Sheep

Balwen Welsh Mountain Sheep

2008 Watchlist; Category 4, At Risk.

For many years the Balwen was contained to the old counties of Cardigan, Brecon and Carmarthen. The catchment area of the River Tywi was the traditional breeding grounds of the Balwen sheep, and the ancestry of all Balwen can be traced back to the Tywi Valley. The Balwen sheep has a base colour of black, brown or dark grey. It has a white blaze on the face running from the poll of the head down to the nose, four distinct white socks, and a half-white tail. It is thought that farmers used the Balwen on the hills as a means of recognising their flocks. The rams have horns and the ewes are naturally polled. The name Balwen is Welsh for white blaze.

The Balwen is a small, hardy breed. They are easy to manage, have few health problems, excellent feet, and thrive with only the minimum of supplementary feeding at peak times of the year. The ewes make excellent mothers, having very few lambing problems and plenty of milk to feed the lambs. Most ewes have a single lamb the first time, but thereafter many twin, and some have even reared triplets. The Balwen lamb makes an excellent carcase, small in size, tender and full of flavour.

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