Shropshire

The Shropshire is a medium-sized sheep bred up in the English Midlands, kept both for meat and for a dense, medium-grade wool. Its dark face and legs, covered in soft black or deep brown hair rather than wool, set it apart from most white-faced breeds run in New Zealand.

Shropshires suit lifestyle blockies and larger commercial operations alike. The lambs muscle up well and carry good meat conformation, and ewes lamb with little fuss and mother their lambs closely. The breed copes with a wide range of pasture types and handles the wet, changeable weather typical of much of New Zealand's farming country without complaint.

Temperament is where the breed earns its keep. Shropshires are placid and straightforward to handle, which suits owners who want stock that behaves itself at the yards. The breed has also found a niche grazing under fruit trees and in young forestry blocks, since it tends to leave the bark and foliage of established trees alone.

Who it suits

The Shropshire suits farmers who want a quiet breed that pays its way with both lambs and a useful wool clip. Its calm nature makes it a fair option for newcomers to sheep, and its mothering ability cuts down the work at lambing. Those running orchards or young shelterbelts sometimes turn to the breed to keep the grass down without chewing into establishing trees.

The breed carries the name of Shropshire, a county in the West Midlands of England, where it took shape across the first half of the 19th century. It was built up from local horned, dark-faced hill sheep found along the border country between Shropshire and Staffordshire.

Breeders crossed these native sheep with established Down breeds, among them the Southdown, along with some Cotswold and Leicester blood. The goal was a polled sheep with better meat conformation and a denser fleece, while holding on to the hardiness of the original hill stock.

By the mid-1800s the Shropshire was recognised as a distinct breed, and a flock book was set up in England to record pedigrees. Through the late 1800s the breed travelled widely, including to New Zealand and North America, where farmers took it up as a reliable flock sheep.

Numbers dropped through the 20th century as commercial systems turned to other terminal sire breeds, but the Shropshire has kept a following among lifestyle blockies and those keeping rarer breeds going. Its more recent role grazing under trees has brought fresh interest in some districts.

The Shropshire carries a compact, well-muscled body on short, sturdy legs. Both rams and ewes are polled, so there are no horns to manage at the yards. The overall shape is deep and blocky, reflecting the breed's job as a meat producer.

The head is the giveaway. Face and legs are covered in soft, dark hair, running from black to deep brown, against the white wool of the body. Wool runs over the poll and down toward the eyes, and the ears are soft and dark.

Coat and colours

The fleece is white, close, and reasonably fine for a medium wool, shorn once a year. Fleece weights usually run 3 to 5 kg per clip. Face and legs carry dark hair rather than wool, a trait fixed early in the breed's development and still a key point of the standard.

The Shropshire has a name for being quiet and even-tempered. The breed stays calm and docile, which makes routine jobs such as shearing, foot trimming, and drenching less stressful for both sheep and shepherd. Sheep handled regularly settle around people quickly.

Within the flock the breed sits steady and is not given to flightiness. Ewes are good-natured but watchful mothers and will stand between a disturbance and their lambs. The breed generally gets on with other stock and does not push at fences, though standard stock-proof fencing is still needed.

Like all sheep, Shropshires are flock animals and do best with company of their own kind. A sheep kept on its own gets stressed quickly. Their working background shows through in their steadiness too; they are workmanlike grazers that move calmly across the paddock.

The Shropshire is a hardy breed that copes well with the damp, temperate conditions typical of its English homeland, which suits New Zealand's pastoral climate too. Day-to-day management follows the standard routine for a medium wool sheep, with attention to the fleece, the feet, and parasite control.

Grooming

• Shear once a year, usually in late spring or early summer.
• Check and trim hooves several times a year to head off overgrowth and foot problems.
• Keep the wool around the back end clean (crutching) to cut flystrike risk over the warmer months.
• Check the fleece for parasites or skin irritation whenever the sheep are yarded.

Exercise

• Give the flock access to grazing paddocks; the breed gets its exercise foraging.
• Rotate paddocks where possible to keep grass quality up and worm burdens down.
• Allow room to move as a mob, since the breed is settled but still an active grazer.

Environment

Shropshires need secure, stock-proof fencing, clean water, and shelter from bad weather and strong sun. Well-drained paddocks cut down on foot and parasite trouble. Because the breed tends to leave established tree bark alone, it suits grazing under orchard trees and in young forestry blocks, though young or thin-barked trees still need protecting. New stock brought onto the property should be quarantined and checked over before joining the main mob, in keeping with sound biosecurity practice.

The Shropshire is mainly a grazing animal and does well on good pasture for most of the year. Grass and forage make up the bulk of the diet. As a ruminant, the sheep needs steady access to fibre and clean water, along with minerals balanced for sheep.

Feed needs climb at certain points in the year. Ewes in late pregnancy and while lactating need more energy and protein, and growing lambs need good-quality forage and sometimes meal to reach market condition. Over winter, when the grass is short, hay or silage takes over from fresh grazing.

Treats and supplements

Offer a sheep-specific mineral supplement, especially in country with known soil deficiencies such as low selenium or cobalt, both common in parts of New Zealand. Any change to meal feeding should be brought in gradually over several days to avoid digestive upset and acidosis. Salt and clean water should be on hand at all times.

The Shropshire is a robust breed without any widespread breed-specific disorders. With good management it commonly lives 10 to 12 years, though breeding ewes are often culled earlier once their productivity drops off. Most health issues are the general concerns that affect grazing sheep rather than problems unique to the breed.

Preventive care

• Follow a worm-control plan based on paddock rotation and faecal egg counts.
• Trim hooves regularly and treat lameness without delay.
• Vaccinate against clostridial disease on your vet's advice.
• Crutch and shear in good time to cut flystrike risk.
• Feed ewes correctly through late pregnancy to head off metabolic disease.

The Shropshire is valued as a maternal breed. Ewes reach breeding age in their first year, and many are first mated at around 18 months, though this varies by flock. The breed breeds seasonally, with most matings over autumn and lambs arriving in spring.

Gestation runs to roughly five months, close to 147 days. Lambing is generally straightforward, helped along by the breed's moderate lamb size and the ewes' good pelvic structure. Ewes are attentive and milky, which supports lamb survival and steady early growth.

Litter size usually runs to one or two lambs, with twins common in well-managed ewes. Lambs are vigorous and grow well on the ewe's milk and pasture. Rams are used as terminal or maternal sires depending on the system, and the breed's easy-going nature carries through to the lambs, making them straightforward to handle.