Black Welsh
Mountain Sheep
Black Welsh
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The Black Welsh Mountain breed, with its relative “easy-care” characteristics, is probably one of the most suitable breeds for the inexperienced potential shepherd. Top quality pure bred sheep can often be purchased at more affordable prices than sheep of comparable breeds.
These sheep are a small, hardy, and easily manageable breed. The rams can get up to 28" tall at the shoulder and weigh up to 125 pounds. The ewes can get up to 24" tall and weigh up to 90 pounds. The rams have two curled horns that can double or triple with age, while the ewes are polled.
The Black Welsh Mountain Sheep have a small wedge shaped head which is clean and wooless. The face does not have the "Patrician hump" like some of the other old English Breeds. Their legs are also wooless, straight and slender. Their shoulders are rounded and narrow. Their back should be level and straight and of moderate length. A unique breed trait is their long tails, which are left naturally undocked. Their skin is dark (if you can find it in the dense wool), and their hooves, eye-rims, and noses are blue-black. Another unique trait is the insides of their mouths. Their gums and tongues are blue-black. The breed is alert, so not easily taken by surprise, but are not skittish, Even the rams are docile and seldom aggressive, and the ewes nearly placid. They are intelligent and easy to handle.
The breed has well-proven characteristics of lambing, good mothering ability, abundant sweet meat, fast growth and self-reliance. Registered breeders in both the United Kingdom and the United States, have observed over many decades that the breed has an almost uncanny resistance to most sheep diseases, fly attack, and considerable in-built resistance to foot infections.
In the Middle Ages, the mutton of black-fleeced Welsh Mountain Sheep was prized for its richness and excellence. The black wool, which turns a cinnamon brown at the tips from sun-bleach, was known as ‘Cochddu’ (reddish brown, and was much sought-after by merchants for use in cloaks and outerwear.
Over 100 years ago Welsh Flockmasters began selecting black lambs with longer, finer black fleece from the Welsh Mountain Breed and carefully bred them to produce a pure and distinctive breed. The Black Welsh Mountain Sheep are the only sheep breed to stay completely black and not fade or gray throughout their life. Flocks of this breed are scattered throught the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States.
In 1972, Mr. Thomas Wyman of Wye Heights Plantation on Maryland's Eastern Shore, imported three rams and thirteen ewes to the United States. To date this was the only documented United States importation.
Black Welsh Mountain sheep have built-in efficiency. Because they are smaller and lighter boned than many other sheep breeds their maintenance requirement is lower. This means that more feed goes to producing carcass meat and there is more meat and less bone in the finished sheep. Furthermore, the breed can be kept at greater stocking densities than the majority of other breeds.
The breed produces ‘premium’ meat. The grain is close; the bone is light, with a very favorable meat to bone ratio. The small popular joints are full of succulent lean and with minimum of wasteful fat. The meat is close in texture, rich in color, full of value and of distinct flavor. The major proportion of the weight is in the more valuable joints.
The breed has strong, historical links with the Royal Smithfield Show which date back to the 1920’s. Many successes have been scored at this show - particularly in the carcass section.
The finished lambs of the pure breed average 30-38 lbs. carcass weight and so are well-suited to present day demand.
The ewes cross well with meat producing rams for fat lamb production.
Black Welsh Mountain wool is black, short, thick and firm to handle, and does not require dying. The wool spins easily and the yarn is good for knitting hats, mittens, outerwear sweaters, and blankets. Handspun yarn is suitable for weaving into cloth which is durable, light and warm. Blended or plied with good quality white or colored wool the Black Welsh Mountain wool can be turned into attractive checks and patterns.
If you want a coal black fleese then the sheep should be blanketed for a fleece that is always a natural black that you can get from no other breed of sheep in the world.
The USA, Canada and Japan have shown special interest in the wool for home spinning and weaving. The wool now commands it own grade by the Wool Marketing Board.
Wool clip averages 2-4 lbs per fleece.
When cured, the rich, deep-pile black fleeced skins are in demand as floor rugs and chair backs.
Breeding is usually started in October. Gestation is 5 months and lambing usually occurs February through April. The ewes lamb confidently in the open and mortality rates are very low under normal management. Lambing percentages are of the order of 150% per ewe throughout the registered flocks - selected flocks lamb at well over 200%. They have a very low lamb mortality rate and seldom require human intervention during lambing. The ewes are dedicated mothers and fiercely protective of their lambs. The lambs are born quite small (2 to 5 pounds), but are up quickly, ready to nurse. However, because of the small size of the lambs, precautions should be taken to protect the lambs from fox in particular and other sheep predators in general.
Hardiness and self-reliance is a major feature of the breed. Many hill flocks of the breed taste no food other than short, upland grass yet they react most favorable to improved, lowland management and feeding.
As profitable scavengers of rough, unploughable land and for parkland herbage control they stand second to none.
On lowland management, they tend to attain greater size of frame by generation and give heavier wool clips.
In addition to recognizing the well-proven characteristics of lambing, good-mothering, abundant sweet meat, fast growth and self-reliance, two most interesting and valuable attributes which registered breeders have observed over many decades:
North American Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Club
PMB 338
1672 Main Street, Suite E
Ramona, CA 92065
North American Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Registry
ATTN: Pat Hoctor
P.O. Box 99
Prairie Creek, Indiana 47869
The Secretary, Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Breeders Association,
Touchstone
3 Quarry Cottages
Bourton on the Hill
Moreton in Marsh
Glos. GL56 9AJ
Telephone: 01386.701538
Fax: 01386.701383
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