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For information about the wildlife at Glyn-Coch, please visit our woodland ecology page, here.
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We sometimes have Norfolk Horn sheep for sale. More information can be found below.
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We inherited our flock of Norfolk Horns when we moved into Glyn-Coch in May 2000. Descended from the ancient Saxon black-faced sheep, the Norfolk Horns could be found all over Europe 1000 years ago, and remained common in Norfolk and elsewhere until the Norfolk Four Course Rotation was introduced.
The improvement in soil fertility resulting from the rotation meant that more intensive sheep keeping was possible, and this demanded improved breeds of sheep.
One such improved breed was accidentally started in 1784, when a Southdown ram belonging to Mr. Arthur Young escaped and got into a tenant's flock of Norfolk Horn ewes. The tenant got a better price for the resulting cross bred lambs and so the Suffolk breed was born.
By 1810 the Norfolk was giving way to the Suffolk breed, and by 1963 there were only 13 pure Norfolk Horn ewes left. A group of enthusiasts got together with a geneticist to save the breed. They made such good progress that they were asked to help rescue other breeds, and in 1973 they formed themselves into the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. There are now nearly 1000 Norfolk horns worldwide of which we have 12 ewes, 2 rams and 8 ewe lambs. Even so the breed is still classified as endangered.
Breed Development
The medieval sheep industry sold mainly wool. Some flocks were also used for their milk. As ewes (fed on poor medieval diets) usually only produced one lamb a year, it was sensible to keep the lambs until they reached full adult size before butchering, but the resulting mutton was considered a very poor substitute for beef, especially by the few who could afford to buy meat. The Norfolk Horn reached its peak of popularity at this time, and so does not have the heavy hind quarters of modern meat producing breeds. As a result the sheep, described as being 'fine boned and deer like', are rejected by butchers in favour of modern meatier breeds.
Although medieval shepherds guarded their flocks very carefully they were, at times, subject to attack by large predators (wolves and perhaps even bears) which are no longer a problem. The horns of an adult ram would have been a substantial disincentive to such an attack, and a ewe (both sexes are horned) could inflict a nasty wound if cornered. (When one of our, normally very friendly and placid, rams was kept in, he destroyed a loose box designed for a large horse!) My experience of the breed is that they seem to able to jump as high from a standing start as modern breeds can on the run. This also must have been useful in escaping predators. One modern Norfolk Horn owner refers to the tendency of the breed to wander, and this would have been an advantage for medieval sheep when forage was scarce - especially when the shepherds wondered with their unenclosed flocks.
Before moving on I should say that, under normal management conditions, the ewes and lambs are very placid, cooperative animals, and the rams, though inclined to be boisterous, are entirely without malice. It is only when one of the flock is frightened by something unusual that you see the more primitive features of their behaviour.
Reasons for keeping Norfolk Horns
In spite of their lack of productivity and the characteristics I have just described, many of us think that it is very important to keep this old breed going. For example we know that a cross between The Norfolk and Southdown breeds produced the Suffolk, which is still one of the most successful breeds in the world. As the industry's requirements change (especially post foot and mouth) who knows what new breeds will be required? One factor which may require a new breed with Norfolk Horn blood is the move to reintroduce nationally extinct wildlife into the UK. For example the Beaver, and more pertinently the Lynx. I doubt the Lynx would attack a full grown and healthy ewe of any breed, but the presence of horns would certainly help a ewe to defend a young lamb, and some aggressive looking high jumps would certainly deter most attacks!
While writing this I have just heard that the first results of the National Scrapie blood testing scheme have come in, and it appears that all the Norfolk Horns so far tested are Scrapie resistant. (Scrapie is the sheep disease thought to have transferred to cattle and then to humans as BSE - 'mad cow disease'.) Perhaps there is a rather more urgent need to look after Norfolk Horns then we first thought!
Present management
Our flock is useful in that by grazing the central paddocks they help to maintain ecological diversity.
We have usually lambed indoors at the beginning of April, but this has meant that some lambs are not weaned till July, and are not ready for sale until late autumn when declining availability of grass means that it is difficult to fatten them, and prices are low. This year we have planned to lamb at the beginning of March, so the lambs should be weaned in June when there is still plenty of grass to fatten them.
We try to keep them as a demonstration of good management, but as the supply industry, the markets for sheep products and Government policy are all geared to very big flocks, it is harder and harder for us to mimic best management practice. For example, the feed we buy in every year is too little to attract any discount, so unlike our larger competitors we pay full price for everything. The E.U. has now decreed that we will shortly have to mark our sheep with electronic identification tags, but the machine to read them costs more then the flock's annual financial turnover, let alone any profit. As a pedigree flock we will still have to mark them with conventional ear tags which we will be able to read, so our poor sheep will have to be double tagged.
