Hill sheep flocks generally have a later lambing date due to weather conditions and forage availability.

A target for many flocks on hills with better quality vegetation is a lambing date of 1 April, while flocks on the hardest hills with no access to green grazing often delay lambing until mid-April at the earliest.

Matching the lambing date to forage availability is the correct approach, no matter what type of system is being operated.

Hill sheep farmer, Pádraig Kennedy, on Brackloon, Annascaul, stocks and breds Mayo black faced sheep. He finds them less dependent, lighter bred and not reliant on grass.Photo:Valerie O’Sullivan

But it is especially important in flocks located on harder hills and challenged with lower levels of output, as there are usually not sufficient sales to cover significant input costs.

Setting targets

The primary objective in many Scottish Blackface flocks with lower levels of output, is to produce enough suitable replacements to replenish the breeding flock on an annual basis.

Flocks located on better quality hills, or hills with a combination of green grazing and hill/mountain terrain, should have targets to achieve higher levels of performance.

Mayo-bred sheep, belonging to farmer Anthony O'Sullivan, Gleesk, Kells Co Kerry. \ Valerie O'Sullivan

The target lamb output for hill flocks participating in the Teagasc BETTER farm sheep programme is at least 1.1 lambs reared per ewe put to the ram.

Achieving this requires the flocks to reach a litter size of approximately 1.3 lambs per ewe joined and to lamb at least 92% of the ewes joined.

Central to achieving this is having ewes in good condition (with a BCS of 3) in the run up to mating and ensuring adequate nutrition is available before and during breeding and for a four week period after conception.

The number of lambs reared per ewe joined will, in turn, have a significant impact on the possible breeding strategies that can be implemented.

Breeding strategies

A stronger demand for Scottish Blackface and Cheviot replacements has seen some hill farmers specialising in producing females for the replacement market and selling surplus ewe lambs/hoggets.

The higher demand is stemming, in many cases, from other farmers honing in on crossbreeding to lift the value of progeny.

Where possible crossbreeding can provide an opportunity to increase flock productivity by increasing the value of output and taking advantage of hybrid vigour.

The potential level of crossbreeding in a flock will depend on the flock’s replacement rate and the average litter size.

Teagasc’s BETTER Farm sheep programme shows the level of crossbreeding possible for a range of flock litter sizes, detailed in Table 1.

A word of caution is also needed on crossbreeding and ewe selection. The market for crossbred females, such as Mules, has performed relatively well in recent years.

Lowland farmers have driven demand for a larger framed sheep with a blacker head.

Sheep farmer Patrick Moran, gathering some of his 500-strong mountain flock at Lough Iskanamacterry, Mastergeehy, Waterville Co Kerry .\ Valerie O’Sullivan

Problems have occurred on some hill farms that have changed their breeding policy to keeping bigger ewes that are capable of delivering such progeny, but are not suited to performing on the hills they are run.

This should remain the primary breeding objective on hill farms, with management of vegetation central to running ewes at a lower cost and ensuring land-based payments are not compromised.

Selecting ewes

Flocks differ in their selection criteria when picking ewes to breed pure or to join with crossbred rams.

The first ewes selected for crossbreeding should be ewes that do not meet the desired flock characteristics, and in particular, ewes that struggle to perform on hill grazing.

This can be best implemented by establishing recording procedures and assessing ewes at regular intervals throughout the year.

Donal Foley's colourful ewes on his sheep farm, Cuas, MacGillycuddy's Reeks, Co Kerry. The colours are carefully coded by Donal during breeding. \ Valerie O'Sullivan

Retaining progeny of ewes that deliver poor progeny or struggle to maintain body condition, despite adequate vegetation being available for grazing, will only serve to see these issues persist.

Many flocks also opt to select older ewes producing their final crop of lambs.

These ewes have the advantage of tending to cycle earlier in the season, thereby producing a heavier lamb for sale and having it potentially ready to move off farm earlier.

This will deliver benefits next autumn in building grass supplies for breeding ewes.

Terminal sires should also be considered. Clean up rams after single sire mating has occurred, as these lambs bred pure will attract an even lower sale value.

Looking after ewe lambs

A further barrier to enhancing output on some farms is not breeding two-tooth hoggets.

Several reasons are often raised, including hoggets not meeting weight targets at mating.

Mountain sheep on the Rabach Way, Lauragh, Beara Peninsula, Co Kerry, on the farm of Mike Healy, Shronbirrane. The Healy's stock Chevits and Scotch. The sheep also graze on the mountainous Rabach Way, also set aside for walkers.Photo:Valerie O'Sullivan

This can often be traced back to how lambs are managed over the first winter.

It is important to look after these lambs, as promoting steady performance during the winter will deliver a good foundation for performance in spring.

Supplementing ewe lambs with good-quality forage, feed buckets or a low level of meal feeding will deliver a return where ewes are in prime condition for breeding in the subsequent year.