sheep

Our flock consists of around 65 Suffolk and Texel cross breeding ewes and a further 20 replacement ewe lambs. We also have 2 Texel rams.

Suffolk sheep are an English breed and have black legs and a black head. White faced Texel sheep are a Dutch breed from the island of Texel. Both breeds are  large and muscular, ideal for meat production. The lambs have excellent conformation and grow rapidly and have good natural instincts at birth. 

On our farm we use the traditional seasonal method of lamb production.

The natural time for sheep to be mated is in the autumn as the nights get longer around November. This brings the ewes into cycle. The expected gestation period for sheep is around 147 days. Therefore by allowing the mating to happen during November one can expect the lambs to arrive during April.

As our sheep are kept outside during the whole year the improved weather in April is key to having a successful lambing. When the fresh spring grass begins to grow the ewes produce plenty of milk from the young grass and the lambs grow rapidly and naturally over the summer.

The first lambs weighing around 38kg are usually ready from mid August onwards. The lambs that we sell are only reared on the pasture until the autumn when they receive some hay.

The hay that the ewes are fed during the winter months is all from our own land. The ewes are fed some organic concentrates (mainly oats) from early March onwards in order to help their bodies cope with the increased nutritional requirements of the pregnancy.

During the course of the year the sheep have access to minerals, salt and licks. The ewes are vaccinated on an annual basis and the ewes and lambs are wormed as required. We shear the sheep every June and inspect their feet at least three times per year.

We have about 110 lambs each year of which around 90 are sold via our butchers shop and about 20 are kept as replacements for the flock.

The lambs are slaughtered at Jatky Čelivo which is a family run organic approved slaughterhouse about 8km from our farm. The transport is carried out by ourselves using our sheep trailer.

Our lamb is certified as a regional product of KRAJ BLANICKÝCH RYTÍŘŮ and is certified as organic since November 2017.

Farma Hrzín - Christopher Robertson