The Cheviot sheep breed dates back to as early as 1372, when they were first kept for their meat and wool. They get their name from their area of origin in Cheviot Hills, a bleak and windswept region between England and Scotland.
Sheep experts believe the harsh conditions in this area strengthened this breed’s survivability and ability to withstand most climates.
Though smaller than other sheep breeds kept for meat, the Cheviots are very hardy, excellent in foraging, grow fast, and have unmatched maternal qualities.
These qualities make this sheep breed genetically superior to most breeds, and their demand is high for their purebred rams, ewes, and lambs.
This article looks at everything you need to know about Cheviots to raise them successfully.
Quick Facts About The Cheviot Sheep Breed
| Breed name | Cheviot |
| Breed purpose | Meat, Wool |
| Mature body weight | Ram: 160-200 pounds
Ewe: 130-170 pounds |
| Average fiber diameter | Micron 27-33
Average yield: 75% Spinning count: 48-56 Wool grade (USDA): 46’s – 56’s |
| Grease fleece weight | 5 – 10 pounds |
| Fleece staple length | 2.5-4 inches |
| Care level | Minimal |
| Temperature | All climates |
| Temperament | Vigilant, intelligent, and friendly |
| Lifespan | 10-12 years |
What Is The Origin Of Cheviot Sheep?
The Cheviot sheep breed originated in the Cheviot Hills, an area between north Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.
This breed’s hardy nature came as an adaptation to the area’s harsh weather and mostly barren land.
From the onset in the early 13th century, the Cheviots developed vigor in foraging throughout the year, easy lambing, good motherly instincts, and fast growth.
The development resulted in a sheep breed that could survive most climates and produce reasonable amounts of meat and wool.
As a result, the Cheviot sheep breed spread worldwide early, reaching the U.S. in 1838 and Australia in 1938.
What Are Cheviot Sheep Characteristics?
The Cheviots are highly adaptive sheep that easily look after themselves. They have a distinctive wool-free white face, a black muzzle, and pricked ears.
Their body is wooly and all white, with wool-free white legs and black hooves. They move with their polled heads held high, and their ears erect and facing forward, giving them a unique look of attentive animals.
Cheviots are lively animals that exhibit a firm will to live. They rarely stay inside a shed or barn and will look for food even in the extremes of weather.
Lambs take 90 to 120 days to mature, with rams growing to 160-200 pounds and ewes gaining between 130 and 170 pounds.
Typical Cheviot Sheep Breed Behavior
Besides their attentive look, Cheviot sheep are intelligent, friendly, and vigilant. They like to maintain their independence and will do what they want and when they want to. Though good for hobbyists, their dynamic nature and agility may be a problem for first-timers.
You’ll quickly notice their poor flocking instincts, and you may need to gather some skills before you can comfortably herd them.
You should consider getting a good herd dog to help you control your flock, especially if it’s enormous.
Cheviot Sheep Advantages
Cheviot sheep are famous for their quality meat and their ease to reproduce and are in high demand in most parts of the world. Below are several other strong qualities of the Cheviot sheep breed:
Extreme hardiness
As said before, the Cheviots are extremely hardy animals. They will survive in places and conditions other sheep breeds can’t and are good at foraging for food.
Whether it’s summer or winter, you’ll rarely find Cheviots inside a shed or a barn. The newborns are strong, alert, and very vigorous.
From birth, the Cheviots maintain an unusual will to live with vitality.
Minimal husbandry needed
The Cheviots’ great adaptability and love for independence makes them need minimal care. They have an excellent ability to fend for themselves and are very active even in extreme conditions.
Coupled with their extreme hardiness, the Cheviots need less effort from your end to keep them healthy.
Their wool and hooves are uniquely adapted to keep these animals going. Thus, they need fewer husbandry tasks like drenching and crutching, and their hooves rarely succumb to foot rot.
In addition, these sheep grow no wool on their faces and thus aren’t prone to wool blindness.