Transport restrictions, now mean that it is impossible for us to replace our rams, so that the flock is in great danger of in-breeding. To get over this we have recently split the flock into three, so that rams born to one ewe group will only be used on one of the other groups. This may, with a lot of luck, reduce the inbreeding, but it also means that we need to keep at least 15 ewes and 3 rams while rearing 3 replacement ewes and rams each year. The 24 sheep will push our winter grazing to the limit, and will slow grass growth in the spring when it is needed to feed the new lambs, and risks building up diseases.
Pressure on the grass also runs the risk of contravening the Tir Cynnal (Entry Level Stewardship scheme in England) regulations. (As one of the reasons for keeping the flock is to maintain ecological diversity we certainly do not want to contravene these regulations). However, we hope that earlier lambing (which is done indoors) is a way of taking sheep off the grass at a time when we will be in danger of overgrazing.
I am beginning to think that in the summer, soon after the lambs have been weaned, I will have to sell the smaller lambs, which we may have difficulty fattening here. This will mean that they will go to farms who think they have better grazing, and the lambs that remain here will have more grass. It also means that with fewer mouths to feed we are less likely to damage the grass. We will see what happens in summer!
Flock performance Lambing Spring 2009 (Probably more then you wanted to know)
I don't know how valuable it is to include performance records for such a small flock of rare sheep, as almost every birth is a special case, and we don't have the numbers to build any statistical significance. I would expect vast differences between years - we shall see! But for what it is worth here are the figures for this spring.
| Ewes Pregnant | 12 |
| Lambs Born | 22 |
| Lambs weaned.
(One drowned in water bucket at 2 days. One crushed in group pen, while being housed at night because of wet weather. Both fatalities late at night) |
20 |
| Live births per ewe mated
(2 triplets, 6 twins, 4 singles) |
1.83 |
| Mean Birth weight (Kg) | 5.8 |
| Mean weight at turnout (Kg)
As a matter of policy lambs are not turned out below 10kg, heavier weights due to assembling suitable groups for available fresh grazing. Days to turnout varies from 19 singles to 51 for the triplets which were kept in their family but needed some bottle feed. |
23 |
| Mean Daily Liveweight Gain to turnout (Kg) | 0.8 |
What a year! Having done reasonably well at lambing the weather literally dampened things down. Abundant grass growth following damp weather caused lambs to scour on changing paddocks and this masked early symptoms of worm and fluke problems. We had fluke on paddocks that had never had them before. Violent weather then picked off the 3 weakest lambs and just to rub salt in the wounds 2 ewes suffered from rain scald and lost most of their coats. Fortunately both are recovering, though they still need housing in cold wet weather. We were saved by our wonderful vets, and hopefully things are back on an even keel now.
After every death one asks what could have been done to prevent it, and we have had 5 doses of such misery this year. I am told that the two early deaths happen in all flocks and that there is nothing you can do to prevent those. But is there?
But the 3 later ones from worms and fluke? When we first came I subdivided fields into paddocks so that we could graze on rotation to minimize disease problems and drenched the sheep every month. To minimise resistance building up we changed the chemical every year according to Government recommendation. Once we thought that we had probably wiped out the existing field infestation (we do not buy in any sheep) we reduced the frequency of dose to further reduce the chances of resistance to the chemicals building up. The public's apparent horror at the idea that sheep should be given 'modern medicines also encouraged us to reduce dose frequency so I have gradually reduced the frequency of treatment to about 3 doses a year. Last year we treated all lambs before turn out and that may have protected them this year. But not all wormers can be given to young lambs, and with a long term dry forecast (the famous 'barbeque summer' ) I thought that we may be safe from worms. And then this storm hit.
The first lamb to die was the smallest in the flock, and became ill at the end of the very hot spell in 4th June. There were no obvious symptoms, but I suspected a minor ailment complicated by heat so I started him on a course of antibiotics and oral vitamins. The next day he was much better, but still not with the flock. By Saturday 6th he was walking round the field and appeared to be on the road to recovery. That night was very cold and wet, and on Sunday morning he had relapsed so we brought him indoors, rubbed him down and left him under a heat lamp. He died later that day. On 23 rd July the next smallest lamb died in cold wet weather, but had been attacked by foxes or birds only a few hours after she had appeared to be 'fit and active'.
