Contact Details
Secretary: Mr Ashley Symonds
Address: Brecknock Hill Cheviot Sheep Society,
13 Lion Street, Brecon, Powys, LD3 7HY
Telephone: 07970 615890
Email: brecon@ctf-uk.com
The Society
The Brecknock Hill Cheviot has developed from the Scottish Cheviot that was introducted into Brecknockshire during the latter part of the 19th Century. This new strain of Cheviot thrives on exposed hills because of it’s hardiness.
Description
Brecknock Hill Cheviot Ram
White face and legs. Ears erect with no ruff or wool behind them. No wool on face of legs below knee or hock. Broad, strong back. Rams are occasionally horned, ewes are polled and recognised for longevity.
History
The Cheviot was introduced into the Brecknockshire area of Wales in the mid 19th Century. Since then the breed has adapted to the wet uplands and hills of the Brecon Beacons, developing a new strain of Cheviot, which has come to be known as the Brecknock Hill Cheviot.
Main Purpose of the Breed
The breed has retained the hardiness of the original Cheviots that arrived from Scotland over 120 years ago, enabling them to survive easily on the hills and mountains of Wales.
In the hills they are kept as pure flocks for breeding replacements. They are suitable for utilising the full potential of improved hill pasture. Regular autumn sales of breeding ewes attract varied purchasers for use with the Border Leicester, Suffolk and more recently Blue Faced Leicester and Continental Rams.
The draft ewes (originally known as the Sennybridge ewe), who will have already spent a few years on the mountain with the pure-bred flock, are ideal for cross breeding purposes in the uplands where conditions are slightly kinder and less exposed. They are put to a suitable ram (popular breeds being the Bluefaced Leicester and Border Leicester) to produce cross-bred ewes for further breeding.
The cross-bred ewes will be retained and put to a terminal sire for the production of quality prime lamb, whilst the wether lambs have adequate conformation to produce a good carcase either finished straight from the ewe or sold on as store lambs.
General Information
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Average Proligacy
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Hill Flock
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90 - 120%
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Upland Flock
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130 - 150%
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Lowland Flock
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160 - 180%
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Carcase weight at slaughter meets the supermarket specification of 16 – 21.5kilos. Excellent carcass confirmation will consistently grade at ‘R’ or above.
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Average Adult Bodyweight
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Mature Ewe
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60kg
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Mature Ram
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90kg
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Outstanding Qualities
The Brecknock Hill Cheviot is an extremely adaptable breed, fitting in to hill, upland or lowland enterprises.
The ewe can produce breed replacements when put to a Brecknock Hill Cheviot Ram, halfbred ewes when put to a longwool ram, or produce prime quality lambs when put to a terminal sire.
Rams are in demand to improve size and wool quality in native mountain breeds.
The Brecknock Hill Cheviot produces meat and wool to meet today's requirements, under most conditions and systems as economically as possible. The wool speaks for itself as three members of the Society have been British Wool Produces of the Year.
Scrapie Genotyping
The Brecknock Hill Cheviot Sheep Society is one of the founder pioneers of Scrapie Blood testing and culling accordingly. All Rams in the annual sale will be catalogued with their individual genotype results and also carry a verification certificate. The majority of ewes in the ewe sale are scrapie genotyped and have verification certificates.
