Livestock
Our cattle and sheep range extensively over wood pasture, SSSI parkland, and acidic grasslands. These areas are rich in herbs and wild grasses including Yarrow, Pignut, Wild Mint, Bird's Foot Trefoil, Tormentil and Sheep's Fescue.
Our Red Devon Cattle and our lambs are grass fed and antibiotics are avoided unless needed on welfare grounds.
Red Ruby Devons
Devons are native to this part of the world. They are placid, of medium size and do well on poor quality forage, allowing us to finish our beef animals at around 30 months on grass alone. They are ideal for South Town and in Summer graze many of the steep sided valleys and wood pastures and play a vital role in maintaining these special habitats, if you go walking in the Arlington Estate you are likely to see them. Devons are happiest when outside and are hardy even in the coldest of Winters. Our girls usually come inside during December to protect the soil from poaching. They will stay in until the weather improves in the Spring. We calve between April and July, usually outside.
The Jacob Flock
South Town is the home of the Arlington flock of pedigree Jacob sheep. They came with the Estate as part of the original gift to the National Trust in 1949. When we took on South Town in 2015 the Jacobs came with it and we manage them on behalf of the National Trust, when we leave South Town, the Jacobs will remain. The Jacob fleece has a mix of white, brown and black soft wool making it popular with spinners and the meat tends to be leaner. We put the majority of our pedigree Jacob ewes to a Jacob ram to keep our flock well stocked, a small number of ewes are crossed with a Dorset ram to give a quality meat animal..
The Highlander Cross Flock
Lleyns come from the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales and are typically hardy, prolific and make good mothers. We purchased our Lleyn flock when we first took on the farm, and have crossed the ewes with a Highlander ram to produce a breeding ewe which does well on grass all year round and lambs easily. Finally we use a Primera ram on our cross bred ewes to give a good quality meat animal.
