The Welsh Mule prospers in Northampton

The family run farm of E.M Eaton and Son at Sulby Lodge, Welford, Northamptonshire have been buying yearling ewes at the Welsh Mule Sheep Breeders Association's sales for ten years. The all grass farm consists of 170 acres of owned land and 30 acres rented.

The Welsh Mule flock consists of 230 ewes that are put to a Texel ram. They are lambed in two batches along with other breeds of sheep giving a total flock to 340 ewes. The first batch is lambed in late February and the lambs are creep fed to try and achieve a good price at the end of May. The second group produces lambs in late March and the lambs are all grass finished by Christmas.

Mr Eaton does not scan his ewes but believes in good feeding to counter-act any problems; this means that the ewes carrying singles are in good order to allow Mr Eaton to foster any triplet lambs.

The ewes are fed sugar beet pellets, initially at about 7 weeks pre-lambing and are gradually changed onto a 17% protein blend. They start on half a pound per day and are built up gradually to 2lbs per day at point of lambing. Once the ration exceeds 1lb per ewe per day, Mr Eaton splits feeding into 2 feeds to maximise the feed potential.

The ewes are wintered outside with no extra forage. At lambing time they are inside at night and out in the day. The work is shared by Mr Eaton and his wife with help from their daughter and son at busy times. By the middle of May last year, the Welsh Mule flock had 443 live lambs at foot.

Lambs are marketed deadweight through Elliot's of Chesterfield. 60-65% of Mr Elliot's lambs hit the 'U' grade conformation with a few 'E's' and the remainder in the 'R' category. To achieve these better conformation grades Mr Eaton finds he can take his lambs to 20-22kgs with a fat class of 2, 3L or 3H without any penalty whilst maximising the growth potential of the progeny of the Welsh Mule.

The farm also carries 100 cattle mainly Charolais and Limousines, bought in as stores at around 12-18 months and finished on the farm.

Mr Eaton likes to take 4 crops out of his ewes, leaving him a good value for the cull ewe. Mr Eaton's description of the Welsh Mule ewe was "Good milkers, fantastic mothers and the ability to produce a high number of live lambs sold per ewe with superior conformation," concluding that "if you look after the ewe, the ewe will look after you!"