The third died on the 16th August, again in wet weather. We found him collapsed first thing in the morning, and gave him shelter, 10ml of oral vitamins and 50ml glucose, both of which he took without difficulty. In the evening, with his mother standing by (a good sign) we gave him another 50ml of glucose repeated at 10.00pm, when I also started a course of antibiotics. The night was mild and dry, but the next day he was dead.
Did I do the right thing? Obviously not, as the lambs died. The flock is vaccinated for common bacterial diseases, blue tongue virus etc. It is wormed three times a year and is also treated against blowfly. The first lamb that died was the 'runt of the flock, and although we thought it would be OK were not too surprised when it was the one to suffer in exceptional weather. Were we complacent? The second one may have died from disease or animal attack. The third was one too many. All this was complicated by the fact that they died at the weekend when the vet lab was closed. We do not have a suitable fridge to keep them in, so any post mortem would have been hedged around with so many exclusion clauses as to be of little help. Unless of course the cause was obvious, but with only vague symptoms we did not expect an obvious cause. As the summer was wet there had been talk of liver fluke, but these parasites are normally associated with standing water, and the field the lambs were in had a good slope on it and had not had liver fluke before. One of our other fields does, but this one was as far away as possible from the field with a known fluke problem.
Did they have fluke? Well we don't know for certain, but in the months since changing the wormer to one that gives protection against fluke we have not had any more deaths, and all the lambs seem to be growing well. An interesting aspect of all this is that shortly before we decided to try using a flukicide I called the vet to a ewe with extremely droopy ears. I thought this might be a response to midge bites, but the vet wasn't convinced. However after a course of antibiotics she appeared to fully recover. A few days later several other ewes showed similar symptoms, but theirs were milder and they recovered within a few days. I noticed that apart from drooping the bases of the ears seemed stiff and swollen. I wondered if this was a reaction to an initial fluke attack, perhaps unique to Norfolk Horns. Has anyone else seen these symptoms?
Whatever the causes, we will not put so many ewes to the ram this autumn, in the hope of a lower stocking rate next year. (But our current stocking rate is well below commercial recommendations.) In addition we have told the Ministry that we will not be renewing our Tir Cynnal agreement, and without the boundary restrictions we will have effectively 16% more productive grazing. And perhaps we will be able to subdivide our paddocks to further extend the grazing cycle. (and I'll have to carry even more water!) And, I suppose, we will have to consider using an additional flukicide in years when the wormer does not also control fluke. But I suppose that we may have hay to sell if the weather is kind!
Sheep products
Early each summer we shear the sheep so that their fleece does not make them overheat on hot days. We process the wool in various ways (or get someone else to do it for us) and turn it into carded wool suitable for felting, hanks of spun wool ready for dying, or balls of knitting wool. Some wool is knitted up into hats, jumpers, scarves etc. We also make drop spinning kits, lucette kits, weaving stick kits, french knitting (or cork-work) kits, and knitting kits. A popular line at the moment is round knitting looms, with which one can make anything from dolls hats to adult socks, jumpers, even double blankets (depending on the loom you have.) Most of the kits have starter balls of our wool. These can be bought from our shop.
MEAT We don't tell the sheep, but one or two are sent to the butchers each autumn and come back as freezer packs. The meat, especially as the main joints and chops, is really nice. Definitely better then the average supermarket joint. We do not normally sell the meat, but would be interested to know if there is a demand for it. If you would like to persuade us to let you have some please send us an e-mail. If there is a demand we would anticipate that we would start by collecting the meat form our butcher so that you can collect it from us the same day. (Probably in October or November depending on how the grass grows over the summer.) If this works we would then move on to more conventional delivery systems!
Lamb freezer packs are now available. Ring 01994 231867 for details.
AS the packs have not arrived yet, we cannot tell you exactly what is for sale, but as a rough guide chops will be £14/kg, leg £12/kg and shoulder £9.50/kg. These are home grown Norfolk Horn ewe lambs which we have sent away to be butchered - hence the uncertainty. The meat will be available fresh on Friday, but it will be frozen thereafter. Click here for details of available packs
Obviously when you keep rare sheep you are very keen that the breed continues. For this to happen you hope that others will buy your breeding stock, either to start a new flock of their own or to boost numbers and genetic diversity in their own flock. If you are interested in acquiring some of our animals, please give us a call. Contact details are here. If you are new to the breed we will try to introduce you to the main points of the breed and tell you about our 'system'!