Good motherly instincts
Cheviot sheep lamb easily and have strong motherly instincts. Being bred in the extreme conditions of Cheviot Hills adapted the Cheviot ewes to be outstanding mothers, with even first-time mothers knowing what to do during lambing.
Most of the time, they require little intervention from the herder during lambing and produce enough milk to feed their lambs.
Resistance to flystrike
Cheviot sheep has unique wool. It’s crimpled and springs back on touching it. This exceptional quality wool has been observed to resist flystrike and suffer fleece rot less often.
Lower flystrike prevalence means reduced expenses on dewormers and pesticides and low maintenance time to manage the health of your flock.
Cheviot Sheep Disadvantages
While the cheviot is a solid breed, it does come with its fair share of cons. However, these Cheviot sheep disadvantages are not many and can be worked around to make raising Cheviots a better experience.
They are difficult to handle
Cheviots are not as docile as most sheep. And if you are a new owner used to the more docile breeds, then brace yourself for the ride cheviots will take you through. I’ve raised a flock of Cheviots that was simply unruly and evasive. During shearing, they were an extreme sport! While someone may argue that we probably had bad genetics in the flock, that is not so because I sourced rams from different farms several times.
They are independent
Cheviot sheep have a loose flocking instinct. They are best kept on large acres of land where you won’t need to be rounding them often as they don’t like to follow each other. This aspect makes them challenging to herd, especially on small acreage.
Small carcass
While their meat is of higher quality, they produce less than similar meat breeds.
What Are Cheviot Sheep Good For?
Apart from their attractive looks and low breeding and maintenance costs, the Cheviot sheep breed is kept for the following reasons:
Superior Genetics
Purebred Cheviot sheep have high-quality genes and physical qualities. However, when mated with other crossbred ewes, Cheviot ram genetics become more dominant in the resulting offspring. This superiority in genetics makes Cheviot rams a preferred breed for crossbreeding.
Desirable meat quality
Though Cheviot sheep has a more petite body than other sheep meat producers, the mutton is of higher quality. The meat is luscious and mild-tasting, with enough fat to make it juicy and tender.
As a result, you’ll get plump, meaty cuts, with pink color in most parts of the compact body and full and round legs of the Cheviots.
Production efficiency
Cheviot ewes lamb easily and produce enough milk for their young ones. They are known to produce a high number of twins, which in turn have a high probability of making twins.
Both mature and young animals are good foragers and very efficient feeders and will stop at nothing in their search for grass—even snow can’t stop them.
Wool quality
Cheviots produce some of the best quality wool among wool-producing sheep breeds. Though it’s not the softest wool for spinning and weaving, it’s very resilient and durable.
In addition, it has a distinctive helical crimp, which makes it suitable for blending with other yarns to improve their strength and durability. The average ewe produces 5-10 pounds of the fleece of between 27 and 33 microns.
How to Care For Cheviot Sheep Breed
Cheviot sheep breed requires minimal effort to raise. As long as there is enough grass and water, the Cheviots are good on their own.
However, you’ll need to create a shelter, preferably a three-sided barn, to keep your flock off extreme weather conditions. Also, you should provide hay during low forage growth seasons.
Though it rarely happens, you should watch out for sick or pest-infested animals. Deworm and apply pesticides to keep your sheep healthy always. In addition, you’ll need to provide them with salt licks or grounded salt to provide vital minerals in their bodies.
Another vital thing to note is that Cheviots are poor in flocking and prefer feeding independently. You’ll notice they don’t graze in the typical v-shaped pattern but spread across the entire landscape.
Therefore, if you plan on rotational grazing, you must install fences to control the extent of grazing and separate grazing paddocks.
Conclusion
The Cheviot sheep breed combines productivity, hardiness, adaptability, and frugality. Due to this, they are among the least expensive sheep breed to raise with minimal husbandry requirements.
If you’re after a breed with excellent temperament and superb motherly skills, you should consider a Cheviot. They make awesome pets and are great if you want to raise your kids around animals.
