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A bit more about the Webb Ellis flock
About the Webb Ellis Flock
There are currently c. 75 ewes in the Webb Ellis flock. These are reared (alongside) the Heritage flock on 25 acres of lowland grassland receiving c. 100kgN/ha with additional summer grazing on c. 25 acres of poor quality countryside stewardship (see left). The pedigree sheep are the only enterprise on the farm. Having in my post college days worked as a weight recorder for the MLC in the West Country I was keen to performance record and this has been a key part of my approach to sheep breeding.
Origins
I started the Webb Ellis flock in 2008 with the purchase of three (see right), I now realise, very traditional ewes from Lindsay Dane's Great Fen flock. I had a near perfect (200%) lambing experience not yet repeated!
However as I got my "Southdown-eye" in, started performance recording and acquired more land I bought in stock mostly from the East Dean and Heathgate flocks though other flocks have also provided some useful breeding lines.
Current Sires and Breeding
Performance recording is a key element in my stock selection for the Webb Ellis flock, I am less interested - within reason - in the cosmetics. So my choice of rams has been focussed primarily on their performance with particular emphasis on muscle depth although I am also interested - within the flock - in maternal ability.
Current Stock Rams
- Lawton Bobby a wide and well muscled ram
- East Dean Watch Out a good solid all rounder
- Webb Ellis Mallet (pictured) a well muscled home bred ram
- Webb Ellis Stuart a long leggy fast growing son of Garth Iva
New for 2024
- East Dean Bogart -a well muscled ram bought as back up
- Andersey Garth F99 - extremely well muscled High EBV
Why use a Southdown
The Southdown is a Terminal Sire breed that was bred as a crossing sire for meat production on lowland commercial flocks so what matters for the commercial Southdown is muscle and to a certain extent size, growth rate and finishing. The latter three are important as bigger sheep grow faster, end up bigger (what a surprise) and finish later and if only big sheep is your game then Suffolks and Texels etc should be the breed of choice. However, the Southdown, as one of the smaller terminal sire breeds, has a place for use on ewe lambs, first time lambers, old girls and early finishing flocks
Why Webb Ellis?
One of my great pleasures in life is rugby union.
As a second row forward I have seen a lot of prop forwards' big bums and hairy legs and the Southdown tup's rear view is very reminiscent of these. So when thinking of a suitable flock name I chose Webb Ellis as William Webb Ellis was accredited with starting the great game.
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Early Southdown Memories
I bought my first Southdowns from top breeder Sheila Colman (Steepdown flock) in 1980 while I was on my sandwich year out from Seale Hayne Agricultural College in Devon and working on a farm in Surrey not far from Sheila. My parents, who had relocated from Kent, were farming on the edge of Dartmoor. I delivered the ram one weekend on a dawn run down the A303 with my Steepdown ram in the back of my bronze Simca hatchback!
My thinking was that the Southdown with its early finishing would be ideal for getting some lambs away early especially, as in spite of 60'' per annum rain, our thin sandy soils dried out quickly. We also used Suffolk, Dorset and Texel tups. My parents gave up farming in the late 80s and I had little connection with sheep until 2007/2008 when the hankering got too strong and I was fed up with mowing our not quite one acre paddock.
Even Earlier Southdown Memories
I come from a farming family and am technically a fourth generation farmer, though I think my earliest predecessors would probably have thought of themselves as "landowners". Anyway, a few years ago I was amused to discover in the 1903 Flock Book that my great-grandfather had had a flock of Southdowns at Yaldham Manor in Kent (My family lived there for about 25 years). There were no flock names then but they were listed as flock 194 according to the numbering system then in use. Apparently the flock was founded in 1892 and in 1903 consisted of 78 ewes and was using two Sandringham rams bought from His Majesty's flock!