Devonshire Longwools

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Devonshire Longwools are not yet able to be classified as an official breed as we're only coming up to our third year of breeding them.

DEFRA requires five years of records before they will consider accepting them as a British breed.

However, our initial efforts are proving to be exactly what we set out for when crossing Bluefaced Leicesters with the Devon and Cornwall Longwools.

For example, Wydra Horatio (above) is one of three shearling rams left from the original crop of Devonshire Longwools born here.

He has a beautiful, rugged head, and although he wears a permanent scowl, he has one of the nicest temperaments.

For meat purposes, the Devonshire has the length of the Leicester, while taking on the depth and width of the Longwool. They are well muscled and grow quickly; they have the added benefit of being born with an excellent covering of fleece, ideal for outdoor lambing.

On the fleece side, it grows fast and is very heavy. The staple is 8-12" long, carrying the Longwool length while adding the Leicester finery. The hairlike quality of the Longwool is lessened through the lock, but the fleece can be felted near the skin, making them ideal for felt-backed sheepskin rugs.

Part of submitting the Devonshire Longwool to DEFRA will include assembling a breed standard to which all future Devonshire sheep will be held accountable.

Both shearling tups pictured above (Wydra Horatio on the left; Wydra Hamlet on the right) fit the bill for our idea of what the tups should look like down the line.

The funny thing is, is both tups are differently bred.

Horatio is by Anchor N3 (BLF) out of a Devon and Cornwall ewe, while Hamlet is by Sunbeck Barnabus (DCL) out of a Bluefaced Leicester ewe.

While they both fit the bill, there is a big difference in their head style - Horatio is rugged yet Hamlet is definitely more feminine.

Both retain impeccable temperaments.

Horatio has been naturally friendly since birth, but Hamlet took a lot of persuading; we first bonded during his halter training/shearing day in August.

We have discovered that some of the Devonshire sheep are developing faint markings on their legs and faces as they get older - potentially from using the Crossing type BFL, however the Longwools do have some pale brown markings at birth.

Personally, I'd like to see this allowable in the breed standard as I think markings will set the breed apart from similar stamps of Longwools such as the beautiful Lincoln Longwool.