? Ours are prone to fly strike; though modern repellent sprays are currently holding the ring, Nature will certainly be breeding a resistant greenbottle. Feet, on our soft land, need trimming at least four times a year. We do have some lambing problems, mainly due to the amateur's fault of overfeeding pregnant ewes. Boundaries must be sound at ground level.
We do not show, because we feel that an animal should be judged on its own worth, for the butcher, rather than on the skills of its valet (others will certainly disagree with us here).
On the much bigger plus side, we have an amenable, economical, historic and tasty animal. I feel that as a Society we do not make sufficient capital of the magnificent flavour of our lamb. A recent meal at a restaurant in France - otherwise very good - was almost spoiled for me by my choice of lamb cutlets, which tasted of next to nothing. I hope that Monsieur le Proprieteur hoisted in my recommendation.
While still alive, Southdowns are immensely attractive animals. Their teddy-bear faces always pull the crowds when displayed for the RBST at local shows: a vegetarian was horrified when I praised their flavour, but admitted that they were "darling animals".
The wool crop is high on W.M.B. list (even though prices are unremarkable at the moment). Hand spinning the fleece is hard work, because of its short staple, but fortunately commercial spinners have long since overcome the difficulties and it's charming to know that your "finest lambswool" vest is probably made from an English Southdown fleece.
At what accountants call "the bottom line", we don't make money from our flock, mainly due to lack of shepherding skills. We'd probably make even less from a "commercial" breed, and we would so miss the sight of those stout figures scuttering up the field at the first clink of the feed bucket.
E.H. MACK