Romney Marsh Sheep are a semi long-wool sheep breed which originate from England. The natural black, gray, silver and brown colors of the natural colored Romneys are frequently among the most sought after fleeces at shows and sales. Around half of our ewes are natural color and we strive to breed for the silver color fleece which has become so coveted by weavers. The wool covers its head but leaves it wide face clean which is covered by a fine white hair emphasizing their black noses. The Romney, historically a dual purpose breed, remains so today, and is found in every type of farming environment. We are currently searching for additional photographs, slides or video of this breed. We use a grass/alfalfa mix or 1st cutting alfalfa at the very most with 2nd or 3rd cutting alfalfa generally being considered too rich for the sheep and mostly avoided. This spring we also added a mason bee box to this pasture (with the intent of helping increase plant pollination within both pastures as well as our garden) and two bluebird boxes were mounted to a couple of the fence posts. They are thought to have become indigenous to the Romney Marsh area of Kent and East Sussex sometime in the 13th Century. A pink nose should be considered a disqualification in any color Romney. We fell in love with their short, cute build as well as the wide variety of fleece colors which could be found within the breed. Henry Fell, in Intensive Sheep Management posits that the Romney is, “A breed which ha[s] all the virtues save one, that of prolificacy… will thrive happily at extraordinary densities and seems to enjoy it.” A number of large Romney flocks in New Zealand have in the last several decades achieved better than 1.7 lambs for every ewe exposed to the ram, showing much better prolificacy than Fell had observed in England. We’ve tried adding HDR Meadow Fescue to some of the wet areas but we’ve found it’s not a particularly productive grass. The Romney Marsh is a fertile piece of low-lying wetland which lies on the south-east corner of Britain. Romneys come in an assortment of colors: very white, cream, or a variety of blue greys, charcoals, very light greys, very black, and even an occasional brown. It is the low grease content of Romney wool that makes it a very light shrinking fleece upon washing, and consequently high yielding with a range in yield from 65 to 80%. Newborn lambs typically weigh 7-10 lbs at birth while adult sizes range from 175-200 lbs for ewes and 200-250 lbs for rams after approximately 18 months of maturation. We try to cull out any stock which we deem to be “excessively vocal” as we don’t want sheep which do nothing more than sit around the pasture bleating all day long unprovoked and we also remove any unusually aggressive and temperamental animals from the breeding flock as well. However as we got more into the livestock husbandry end of things we then began experimenting with fiber stock sheep. Electric is the most cost effective way to go, and perhaps the most predator-proof, but for us wasn’t an option at the time that we put our pastures in. Later on in the 20th Century the breed had to compete heavily with mainland European breeds which were being imported into England. dogs may put on it. Most enthusiasts offer various  assortments of grain and hay to supplement their diet, especially in the winter time. The American Romney Breeders Association was founded in 1912 by Joe Wing, a world traveler and a great judge of sheep. All of our stock are ARBA registered and all lambs we produce are sold registered and up to date on all vaccinations. Some of the grasses came up but much of it was either drowned out by the water or shaded too heavily by the White Clover and Chicory which were present in the mix. We will give regular updates in the future on the long-term success of our ever changing pasture management system as much trial and error is likely to continue. Ewes are very protective of their lambs but overall Romneys usually take well to livestock guardian dogs. With a heritage that goes back nearly 800 years, they are generally regarded as being one of the oldest long-tailed sheep breeds in Europe. A handspinning-quality fleece may often sell for three to ten times what a commercial buyer would pay for it. Please mail your original copies with our email form A handspinning-quality fleece may often sell for three to ten times what a commercial buyer would pay for it. 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