Hardy, thrifty, independent, and excellent mothers that lamb easily, the SBF breed produces outstanding gourmet lamb using rough and coarse grazing ground. Perhaps the finest gourmet quality, the carcass is free from superfluous fat and waste, and fits very well into the burgeoning ethnic market.

The Scottish Blackface ewe has a long life and typically will give four or five lamb crops on the hill or marginal ground and a further two or three crops on the lower ground.

North Country Cheviot sheep are intelligent, self-reliant, resourceful and among the healthiest and most long lived breeds.

The North Country is an intelligent, tough, resourceful sheep that produces both a superior lamb crop and a fleece that delights handspinners.

It has outstanding crossbreeding ability and can be used as either the sire or the dam breed. The resulting lambs from cross-breeding to meat breeds have superior carcasses. At 90 to 120 days a first class North Country lamb will yield a carcass of around 45 pounds with a high proportion of lean meat of excellent quality.

Known as the “smiling sheep” from the Lake District, the Herdwick breed is the ultimate Hill breed.

A sturdy, dual-purpose breed, producing uniquely flavoured lamb and mutton and a coarse grey wool, they were made famous by authors Beatrix Potter and James Rebanks of the UK.

Genetics have recently been imported to the US.

Turned out to graze wild on the fells, Herdie mothers raise hardy lambs on native herbage, and look happy doing it!

Though Cheviots may come in smaller packages, they contain for the sheepman a surprising combination of highly desirable qualities.  They are noted for hardiness, longevity, productiveness, milking, and mothering ability and for their great activity. 

They are high in quality and hang a presentable carcass that has a minimum of outside fat for the amount of carcass lean produced.  They utilize rough, low producing hill country very profitably with relatively little assistance from man and even less from the elements.  Where there is a really tough clean-up job to be done to convert waste land into dollars, more and more sheepmen are discovering that “Cheviots can take it.”

-Courtesy of the American Cheviot Sheep Society

Black Welsh Mountain Sheep (BWMS) are a small dual purpose breed that provides excellent mild mutton and a completely black, dense and durable fleece. BWMS are small and easy to handle and are ideal for farms where their hardiness, good mothering and feed efficiency are significant assets. Rams have attractive horns that curls around their ears and ewes are polled. They make a perfect small farm sheep.

The US association follows the UK breed standard. The most unusual part of which is the management of BWMS’s tails. BWMS must retain the tail long and undocked. In the Welsh Mountain Sheep this provides cover and protection for the udder. BWMS are flystrike resistant, and so while in some breeds a long tail is a health hazard, in BWMS it is not.

Lambing percentages are typically 175%. Ewes are good mothers, deep milkers and lambs are vigorous, quick to suckle and fast growing. The average weight of a mature ewe is around 100 pounds, while the average ram weighs between 132-143 pounds.

The breed produces premium quality meat with a minimum of wasteful fat. It is richly colored, full flavored, but remains mild even when butchered as mutton. Finished purebred lambs average 30-40 pounds carcass weight.

-Courtesy of the American Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Association

Originating in the hill borders of Wales and England, this striking breed can now be found in the United States.

With its long body, milkiness and undisputed crossing qualities, the BFL has earned its spot as the most utilized crossing sire in the UK.

Made famous by its “mule” progeny, everyone should have a BFL ram in their Hill flock.

Before the Bluefaced Leicester was the main crossing sire to make mule lambs, the Border Leicester was traditionally used before it fell out of favor for that specific task.

However, its potential is being realized yet again, and Scottish Haflbreds (resulting offspring when a North Country Cheviot is put to a Border Leicester tup) and Greyface Mules (Scottish Blackface and Border Leicester cross lambs) are making a comeback!

Length of body, rate of growth, and milky and maternal traits shine when combined with smaller and slower growing hill breeds.

There’s plenty of reasons to consider adding some Borders to your flock!