Breeding stock sale
The following ewes are SOLD
The whole flock was scrapie tested in 2002 and all sheep were ARR ARR no sheep have been bought in, since.
| Born | Dam | Sire |
Litters/multiples/total (Dam) |
Health | Comment | |
| N5312
SOLD |
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| PT108
SOLD |
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| PT 149
SOLD |
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| PT150
SOLD |
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| PT 170
SOLD |
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| PT 171
SOLD |
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| PT164
SOLD |
NOTES
1 Following the introduction of transport restrictions, and subsequent problems in obtaining a new ram we have split the flock into three breeding groups. Last year we retained all the old ewes, but this meant the groups were unbalanced and also that we were carrying too many sheep for the land. This sale is intended to balance the breeding groups and return to a more appropriate stocking rate.
N5312 Good ewe. Has twice suffered foot rot, but OK for the last few months. Responds well to treatment. We are a long way west of most Norfolk Horn flocks and in drier East Anglian conditions this may not be a problem. She is 9 years old, but doesn't really show it.
PT108 poor lambing record. Lambed in 2008 - possibly now barren. Apparently good health otherwise.
PT149, Ran with new ram in his first season in Autumn 2008, so may have failed to conceive because of shy ram.
PT150 A bit of a puzzle. In 2008 her daughter trebled her birth weight by the time all other lambs had been turned out.
*PT062 (Dam of PT108) not mated in 2007 and 2008 because no suitable ram
(N2347 lambed before we took over the flock, so we cannot be certain about her complete record)
Our old wether, who has served as companion to off duty rams, and any other lonely sheep for several years topped the market at Whitland Mart when he appeared there earlier in Feb 2010. He had been the smallest of his cohort, because of a nervous disposition, which prevented him from competing for feed. He became quite ill, at one stage, and the check to his growth meant that he lost most of his coat - so , of course he became known as 'Hairy'. However he bounced back and just as he reached mature weight we were faced with the prospect of of keeping our old ram, Hugh, on his own for most of the year, so we introduced Hairy. They got on really well, but Hairy's nervousness meant that he would jump out of their paddock every time a vehicle passed too close. Hugh would observe the youngster's antics, and after a few moments deep thought would decide to follow, which made for an exciting few minutes, as they were returned to their proper place. After a while, though, he settled down and proved a calming influence as new rams were introduced to the ram flock. Hugh retired at the end of last year, so it seamed fitting that Hairy should go before his health suffered. After his struggles as a lamb, and our subsequent adventures it was nice that others recognised his quality.
In Breeding coefficients of Current Rams (Not for sale) are:-
| Name | I/D | In-breeding Coefficient | Relatedness to No147 Caliph(13) |
| Hugh | N6998 PT056 | 2.28 | 5.47 |
| Dai | PT153 | 2.65 | 5.27 |
| Dylan | PT159 | 7.67 | 4.81 |
| Gareth | PT166 | 7.67 | 4.81 |
Hugh and Dai are not technically inbred, and are closely related to the Caliph founder ram.
Dylan and Gareth are beginning to get inbred, but only moderately so compared to
others in the breed.
SEE our News/blog and Farm for Sale sections. We may be selling the entire flock, probably in early summer 2010 - if we decide to sell up. Watch this space for news!
Also at Glyn-Coch
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We also have a couple of Brecon Buff geese. (Well, probably the more common American buffs, but they were sold to us as Brecons, so that is what we call them! The Brecon strain have pinker feet and beaks and were selected in Brecon in the 1940s. Our geese have slightly pink feet, but I am not convinced they are pink enough!))
In ancient Rome, geese are said to have alerted the city's defenders to an attack by a besieging army. Ever since they have had a fearsome reputation as guards, and their very aggressive looking greeting behaviour with neck and wings outstretched and a vigorous hiss tends to reinforce the idea. However it should also be remembered that it is said that 'a coward is one who would not say boo to a goose'.
Both stories are true of our Brecon Buffs. The slightest change in their surroundings elicits a raucous hooting and cackling, and anyone who approaches is likely to be met by the hissing greeting. If the visitor turns and runs they are unlikely to escape without a peck on the bottom, but anyone who stands their ground will see a gradual wilt, and may even get a kiss! That this is a general observation about geese is reinforced by the most popular image of geese in art, that of the little goose girls - often not much bigger then toddlers - who used to look after large flocks in times gone by.
Another reference to geese in the arts is the repeated descriptions by authors such as Dickens, Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson to Christmas Geese. Scrooge's purchase of a Turkey at the end of the Christmas Carol illustrated not only the cure of his miserly tendencies, but also the destruction of his conservatism. The converted Scrooge was now ready to abandon the centuries old tradition of the Christmas Goose for the modern American import.
