There have been sheep at Arlington for many years and our existing Jacob flock are descendants of Miss Chichesters own sheep that she gave to the NT when she gave Arlington in 1949. At present we have 63 breeding ewes all of which are pedigree Jacobs. We mated them in November to two of our rams. The legend Dirk the Dorset ram got most of the ewes. The idea is that Dorset cross lambs fatten a lot faster than pure Jacob lambs.
Ken our Pure Jacob ram got the rest and the few lambs produced by this small number of ewes should give us enough pure Jacob ewe lambs to replace some of our older ewes. This means we do not have to buy any in. Ken has been with us for several years so we have just purchased a new ram to replace him.
Usain is our new ram from the Dalewode flock in East Devon. Its a very good flock with many champions so we are looking forward to some excellent lambs in 2014.
The sheep are used to graze in the park and some of the smaller grasslands around the estate. They keep the sward open and will eat some of the bramble. Sheep are a little un-selective in the way they graze meaning that they can graze out wild flowers if not carefully managed.
Murray Sharpe Outdoor Manager.
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| Usain |
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Ken |
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| Dirk |
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