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    The Blackwell flock is one of the two largest flocks in the country. It was started in 1989 with females bought from the best flocks in the UK. Rams have been imported from France and Ireland and artificial insemination is also used from the best French rams.

    The flock has been Signet recorded (a branch of the Meat and Livestock Commission) since 1991 and in 1996 became a member of The Vendéen Breed Development Programme which works to improve all aspects of the breed across all flocks that are in the development programme rather than The Sheep Breeder Programme which is just across your own flock.

    During the summer we exhibit sheep at all the major agricultural shows and have won championships all over the UK. Breeding stock is sold at Breed Society Sales and is also available privately, rams are keenly sought as terminal sires for crossing on many different breeds to produce prime lamb. Lambing usually takes place in January although the Vendéen is noted as an out of season breeder and will usually breed at any time of year. This flock has been scrapie geneotyped for several years and has a high resistance to scrapie.
 

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    The Vendéen breed has been known in the Vendée region of France for many hundreds of years and is said to owe some of its blood to sheep saved from the wrecks of Spanish galleons at the time of the Armada. More definite links were established with the importation of Southdown sheep to the Vendée a little over a century ago. Recently sheep have been selected to provide lean meat as demanded by the French market. Further selection has been made in recent years for hardiness and prolificacy.

    The first importation into Britain was in 1981 (at about which time the British Vendéen Sheep Society was formed) when the first ewe lambs to be imported all produced twins.
 

    The head shows much character and presence. The head and cheeks will carry wool. The ears shall be large and fine. The face will be brown and there will be no wool on the face. The nose will be reasonably long and the muzzle broad. The body will be long with a broad back, well sprung ribs, a strong loin and a deep gigot. The legs will be of medium bone and lightly covered. The Vendeen is not a long legged breed, but it should not be too close to the ground.

    The fleece is of excellent quality, being of a fine down type and very uniform in fibre length, with no coarse kempy wool on the lower part of the hind quarters. The staple length is 5 to 7 cm and the average UK fleece weighs 3.5kg per sheep.

    The ewe is similar to the ram except for the head which should be feminine and stylish. The adult male weighs between 110 and 140kg, the adult female weighs between 80 and 110kg.
 
 

    The main purpose of the Vendéen is for the production of high quality lean meat of an excellent flavour from both pure and crossbred sheep.

    Tups are used on a wide variety of breeds (including pedigree Vendéens) to produce a carcass of good conformation (E, U, or R) with a fat class of 3L or better in most cases at weights normally between 16 to 20kg but even up to 25kg the carcass will not be over fat. Lambs are usually ready for market at ten to fifteen weeks of age with little additional feeding.

    Prolificacy with adult ewes is normally 200% and for ewe lambs 180%, breeding from ewe lambs does not lead to a reduction in subsequent lambing rates in most cases. Ewes and many of their crosses, breed naturally out of season without sponging, tups are eager workers.

    The breed is easily managed and is suitable for most management systems. The sheep will adapt to extensive systems on poor land, there are several flocks kept at 1,000 feet. or they can be more intensively managed on good lowland pasture, they are also suitable for indoor rearing. Under some systems it is possible to have three crops of lambs in two years. The ewes and rams are normally docile adding to the ease of management.

    Ewes usually lamb easily on their own, lambing problems are uncommon, and the newborn lamb is eager to live, they "get up and grow". The normal birth weight of lambs is 4 to 6kg.

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Page last updated: 01/03/05

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