Traditionally geese were fattened on corn stubble before being walked quite long distances to the Christmas Markets in the cities. It has often puzzled me that they did not lose weight on marches as long as that from from Nottingham to London. The reason appears to be that their main diet is not corn, but grass. The drovers roads they used were in fact mainly very wide grass tracks, and that much of the fattening would have been done en route - especially if they were really driven at the speed of a small child.
'Grass geese' like our Brecons love to play in water, but do not need large ponds. They are quite happy on grass provided they have a bucket of water to drink, and in which to wash their eyes.
Our geese are very noisy burglar alarms, but are also friendly, and easy to keep. They graze even tighter then the sheep, but they do like a nightly feed of corn or Layers Pellets. They also provide plenty of amusement as they really cannot see what is under their noses, and do occasionally crash into the most obvious of obstacles! They like to exercise their wings, and sometimes if the wind is strong enough they actually take off. This takes them by surprise, and they often assume that they will be landing on water which they do with their undercarriage up! The resulting horrendous looking crash results in huge indignation, but fortunately no lasting damage , and experience has taught us that it is safe, sometimes, to laugh at our ' silly geese', who, it is true to say never learn! Goslings, eggs, blown eggs, and quill feathers, are sometimes available for sale.
Fans of our Chinese White geese will be wondering why I have not mentioned them. The answer is that we don't have them anymore. They used to share accommodation with the Brecons but, especially in the breeding season, were a lot more active - even hyperactive- then the Brecons. Thus it became more and more necessary to run them as separate flocks and this required labour and space that we didn't really have. We had to decide which breed to keep and, as our Buffs are possibly the more local of the two breeds, the Chinas had to go. Fortunately we were contacted by a local farm which specializes in providing visits and activities for children with special needs, and this combination of a safe home and a good cause seemed ideal.
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And our flock of (mainly) Wellsummer chickens.
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When we came here we had a small flock of Welsummer chickens, which laid beautiful 'ebony' coloured eggs which were sometimes for sale! This Dutch breed is a medium sized bird similar in appearance to the much more common Rhode Island Red.
Over the years the Welsummers have been joined by other breeds, but a combination of wet summers and cheap flights have meant a decline in tourist numbers so that we could not reliably sell all the eggs produced. The flock now comprises one Welsummer, one mongrel, a Bantam Hen and a Bantam Cock. - so we can usually eat all the eggs ourselves. However there may be one or two eggs for sale in early summer!
Barney the Dog
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Barney, the Dog, is a Border Collie.. Completely useless as a sheep dog though, Barney is generally a companion for Huw as he feeds the rest of the animals in the morning and evening. (It may sound harsh saying that Barney is completely useless as a sheep dog, but how many sheep dogs do you know that are afraid of sheep? He is getting braver now, and if asked nicely will come into a field with the sheep and run up and down - with a very professional air- providing that the shepherd is between him and the sheep.)
You are most likely to see Barney poking his nose out through the house door, though he does sometimes come and say 'hello!' He may be afraid of sheep, but he loves humans - especially if they pat his back. Remember to wash your hands afterwards!) Don't try to kiss him though, he was very well brought up and may take offence. Sadly, though he is a dogs' rescue home veteran and likes to be introduced to other dogs very gradually.
Three-Wheels and Target, the Cats
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Target and Three-wheels are both cats that 'adopted' Glyn-Coch as their home (or at least, their mothers did). Three-wheels is the friendliest out of the pair, and she is easily recognisable, as she is the only gray tabby cat here at Glyn-Coch. She is named after the song "three wheels on my wagon," because Huw took one look at her when she was born, and noticed that she had three gray / brown legs and one white one.
Target is almost as recognisable as Three-wheels, though if his brothers and sisters (and mother) have come down the drive from our neighbours house, you sometimes have to look closely. He is a Ginger cat with what looks like almost a target in his fur on either side of his body (hence his name, Target). He is the more timid of the two, only coming near humans when Three-wheels is about, or if it is near feeding time. He would love to be tame, but does not really understand the concept, and may be quite fierce if you take liberties.
Three (the tame one) is a brilliant tree climber, with no fear of heights, and is as confident in trees as a squirrel. Poor Target, though, gets vertigo at much more then a metre above the ground, and at two metres definitely needs rescuing. Target's main talent is in holding his territory, so that we are no longer the feline maternity ward for the village's pet moggies.
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