Clay Farm Partnership

Beech Hay Border Leicesters

We first bought our Border Leicester flock on something of a whim. A whole flock had been advertised for some weeks and out of curiosity and the desire for something different we went to see them. Having seen them, their type, nature and general appearance, we decided to buy them all. There were a mixture of lambs and ewes of all ages.

Since having them at Clay Farm, we have learnt a great deal about the breed, its idiosyncrasies and the requirements of the individual animals. This has lead to us being radical in our selection and breeding. We have selected the females that produce the best lambs, carry their flesh most readily and have the best conformation.

We have selected three females by Glenside Golden Eye and one by Knowsie Boomerang, and this is by selection on results not breeding. These females are strong bodied, with robust constitution. Two lesser females have been retained and crossed with the Zwartbles ram and we await the first offspring of the cross in 2008.

All of our purebred females have been sold each year and some of the better males have been sold as ram lambs for cross-breeding. So far all of the lesser males have been sold as stores directly from grass.

All of our sheep are Maedi Visna accredited and vaccinated with Heptavac P annually. Any unexplained loss is investigated and abortion and stillbirths are sent to the Veterinary Laboratories Agency. Currently, the few we have had, have been Enzootic Abortion and Toxoplasmosis free.

We regularly have quality males and females For Sale.