N. I. Lleyn Breeders prepare for the Lleyn Sheep Society Export Show & Sale at Ballymena Livestock Market, Ballymena on Saturday 5th September 2026 Show at 10am and Sale starts 12noon.

The Lleyn sheep breed is now one the fastest growing non hill pure breed in Great Britain and the popularity and demand of the breed has grown here in Northern Ireland.

The Lleyn Ewes and Rams have been tried and tested producing excellent results for both breeding pure or for crossbreeding.

Why The Lleyn Ewe?

N.I. Lleyn breeders prepare for the Lleyn Sheep Society Export Show & Sale at Ballymena Livestock Market.

placeholder image — N.I. Lleyn breeders prepare for the Lleyn Sheep Society Export Show & Sale at Ballymena Livestock Market.

Farmers have found the Lleyn Ewe ticks a lot of boxes, she is quiet in nature, prolific with great maternal instincts and is milky with lambs that are vigorous and quick to their feet and suckle their mother. Her long and productive lactation ensures that the lambs continue to thrive.

This versatile ewe thrives on both lowland and upland grazing making them suitable for many farming systems.

Whether lambing outdoors or inside with minimal concentrate use, the ewes go on to rear their lambs efficiently and without fuss.

This is backed up with a tried and tested quote from Edward Adamson who farms at Kilroot, Carrickfergus “There is just Stewart and I to lamb our commercial flock outdoors which makes the Lleyn ideal for us!

The Lleyn continues to grow in popularity across Northern Ireland, with breeders preparing for Saturday’s Export Show & Sale.

The Lleyn are an excellent maternal breed well capable of lambing and looking after their lambs with little intervention from us”.

Pure and Crossing Abilities

Pure-bred, Cross-bred and Carcase QualityThe Lleyn ewe delivers outstanding maternal performance and efficiency, whether bred pure or crossed with any terminal sire.Pure-bred twins can be ready for slaughter at 14-16 weeks of age and with highly satisfactory carcases (R3L or better).When crossed with any terminal sire, the cross-bred lambs grow and grade extremely well.

“I have had Lleyns since 2009 the Lleyn ewe gives me the best of both worlds allowing me to breed my own female replacements and producing prime lambs to suit to-days market needs! “a quote from Aidan McConville who farms at Jerrettspass, Newry.

Why the Lleyn Ram?

Lleyn rams are used to breed pure, and are also widely used for crossing on other breeds, to increase prolificacy of the resultant breeding ewes and to improve carcase quality.

Lleyn rams have also been successfully used for the same reasons on commercial crossbreds with too-high terminal content.

The Lleyn ram will produce a milky ewe with excellent mothering ability and can be crossed onto any breed.

The demand for Lleyn sheep has grown with some breeders from Northern Ireland exporting Lleyns into Europe.

The traits of the breed for both females and rams can give you every confidence to buy them to enhance your flock’s efficiency production and profitability.

Sale Catalogues are available online from the Lleyn Sheep Society or at Ballymena Livestock Market with 620 Females and 47 Rams on offer all eligible for export.

Online bidding on the day is available with Marteye.

Sale Date – Saturday 5th September 2026. Show gets underway at 10am sponsored by Fane Valley Stores. Sale starts 12 Noon.