What is the history of Lleyn Sheep?

Lleyn sheep originate from the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales. The fastest growing sheep breed in the UK. 1970's were classified a rare breed, the Lleyn has come to the forefront during the last 20 years. 

The Lleyn has continued to increase in numbers, with about half a million ewes found in 2012.  Half were mated pure and the rest to a variety of ram breeds.  Lleyn rams were mated to half a million ewes. 

The Lleyn is now the largest non-hill breed in Britain. Last 40 years the Lleyn breed has risen from a very small local Welsh breed to the largest non-hill purebred in Britain and the fourth largest non-hill ram breed.

What are the characteristics of Lleyn Sheep?

Hardy, prolific, with a relatively medium size, Lleyns provide low input and high output productivity, lambing percentages of 200% combined with good growth rates. 

She can be lambed indoors or out. The lively lambs have good wool cover at birth, enabling them to survive in commercial flocks under hard conditions. 

Suitable for crossing with terminal sire breeds to produce excellent quality lambs. Renowned for ease of lambing, mothering ability and longevity they are a suitable choice for the commercial farmer.

The Lleyn are renowned for their hardiness, prolificacy, easy lambing, docile, strong mothering instinct, milkiness and easy handling. 

The Lleyn ewe is a medium sized lowland sheep weighing around 75kg at maturity, resulting in good ewe/acre ratios.  

They are very economical to run over winter with minimal feed requirements. Lleyn ewes can raise lambs 1.5 - two times their own weight on poor ground, without any hard feeding.

Lleyn rams are an ideal way to inject maternal traits, fertility and hybrid vigour back into breeding ewes.

Lleyn rams also have become popular for crossing onto hill and lowland ewes to produce a quality prime lamb or to produce a Lleyn cross female replacement that carries the qualities of the Lleyn ewe.
They are suited to both upland and lowland grazing.

The Lleyn has a tight skin, with fine dense medium length wool.

What is the weight of a Mature Lleyn Sheep?

The average adult body weight of Lleyn ewes 65 - 75 kg and Lleyn rams 85 - 90kg.