North Country Cheviot Sheep Society
NCC - Central to Commercial Breeding Enterprise
North Country Cheviot and commercial sheep breeder Bob King and family have long been turning out quality breeding stock for commercial markets.
A strong frame and good growing carcase are among attributes which have kept the North Country Cheviot Park type sheep in favour at Gospel Hall Farm, Jedburgh, for more than 50 years.
The breed has been registered under the Gospelhall prefix since 1959, not long after Bob King’s grandfather, Robert, came to the farm as a tenant in 1944, before the opportunity came to buy it in 1964.
The flock has grown gradually over the years, as the farm has been able to acquire more ground, to the 750-ewe North Country Cheviot Park type flock it is today. Comprising 65 hectares (160 acres) of owned land, plus a further 174ha (430 acres) of rented grass, most of the farm’s ground is permanent pasture used for grazing, aside from some 20ha (50 acres) of barley, 8ha (20 acres) of oats and 8ha (20 acres) of beans.
Day to day Bob runs the farm alongside his father, John, uncle, Jim, and nephew, Steven, as well as daughters, Lucy and Anna, who help at busy times of year. With a 50-ewe Suffolk flock, beef enterprise, shearing run and other contracting businesses run alongside the Cheviot flock, there is always plenty going on.
On the sheep side, the North Country Cheviot remains the heart of the enterprise.
Home-bred
The 750-ewe flock is made up of mostly home-bred females, with numbers having built up gradually from home-bred replacements over the years alongside some bought-in ewe lambs on occasions. Their best 250 North County Cheviot ewes are bred pure to breed flock replacements and sale tups, with the remaining 500 put to the Bluefaced Leicester to breed Cheviot Mule ewe lambs which are all marketed at Longtown at the end of August.
It is a breed well-suited to producing for both avenues, explains Bob, which suits the farm business. He says: “The Cheviot ewes are capable of producing strong, well framed lambs which grow well on the kind of ground we have, but they also cross very well. The Cheviot Mule ewe lambs can produce a fantastic growing carcase when crossed with a terminal sire.”
Some 12 to 15 North Country Cheviot shearling tups are also typically offered for sale at Lockerbie and Longtown markets each year, with last year’s Lockerbie draft being particularly memorable. The flock achieved its best price to date of £3,500 at Lockerbie for a Shoestanes bred tup which sold to Scott Davies at North Synton, Selkirk. Another Philliphaugh Wildone-sired tup also sold for £1,800 at the same sale
Other North Country Cheviot sires which have bred well for the flock in recent years are Synton Magner, Pengroes Nugget and Allanshaws Rob Roy.
They also had a good trade with last year’s (2021) Cheviot Mule ewe lambs, achieving their best average to date of £144 for the 330/head sold, which was up £7 on the year. Gospelhall also markets Suffolk and Suffolk cross Beltex tups at Kelso ram sales.
Between 180 and 200 North Country Cheviot replacements are retained annually, the only bought-in sheep on the farm being tups with one or two North Country Cheviots bought each year
Tups go out in mid to late October for lambing from March 20, all indoors, with pure-bred Cheviot ewes typically scanning at 180 per cent and crosses at 170. Triplet scanned ewes are brought in straight after scanning and twins, depending on the weather, slightly later.
Lambing
Bob says: “It can get pretty wet here as we get into autumn and winter and with the ground being heavy it does get saturated if sheep stay out too long. Twins will come in then as soon as we can if the weather turns and we get a bad spell after scanning.
“We lamb from March 20 to give the Cheviot Mule ewe lambs a good start ahead of the sale at the end of August, even this just gives about 19 weeks between lambing and selling them. You can get caught either way with the weather, it can be better earlier than at the end of April or the other way, it just depends on the year.”
Pure-bred males not selected as breeders, together with Cheviot Mule wether lambs, are all finished and sold through the ring at St Boswells.
Grass
Bob says: “We generally start to get lambs away from the beginning of August and would expect to have the bulk off grass. A home-grown oat and concentrate mix might be offered to those we have left from mid-October depending on grass availability and the weather.
A 40-cow Limousin cross suckler herd makes up the beef suckler herd, which are put back to a Limousin bull, while some 25 heifers are also bought in annually, bulled and then sold
with calves at foot at either St Boswells or Stirling.
Ultimately the North Country Cheviot is a breed that suits the farm and system.
Bob says: “What you see is what you get with the Cheviot Mules, and they are generally in good demand among commercial sheep producers.
Contact Details
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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