Wiltshire Horn Welsh Mountain cross- The Easy Care
Wiltshire Horn Welsh Mountain cross, also known as Easy Care’s were developed in the 1960s by Iolo Owen in Scotland, designed to be a low input, hardy animal and produce a fine grained, quality meat the market demanded.
The Wiltshire Horn breed is among one of the oldest breeds in England, run traditionally in large flocks on the Downs of south central England. They fell out of favour when wool became a lucrative commodity between the 16th and 19th centuries.
This was due to the fact the Wiltshire Horn is solely a meat breed, and is a hair type short fleece sheep that, like other primitive breeds of sheep, sheds its wool in the spring, like a goat or horse loses its winter coat.
Since the late 20th Century however, the value of this traditional breed has been realised again, due mainly to the rise of synthetic man made fibres in the clothing industry, the demand for wool is a shadow of what it once was.
Far from a good profit margin, the price farmers receive from a wool crop off their sheep, often does not even cover the cost of shearing and cleaning the wool to make it marketable.
Additionally, a breed which sheds its own wool fleece, like the Wiltshire Horn is much less likely to be affected by monstrously debilitating health risks such as maggots from fly strike.
On to these qualities, crossing with other breeds, particularly the Nelson Welsh Mountain, gives the Easy Care more hardiness, easier lambing and a fine grained, lean, flavourful meat.
At Pendle Pasture, we feel very grateful to keep a flock of this beautiful native breed of sheep in their native habitat, where they thrive on their native diet of pasture grasses. Our 100% grass fed sheep are never fed any grains, roots or brassica crops, nor are they routinely medicated with chemical wormers.
