North Country Cheviot Sheep Society
One thing that can cause some confusion with people who are new to the North Country Cheviot is that there are two different varieties of the sheep – the Park type and the Hill type.
Although both are very much hill sheep, capable of thriving and producing quality lambs on high, exposed, marginal grown, there are some slight differences between them that might mean one or other will suit your breeding programme best.
Head and Face - White, well covered with fine hair, free from blueness or brown. Ears, of fine length and thickness, well covered with white hair, and coming out from the head at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the horizontal with good width between. Nose, straight to slightly roman. Good width between eyes, broad muzzle, and wide, black nostril well open. Head, long, with deep undertow. Eyes, dark, fairly big, bright and alert. Wool well up to back of cheeks and under throat and to back of ears but not between. The male is sometimes horned, but the horn must be free from blackness.
Neck - Strong, big at base, well set in at shoulders and of medium length
Breast -Deep and wide.
Body - Long, deep and wide. Back, straight with good width between shoulder blades and no falling off or slackness behind them. Belly and flanks well covered with wool. Ribs well sprung. Tail, broad and well woolled.
Legs - White. Of fair length, set well apart and coming down straight from the four corners of the body, with strong flat bone and well defined hocks. Hooves, black and of good strength.
Wool - White, of good staple, free from curl, hair or kemp. Not hard, but has a spongy feeling when grasped.
The Hill type (sometimes also referred to as The Lairg type) North Country Cheviot is a hill (mountain) sheep with every fibre of its being.
Developed on the rugged hills of Sutherland, the Hill type ewe is at home in the harshest of environments, will lamb outdoors and raise two lambs on hill top without making a fuss.
Although slightly smaller than the Park variety, the North Country Cheviot Hill type is the UK’s largest hill sheep producing quality lambs with fantastic confirmation, vigour, and health. Although having been refined by top breeders across the years, she is still everything a true hill breed should be and to this day is bred with hardiness and commercial considerations in mind.
Draft ewes are valued for their longevity. Often sold at around five years of age, they regularly go on to produce two, three or even four crops on lambs on lower land.
The North Country Cheviot Park type was developed on rich and fertile ground of Caithness and as a result, is slightly larger and heavier than the Hill type. It passes this on to its progeny either as a pure bred or cross, generating an uplift in price at the auction mart for prime & store lambs.
Still very much a hill sheep and known for its hardiness and vigour, the Park type is at home on slightly lower ground than the Hill type, although they still thrive in some of the wildest and most remote places in the UK.
The Park ewe will lamb outside with very little interventions needed and will happily raise healthy lambs on the hillside.
As with the Hill type, the North Country Cheviot Park type ewe is greatly valued as a draft ewe and will go on to produce two, three, or four crops of lambs on lowland farms, meaning by the end of her working life, she may have produced as many as eight or nine crops of lambs.
Head and Face - White, well covered with fine hair, free from blueness or brown. Ears, of fine length and thickness, well covered with white hair, and coming out from the head at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the horizontal with good width between. Nose, straight to slightly roman. Good width between eyes, broad muzzle, and wide, black nostril well open. Head, long, with deep undertow. Eyes, dark, fairly big, bright and alert. Wool well up to back of cheeks and under throat and to back of ears but not between. The male is sometimes horned, but the horn must be free from blackness.
Neck - Strong, big at base, well set in at shoulders and of medium length
Breast -Deep and wide.
Body - Long, deep and wide. Back, straight with good width between shoulder blades and no falling off or slackness behind them. Belly and flanks well covered with wool. Ribs well sprung. Tail, broad and well woolled.
Legs - White. Of fair length, set well apart and coming down straight from the four corners of the body, with strong flat bone and well defined hocks. Hooves, black and of good strength.
Wool - White, of good staple, free from curl, hair or kemp. Not hard, but has a spongy feeling when grasped.
For all North Country Cheviot Sheep Society enquiries please contact our secretary:
Corinna Cowin
Mobile: 07834817710
E-mail: secretary@nc-cheviot.co.uk
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