Clun Forest sheep at Oakwood Grange
We bought our first Clun Forest rams in the mid 1980s and established our purebred flock in 1996. Now our flock is made up of around 75 to 80 registered breeding ewes.
The origins of the Clun Forest breed
Clun Forest sheep originate from the low hill area bordering the Clun Forest region of Wales and England. Cluns are well known as a hardy “low hill” sheep, capable of producing a good crop of lambs, 165% and higher. ……….. Similar to some other hill breeds, they have maintained the true characteristics of a productive ewe, that of having a terrific mothering ability, good milk supply and an ability to lamb un-assisted. A Clun ewe is a hardy and resilient sheep, producing a quality lamb for the butcher market. In a cross-breeding program they add many positive characteristics needed in a profitable sheep operation.
Clun Forest sheep in Western Canada
There are some similarities in the environments, although it's hard to believe. As I mentioned, the Clun comes from the low hill region of the Welsh Borders and is a hardy breed, well able to cope with the tough climates of the hill areas and also the cold climates found across Canada. Actually, when I look back to my early days working as a shepherd on the Black Mountains of Wales, the cold and wet that both the shepherd and the sheep had to endure were far tougher there than the dry cold of western Canada. The cold on the prairies, as long as the stock have some shelter from the wind, is nothing like as bad as the temperatures would suggest.
Clun Forest sheep have been in Canada for close to 40 years, it's only in the past 15 years or so that the Clun has found its way onto the sheep farms on the prairies. Since the first Clun Forests came to this region, they have been working hard on many different sheep farms, from Manitoba through Saskatchewan and then into Alberta. Their strong characteristics of easy lambing, vigorous lambs and hardy, easy keeping crossbred ewes have proven their place across this vast agricultural land. The Clun Forest breed has found great popularity among a growing group of Prairie shepherds. They are ideal for pasture lambing, using them on ewe lambs and in almost any crossbred program.
Look in the sheep sub menu for Clun Forest Photos to find out more detail about the Clun Forest breed
and how this breed can work for you.
Or click on the photo below to find out more about our Clun Forest flock at Oakwood Grange
How I got into using Clun Forest rams
Since my first experience at lambing, some 40 plus years ago, I’ve had the chance to work with all sorts of different breeds. Some have been the likes of the lowland breeds of the Southdown, Suffolk and Dorset.
In contrast I’ve worked with some of the hill breeds, in particular, the Cheviot, the Welsh Mountain breed (and, of-course, the Clun Forest breed.) All of these breeds are typical of the more mountainous / hill regions in Britain. They all have their value in their own environments.
In the early 1980s we were farming on the North Shore of Nova Scotia, lambing out around about 500 cross bred commercial ewes each year. Of these 500 plus ewes, about 100 would have been ewe lambs. Up until this time we had tried several different breeds of rams on our ewe lambs but we never had the results that we had hoped for. One year, 1983 I believe, and a few months after we had finished our final lambing of the season, a friend came for a visit. After telling him of our sorrowful story of lambing out our flock of ewe lambs he told me to take a visit to see Angus Rouse near Truro, and “buy yourself a Clun Forest ram”, he said. And that was the beginning of more than 25 years involvement with this grand breed of sheep.
To see more photos of our Clun Forest sheep
click on photo below....
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Our Clun Forest flock
Clun Forest ewes in winter. Clun sheep are a hardy breed and easily thrive in our long and cold prairie winters. Although my flock has the opportunity of a covered shed, they are wintered outside, seldom found avoiding what nature has to offer. I have kept cattle for nearly 40 years and in my experience the Clun breed mirrors the characteristics of the Angus breed. They are hardy, good mothers and adapt to their environment . As with the Angus, they aren't the fastest performing but the end result is equally satisfying.
Lambing time. Clun Forest ewes are truly exceptional mothers. Their sprightly lambs have small heads, sleek bodies and rarely cause difficulties at lambing, even when a clun ram is used on any breed of sheep. These four week old Clun Forest and Clun Forest cross Suffolk lambs are thrifty and will contiue to grow whether on grass or in a more confined environment.
Strong, solid 3 week old Clun Forest lambs
Clun Forest sheep have a good quality of wool. Nothing like a Shetland sheep but it's still valuable as a finished product. Here's some of my wool after lots of hard work and effort. 100% Clun wool.
Early August, April born Clun Forest lambs with their mothers. It looks like they have oodles of grass to grow on but this was a photo op day and I brought all of the ewes and lambs into this small one acre paddock so as to take some pictures. There are lots more of these pictures that I took this day if you go to the Clun Forest Photos sub menu page. You'll see some great lambs, almost equal in structure as their mums. They are an amazing breed! We have an annual offering of both Clun Forest ram lambs and also Clun Forest cross Suffolk ewe lambs.
Clun Forest ram lambs grazing in paddock by the house. These are a small group of April born lambs grazing in the paddock by our house in early September. If you go to the Clun Forest photos page in the sub menu, you will get to see lots of different pictures of lambs at different stages of the summer and fall. It should give you a good idea of what you can expect from using a Clun Forest in your flock.
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