Drake Ryelands

Ryeland Sheep

The Ryeland is one of the oldest sheep breeds in the United Kingdom and can mainly be traced back to the monks of Leominster, Hereford.  It's name originates from the Ryegrass which it used to graze.  In the 1900's the breed became very scarce and as a result of this is Ryeland Flock Book was formed in 1903. This helped sustain the breed for around 70 years, however, in the 1970's the breed numbers started to decline again.  

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust gave the Ryeland a 'Minority Breed' status, meaning the breed was in decline and needed to be sustained.  The breed no longer holds this status and is seen as one of the Survival Trust's success stories.  

In 1919 the Ryeland was introduced into Australia; it is one of the nine hertiage breeds used for founding the wool and sheep industry there.  

The Ryeland is a hardy breed, and is known for being virtually resistant to foot rot (though it is still worth taking precautions).  They are a very docile breed and, as they are reletively small and polled (hornless) are much easier to handle than larger commercial breeds. The ewes are easy to lamb and are very good mothers; it is not uncommon for them to produce twins and triplets. The lambs are slow growing in comparison to the commerical breeds and as a result of this produce very good, lean meat.