There were eight Herdwick tups in the field in front of the cottage in Hawkshead.
The farmers separate them from the ewes & come October, November they are put together & then magic happens & there are baby lambs around five months later.
These are big sheep with lovely curly horns & beautiful soft cream & brown wool.
The babies are born black & it is a hefted breed meaning they are bred to know by instinct the boundaries they live on the fells.
Out for drinks & nibbles next door but one so slacking in the commenting department.
Thank you in advance for all comments.
@julzmaioro It was a big thing when the sheep had to be culled during foot & mouth. As the instinct to stay in their area is bred from families, once that handed down instinct was lost it was disastrous for sheep farming in Cumbria. They reckon 40% of the sheep families were lost. Once the hefted sheep are gone it would be the end of the farms in the Lake District. Not sure how numbers recovered but plenty of sheep now around Lake District.
Interesting reading about Herdwick sheep - very unique in their own way both with wool and meat! Looks also like their horns have been depointed (not a word)!
