Swaledale (sheep) - Farming and Breeding

Farming and Breeding

There are approximately 1,200 flocks of pedigree Swaledale sheep in the United Kingdom. Fine pedigree rams (or "tups") sell for approximately £25,000 to £30,000 on average, though the highest price paid at auction for a prized ram was £101,000. Being a hardy breed, farmers are able to rear their Swaledale flocks in remote and exposed locations, generally without needing to provide indoor accommodation.

The sheep produce commercially viable milk, mutton, and wool. Swaledale mutton has good flavour and tenderness, and some flocks are reared exclusively as meat producers. Wool colour and coarseness prevents Swaledale wool from fetching high prices, but its strong and durable properties make it suitable for carpets, rugs, and insulation. However, the wool is also used for spinning and knitting of clothing, though on a lesser scale to its other uses.

The Swaledale sheep is an official symbol of the Yorkshire Dales. In 2003, plans were submitted to build a Swaledale sheep visitor centre in Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria, declaring Kirkby Stephen as the "spiritual home of the Swaledale sheep". These plans drew strong opposition from the town of Hawes, in Yorkshire, a strong competitor in terms of Swaledale sales, and which had its own plans for a visitor centre.

A control flock of Swaledales has been used to study and develop scrapie-resistant sheep. An infectious, persistent, and spontaneous disease, animals infected with scrapie must be quarantined and destroyed. The experimental breeding involved selecting a group of Swaledale sheep with low suspectability to the disease, injecting them with the agents of the disease, and breeding from the survivors. The research has concluded that the offspring of the infected sheep are more able to survive scrapie.

A commercially successful breed, the North of England Mule, has been produced from the Swaledale ewes, by mating with Bluefaced Leicesters. The offspring of this cross are now one of the most prolific lowland sheep.