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Research Theme: the Life of Shepherds and Sheep Farmers CULTURE AND NATURE: THE EUROPEAN HERITAGE OF SHEEP FARMING AND PASTORAL LIFE RESEARCH THEME: THE LIFE OF SHEPHERDS AND SHEEP FARMERS RESEARCH REPORT FOR THE UK By Gemma Bell and Simon Bell Estonian University of Life Sciences November 2011 The CANEPAL project is co-funded by the European Commission, Directorate General Education and Culture, CULTURE 2007-2013.Project no: 508090-CU-1-2010-1-HU-CULTURE-VOL11 This report reflects the authors’ view and the Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein 1. INTRODUCTION Since the agricultural revolution, the reorganisation of land use patterns, the Highland clearances (when most people in the Scottish Highlands were removed from the land and replaced by sheep flocks) sheep farming has become a branch of “normal” farming with resident farmers and employed shepherds. Since the land used for sheep farming is normally spatially connected to the farmstead and since also the sheep breeds are hardy and stay outside all year round there is no need to move them long distances to summer pastures or for shepherds to tend them and stay away from home. Thus the kind of activities and the life of shepherds found in some European countries have no place in Britain. However, that is not to say that the life of a sheep farmer is easy and that it may not be a solitary and lonely occupation set in a remote hill region. Sheep farming in the UK can be divided generally between upland and lowland activities. Upland farmers normally breed sheep and sell the lambs to lowland farmers for “finishing”, that is fattened up to the optimum weight for slaughter. Lowland farmers may also have their own flocks of different breeds. Upland farmers usually have a mixture of enclosed fields of pasture, meadow or arable land (so- called “inbye”) with a larger area or moorland, mountain or fell upon which the sheep graze year round, being brought into the inbye for mating, lambing, weaning, shearing, dipping and other routine activities. These together with regular checking of the flocks to see that they are alright and that no sheep-stealing has taken place or deaths occurred and so on are the activities that define the sheep farmer and shepherd’s year and they also require the gathering, counting, checking of the flock in from the moor, fell or mountain, a time consuming activity that requires fitness, tolerance of often appalling weather such as driving rain or snow or heat and flies and the use of sheep dogs and quad bikes. Sheep farming is a solitary rather than a communal activity and the opportunities for a social life and to share stories, to catch up on events and to be involved in activities together with other sheep farmers range from going to the local pub on an evening (if there is one) or weekend, attending national, regional or local agricultural shows or events held by sheep breeding societies and, for the younger generation, participating in Young Farmers’ Clubs. 2. The sheep farmer’s year In the uplands of Britain lambing should be in the spring to avoid the worst weather so the cycle of the sheep farmer’s year can be summarised in this way (an example for the Herdwick sheep from the Lake District) • Tups loosed with the ewes on the inbye (valley bottom land) in late November. • Around Christmas ewes returned to the fell, where they stay probably without additional feed until April. • April-May: ewes lamb on the inbye. Ewes with single lambs put to the fell in May. Ewes with twin lambs kept on the inbye until after clipping time. • July- August: all sheep clipped, starting with the geld sheep : i.e. sheep without lambs. • September: lambs weaned from their mothers. Ewes returned to the fell if they remain fit for the purpose where they wait for tup time to come again. If they are too old to return to the fell they are either retained on the low ground of the farm for further breeding with a crossing tup (often a Texel, Suffolk or perhaps a Cheviot) or they are sold as draft ewes to lowland farmers for the same purpose. • October: wether (castrated male) lambs are either sold ‘store’ to lowland farmers to fatten or are sometimes fed on their own farms to fatten sometime before their first birthday. • November: gimmer (ewe) lambs -the female breeding stock of the future- are sent away to winter on lowland farms. They return to their home farms and are put to the fell in the spring to find the ‘heaf’ where they suckled their mothers as lambs and where they are now ‘heafed’ and will in turn rear their own lambs. The last aspect may not take place in other areas where the gimmers go out for the winter along with the rest of the flock. 2.1 Mating (Tupping) Each farm will have a number of rams or tups which live on the inbye all year round and may run with the wethers (castrated male lams). In November the sheep are brought in for tupping. In order to be sure which ewes have been mated and which not the rams may be fitted with a special harness which has a dye block attached to it to mark the rumps of the ewes. Once this task has been accomplished the ewes can go back out on the moor or fell. Nowadays it is possible and common to use ultrasound scanning to test if a ewe is pregnant and if she has a single foetus, twins or even triplets so that the ewes can be treated separately if necessary, especially when it comes near lambing time, for instance if ewes with twins need extra feed supplements to keep them healthy. This scanning is a valuable tool for helping the farmer predict his likely lambing success and also for planning feed requirements. Some farmers are keen breeders of their specific breeds and can make extra income from breeding high quality rams to sell to other farmers to keep the breed quality high, so ram or tup sales are held each year for this purpose and a good ram can fetch a high price. A Swaledale ram with the characteristic curly horns ready to mate with the ewes 2.2 Overwintering While the hardy hefted hill sheep live out on the moor, fell or mountain all winter, they need to be checked and possibly given hay to supplement their diet, depending on the availability of food supplies on the hill. In the more severe winter weather sheep may be trapped in snowdrifts or by deep snow so they must be checked and given extra food rations. This is potentially hard work taking hay out to them, possibly also some other feed supplement. Nowadays 4x4 vehicles in general and quad bikes in particular are essential for reaching these places and delivering food. They have made the life of a shepherd significantly easier. Swaledale sheep in the snow on the North Yoork Moors after being fed with hay to supplement their diet. 2.3 Lambing Once spring comes the sheep are ready to lamb and must be brought down from the hills and separated into those in lamb and those not. While it is normal for lambing to take place outdoors in a field, if the spring is especially wet and cold this can lead to too many deaths of the new lambs so bringing the ewes indoors into a lambing shed can help. The farmer must make regular rounds and may need to help a ewe to lamb, especially if she is a hogg – a year old ewe in lamb for the first time. This can be an especially tiring time for the farmer or shepherd as the ewes may give birth at any time of day or night. Sometimes the baby lambs can be attacked by crows and their eyes pecked out so this must also be avoided. In lamb ewes (Swaledale and Cheviot) being fed a supplement before lambing in the late winter-early spring Lambing time in the Lake District, in late April when the leaves are already on the trees and the grass is growing A herdwick ewe with a single lamb – note the black colour to start with. Once the lambs are big enough and the lower fields must be allowed to grow grass for hay or to recover the pasture the flock is turned out onto the moor or fell. The lambs soon develop and can keep up with their mothers although they can be prone to pests such as ticks which will need preventative treatment 2.4 Shearing The next big task of the summer is sheep shearing, when the heavy fleece is clipped from the sheep. In order to gather them in again for shearing (and for any other reason) it is common to use sheepdogs, the Border collie being one of the preferred breeds for this, used singly or in pairs. These are highly trained and can be given instructions either by voice or by whistles (which carry over longer distances. This means that the shsepherd need not walk so far to round up sheep scattered widely across an expanse of moor land. Working a sheepdog on the North Yoork Moors, sending him out to get round a small group and then herd them towards the shepherd(ess). Shearing used to be carried out by hand using a design of shears that dates back to Roman times or before. Nowadays electric shearing machines are used which are much quicker.
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