Hardy Sheep from Hardy's County
DORSETS - A HARDY SHEEP FROM HARDY'S COUNTY
A visit to David Lennox's farm, which is situated in the Sperrin Mountains a few miles from Moneymore, Co.Londonderry is a real treat on a summer's evening. A stunning view encompassing five counties lies out in front of you surrounding Lough Neagh. His house and yard are 930ft above sea level and the hills rises up to around 1500ft, so although the scenery is magnificent it is very exposed and any livestock which is to thrive in such an environment needs to be hardy.
David has a great passion for sheep and although the majority of his flock are Blackface he runs approx 400 pedigree Lanark ewes he admits to having a keen interest in the Dorset breed and feels that they are an important part of his sheep enterprise.
Having always had a fondness for the Dorsets he started to reintroduce them to his flock six or seven years ago, and is quick to point out that they are not merely a lowland breed. At present he has around 100 Dorset ewes, having built up the numbers from small beginning by retaining his ewe lambs and he has been delighted with the returns that he has recieved from the lambs which he has sold. This spring he sold 105 lambs which averaged £107, these lambs were all sold through the market at Masserene and were born in December, creep fed at four months old, when the prices are at their peak. David lambs his sheep outdoors and only houses them if the weather is extreme. At this time of the year the ewes are fed ad lib silage and concentrates, helping them to produce quality milk for the lambs. This is a cost effective time to feed the sheep as the lambs will finish early bringing in much needed income and then the ewes can do with lesser grass after weaning and no drenching costs are incurred at that time of the year.
David recognises that farming must be seen as a business and he is quick to point out that Dorsets can be very useful to spread cash flow throughout the year. Whether pure-bred or cross-bred their out of season lambing ability allows lambs to be ready at almost anytime of the year when income from other sources is not available. Lambs born Nov/Dec can bring in money in March, April & May when there are increased expenses for fertiliser, feed etc and single farm payment and other income are a long way off.
In this way the Dorset can help to supplement income from other livestock so ther is a place for them alongside many other breeds. Owing to the favourable returns that have been coming from the Dorsets, David Lennox is intending to increase his flock to around 200 ewes. He will keep them purebred until the ewe is around three years old and then he will cross them with a Charollais ram which he says produces an excellant cross. He has also used Suffolk and Beltex rams and been very pleased with these cross bred lambs.
As well as the hill ground around the large home farm, two other smaller land parcels of 50 & 30 acres are included in the total farmed area and as they are all at considerable, height the animals must be able to withstand extreme conditions. David finds that the Dorsets are very capable of withstanding harsh weather, but he points out that careful selection is necessary when purchasing new stock. He must ensure that any new purchases have tight fleeces as a more open coated sheep will not thrive in harsh conditions, for this reason he prefers to select sheep in full wool. Other characteristics which he looks for are a broad muzzle which he believes follows through to a good broad shouldered sheep with good bone. He feels that farmers must be increasly selective when purchasing rams and breeders must produce only stock with excellant confirmation so that quality carcasses will follow. This may mean keeping fewer ram lambs for breeding but will ultimately strengthen the market. He believes that quality is always more important than quantity and will yield greater returns.
David Lennox believes that Dorsets can play an important role in any sheep enterprise and he is very upbeat about the future of the breed in Northern Ireland.
The N.I. Dorset Club is holding its 39th Annual Premier Show & Sale on Monday 25th July 2011 at McClellands Livestock Mart, Ballymena. Showing will start at 9.30am, kindly sponsored by Norbrook Pharmaceuticals and the sale following at 1.30pm. Further details are available from Club Secretary on 07841 746 705.