April 2013 - a good month for early sales, 3 shearling tups sold, and 2 lambs

April 2013 - Dolwen Kasper arrives at the Ryeside flock

March 2013 - lambing over; it began on on January 23rd. 10 ewes lambed, 6 x twins x 4 x singles. We have 9 tups and 7 ewes, and some absolute crackers out of Dewi Fahr King and Dolwen Kasper.  Lambing went well, no problems to speak of.    

30 November - 11 ewes in with tup, 11 ewes in lamb, 6 x twins and 5 x singles

4 October - Hardgate Swift arrives - a ram lamb weve purchase from the Hardgate lines to vary our bloodlines next year

22 August - Acquired a shealing ewe from Mr J Scott at the Carlisle Ryelands sale to add to our breeding stock

21 August - only two more ewes to cover!

12th August - coloured tup now in with three coloured ewes

9th August - white flock news - tup is now in with 7 white ewes, hoping for late January / early February births - will nature play ball?

7th August - 29 Ryeland fleeces taken to Halifax Mill for pocessing - watch out for the wool products for sale over Christmas at www.handsontraditionalcrafts.co.uk

8th July - a day ahead of foot trimming, especially the rams.....I'm sure they won't like it one bit, but will feel much better once its all over.

1 July - ram lambs and ewe lambs seperated as the boys are getting a little too frisky now

1 July - looking forward to the Ryedale Show, see you there.

17 June - North Yorkshire County Show - a disaster as rain waterlogged the event and it was cancelled. Work commitments mean we can't show at the Great Yorkshire Show, boo!

9 June - Cumberland Show

Cumberland Show went ahead despite the weather, although torrential rain as we drove home back across the A66. We were very pleased with our shearling ewes who came 2nd and 4th, behind Alison Robinson. Our lambs all placed, and we secured two 1st places with our coloured shearling ram and shearling ewe.

Annabel even took 2nd in Young Handlers, so all in all a lovely day out with typical Cumbrian hospitality. We shall be back next year.

7 Feb - Lambing

This year we lambed 6 breeding ewes, with 10 successful new lambs, born between 7 February and 1 April. We have decided to keep many of them, but have sold 2 ram lambs to an enthusiast new to the breed.

Lambing began in minus 10 degrees knee deep in snow, and ended in glorious sunshine in early April. All our lambs are registered, ear tagged, and vaccinated with Heptavac P and a Pasteurella booster. We use a spot on for lice and fly strike, a coccidiosis drench and combined wormer and flukicide. 

Our flock are grazed at a low stocking ratio of only c2 per acre and are kept outdoors year-round.