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Northumberland farms swaps traditional flock for Innovis bred Cheviots

2025, Aberfield, Abertex, Innovis Cheviot

with thanks to Dan Herdman and his father, Michael, Blanchland, Northumberland

 

Challenged to find a sheep breed that would not only survive but also perform efficiently in a hard hill regen system and Dan Herdman says he is successfully swapping his family’s traditional hill flock for Innovis bred Cheviots.

“Both these Cheviot store and finished lambs are ready to market up to four weeks earlier and cull Cheviot ewes are selling for almost twice as much as our traditional horned ewes,” he explains. “Furthermore, they’re helping us to simplify the system and reduce labour together with both fixed and variable costs.”

“This season for the first time we’ve lambed the entire flock outdoors within three weeks. We try not to interfere. The Cheviots lamb themselves and the tups are leaving vigorous lambs so checking them three times a day is enough. The ewes seem to have plenty of milk and they do look after their lambs slightly better compared with the horned ewes which tended to walk away and leave them behind.

“Lambing used to be a two-person job, however with Dad cutting back I can now manage most of it myself. The new outdoor system has also enabled us to halve the concentrate we used to feed and we’re targeting another similar reduction to the amount fed to ewes housed for the eight weeks after we bring them in after scanning and turn out pre lambing in mid-April.”

We were introducing a regen system and realised we needed to focus on finding a sheep that would work best…

The Herdmans used to run a traditional flock of Northumberland Blackface and Mules until 2020. “We were introducing a regen system and realised we needed to focus on finding a sheep that would work best, particularly since we’re aware that the maternal genetics we’re currently selecting would have an impact on the flock for the next 10 years.

“We initially dipped our toe in to the Innovis gene pool in 2017 swapping Texel tups for two Abertex meat sires, one of which is still working. We then invested in Aberfield rams with a view to grading up the entire flock; these Aberfield crosses worked well on the hill, they held their condition but we decided we wanted to further simplify the system and run just one mob of ewes instead of three or four.

“We’d had experience of Cheviot tups bought locally. However, we then became aware that Innovis had started to breed performance recorded Cheviots selected for proper commercial production traits to suit a hill unit like ours. We subsequently decided to go down that route and invested in four tups.

“In comparison, when we used to buy tups out of the mart, we really didn’t know what we were bringing home and we didn’t have the trust like we have in Innovis – we’re building a long term relationship with them. If there is an issue with a ram, then they immediately sort it.”

He continues: “I’m very particular in the rams I’m selecting and EBVs are a really useful a tool. I want a ewe that can hold her body condition in BCS 2.5 to 3.0, 365 days of the year without any concentrate. However, it’s a bit of a juggling act; vigorous lambs, milk and motherability – the basics are essential too.”

While Dan admits its early days building a future flock, he’s got that confidence he’s heading in the right direction. “By the time we wean at 100 days, lambs have started to reach 38kg to 42kg target finished weight, predominantly from 250 acres rough grazing and improved land. Overall 20% to 30% reach finishing before we start to privately sell the remaining crop store in three lots through September and October. By then the ewes have gone up to the heather, and we introduce the tups currently in a one to 80 ratio, however I wouldn’t be afraid to go to one to 100 ewes.”

He adds: “Developing a regen system certainly puts pressure on the unit, however we believe we have a solution in Innovis bred Cheviots – we’re happy we found these genetics; they fit.”

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