Breeding at Blackhaugh

In the backend a group of sheep enthusiasts, as part of the Eurosheep project, visited Andrew Elliot’s Blackhaugh Farm, near Clovenfords in the Scottish Borders.

“Over the last 30 years we have simplified and consolidated our farming with the aim of evolving a profitable system of farming sheep,” started Andrew, who is the 7th generation to farm Blackhaugh

“Through a lifetime of trial, error and observation – common traits in sheep were identified, which I now think of as profit traits – sheep which were robust, resilient, fertile, moderate sized and maternal

“I believe in ‘population genetics’ –large numbers of breeding stock from which you then select the best or more often deselect the poorer end that fall out of the system

Cheviot gimmers from the Balnakeil flock in Sutherland come down country and are crossed with Easycare rams

He continued; “We first introduced wool shedding in 2002 and quickly recognised that this was reducing our work-load considerably allowing us to run more sheep – I firmly believe that wool shedding is part of the solution to profitable sheep farming “

Teasers were introduced to the Suffolk flock on the 24th October –about 90 Signet recorded ewes – and then to his son ’ s 15 Cheviots and tups went in on the 4th of November once they had sorted them into tupping groups

“In the commercial flock we run a 5 family system and ewes are marked and shed into these families for tupping and again at lambing and we move tups between families ”

Teasers went into the wool shedding flock on the 10th November for 12 days and the wool shedding tups were liberated on 21st November for 17 days.

There is not much action for the first 5 days - and then they are replaced by Suffolks for a second cycle It makes for a sharp short lambing, with very few in the second cycle. Only about 1% of the Easycare sheep require assisstance.

“We winter the ewes mainly on silage on rough areas, scan in mid-February and after that feed accordingly and as necessary Hopefully grass is coming in late March when nutritional demands ramp up at which point multiples are brought into the fields and moved around ”

The Elliots lamb Suffolks from April 1st inside, to allow for easier weighing and tagging, and wool shedders outside from April 16th – marking at about 1 month old – no tailing or castration just a family ear mark, drench and vaccination

“We rotationally graze grass – the aim is to graze in paddocks of 6 – 7 acres so we have planted quite a few hedges to split fields and provide shelter We put in 5 water systems, over 180 water troughs and use a lot of temporary electric fencing Generally we run approximately 250 ewes with twins in a mob and 350 singles The cows tidy up ”

“There is no shearing, apart from Suffolks, but there still seems plenty to do !?” laughed Andrew “We have eliminated many of the costs associated with wool by reducing time spent checking sheep, eliminating shearing, and reducing flystrike and dagging to a minimum ”

Lambs are weaned about 100 days –in early August. They are grazed on grass and about 125 stock ewe lambs are selected per family and the remainder of ewe lambs are sold for breeding in early September

“The best Wool shedding twin tup lambs are kept for breeding – replacing the 2 shear tups ,which are sold along with approximately 35 Suffolk shearlings on farm in mid-September

All the Suffolks are all are in the top 10% for Terminal Sire Index

“We started killing lambs at 38 kgs off grass then introduce to rape early October We have had issues with Yellowsis if they are put on the rape too early We shut them in the dark for 48 hours Last year the lambs averaged about 19 5kgs with mostly R grades with about the same number of Os as Us The aim is to sell all the lambs by mid-December

“Having had a challenging summer for grass growth we needed a ‘safety net’ and in mid-August, after drafting off the sale 5 year olds, we moved the majority of the stock ewes 30 miles east to a hill block. It has been a success and we plan to repeat this next year “

“Coming off the wagons the ewes were drenched with fluke & worm and with minerals, marked for families and shed into tupping groups

“We also have a herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle – using mostly American genetics we line up about 50 recipients annually for an embryo programme We use EBVs, ultrasonic scanning and genomics to aid selection with the aim to sell around 50 forage based bulls off farm each year They are very commercially orientated – all heifers calve at 2 year old and grow into moderate sized, thick, fleshy, easy calving, milky cows with great temperaments If they don’t fit the system they go for mince!”

“Generations of breeding, enhanced by embracing advances in modern technology, has allowed us to breed a herd delivering huge consistency and performance. We produce low cost, low maintenance stock, reared in commercial conditions on upland and hill farms, which can hold flesh well into the winter and slash feed costs ”

A classy portfolio of farm and country houses supplements the income at Blackhaugh and Balnakeil www elliothouses co uk