Teeswaters come to town

These Teeswater sheep will be consigned by W and K Carson from their Downkillybegs flock, at Ballymena.

The Teeswater breed, originally from the Teesdale valley, County Durham in North of England have been bred pure for over 200 years and are a strong dual purpose breed.

They are a large striking looking sheep with lots of eye appeal but underneath their immaculate purled fleece is a long strong carcass with well developed shoulders, loin and chump regions.

The dual purpose aspect of this adorable breed is three fold - namely strong carcass attributes, impressive quality fleece and valuable wool and superb crossing abilities for producing half bred ewes.

The latter is where they are most recognised for, in producing the famous Masham ewe - off spring from a Teeswater ram and a hill bred ewe and although this is a notable claim to fame, the Teeswater ram is also trusted in Northern Ireland as a sire of formidable crossbred ewes resulting from continental type ewes and also British lowland breeds.

The Teeswater is also acclaimed as a breed improver when blended into other crossing sire breeds to benefit from their strong, bold markings and maternal outlook.

The maternal attributes of the Teeswater breed are the foundations that the breed has been built on.

The Teeswater ewe and her crosses are large breedy types, capable of producing and rearing a lot of lambs per lifetime and the secret of this durable production ability is the udder attachment and protective covering.

Teeswater bred ewes hold their udders tight while nursing their lambs and have a premium quality milk source, capable of boosting the growth of any crossbred lamb and covering the lactating udder on the Teeswater bred ewe is a protective downy wool that keeps out the wind chill and detrimental elements from the spring environment.

This unique trait to the Teeswater and it’s crossing abilities is the exact point of difference between the lasting ability and production of the Masham/Teeswater cross ewe and the popular mule ewe who doesn’t attain the protective layer against the weather, wind chill and dramatic spring time environment changes.

The Teeswater ewe’s resilience as a top producer of prime lambs has seen a resurgence in breeding flocks 
and demand for more pedigree animals despite the 
ever increasing number of hybrids and low care diversifications within the sheep industry.

The up take in cottage crafts across the globe has also increased the demand for the high quality fleece produced from the Teeswater breed to such an end that the Teeswater wool is demanding the highest premium on the 2019 BWMB price guide and annually sees raw wool fleeces from Northern Ireland and England being exported for a greater premium to other countries for home spinners and craft workers.

Monday evening (30th September) in Ballymena will give people interested in Teeswater sheep the opportunity for a first hand chance to view these remarkable sheep and the opportunity to acquire a little piece of this historic sheep breed who’s future is as strong as their abilities to reshape the cross bred breeding ewe sector.

For further information contact 028 25 633 470 .

Or alternatively [email protected]