Herdwicks

[Moobli]

So excited! My hubby has been promising me some Herdwicks for years. I am a Cumbrian who has been living in Scotland for the past ten years and feel it is only right and fair that I should have something of home here with me

I heard about a hobby farmer with a few Herdys reasonably locally and so last weekend we went down to view. Hubby has bought me six ewe lambs and we collect them the first week in October.

Anyone else have Herdys?

 

[Apercrumbie]

How exciting for you! I don't keep them myself but loved reading about them in A Shepherd's Life (interesting book if you haven't read it). I'm planning a trip to the Lakes in the spring so I can see the lovely lambs! Until recently I looked after a small home flock of Dartmoor sheep - great fun, if slightly mad beasts!

 

[Wimbles]

I have a couple of Herdwicks (Harriet and Hilda) that live with my Leicesters and Ryelands. They are brilliant characters but massively naughty and will find a way out of any field given half a chance!! Harriet has been known to find her way onto the cricket pitch despite everywhere being secure. I find them smarter and more defiant than other breeds but they make me smile everytime I look at them!

What are your plans for them?

 

[ester]

The lady who uses our field had some last year. They couldn't wait to get rid they were soo much trouble! The lady down the road was excited to get a fleece though. You do have more dogs though, 3/4 people and one dog took ages to get 10 of them loaded!
There is one remaining as she couldn't go to market because of maggots. She was a right rabble rowser to the rest this year!

 

[Moobli]

How exciting for you! I don't keep them myself but loved reading about them in A Shepherd's Life (interesting book if you haven't read it). I'm planning a trip to the Lakes in the spring so I can see the lovely lambs! Until recently I looked after a small home flock of Dartmoor sheep - great fun, if slightly mad beasts!

Thanks. I do have the book, and yes it's very interesting.

 

[Moobli]

I have a couple of Herdwicks (Harriet and Hilda) that live with my Leicesters and Ryelands. They are brilliant characters but massively naughty and will find a way out of any field given half a chance!! Harriet has been known to find her way onto the cricket pitch despite everywhere being secure. I find them smarter and more defiant than other breeds but they make me smile everytime I look at them!

What are your plans for them?

Thanks Wimbles, I think you have shared a photo of Harriet and Hilda before (gorgeous sheep!). They are going to be a hobby for me and my 9 year old son. We intend to winter them in the barn in an attempt to tame them a little and then have them as pets as much as anything. If son shows an interest in showing them then we might have a go at some local shows. So long as OH's employer doesn't mind, we might put them to a tup in a couple of years.

We have had a small flock before on the Estate but they came as older ewes straight off the fell in the Lakes and they were a nightmare to keep in. In fact they ended up having to go because they kept escaping on to the boss's rather posh manicured lawn!

 

[Moobli]

The lady who uses our field had some last year. They couldn't wait to get rid they were soo much trouble! The lady down the road was excited to get a fleece though. You do have more dogs though, 3/4 people and one dog took ages to get 10 of them loaded!
There is one remaining as she couldn't go to market because of maggots. She was a right rabble rowser to the rest this year!

they sound like fun! One of the main reasons we wanted newly speaned lambs was so they can be more easily tamed and hopefully we will soon have them running to a shake of the bucket ... but yes, we have ten sheepdogs so hopefully that should be enough to keep six Herdy lambs in check