Purebred Suffolk Sheep
Sheep have always been on the Blackie Farmstead since it was established in 1926. We started a commercial flock in the 1980’s and begin building up a Purebred Suffolk flock 10 years ago. We started out with strong British & Scottish bloodlines in our flock and in the years since we have continued to build upon that solid foundation.
Developed in the early 1800s, the Suffolk originated in the southeastern area of England with the breed first coming to Canada in 1888. Interest grew rapidly throughout the 1920s and currently Suffolks are one of the dominant breeds in the Canadian Sheep Industry. Due to their rapid rate of gain compared to all other breeds, Suffolks offer excellent economic value and are a mainstay of the the Canadian heavy lamb market.
We are enrolled in the Genovis Program which has greatly improved our genetics. We have our lambs ultra-sounded every year and results show high quality “Carcass” and “Gain” results and percentages. Rams and ewe lambs for breeding are selected with a combination of Genovis results along with conformation qualities. The bloodlines of all our sheep can be viewed on the CLRC website (Canadian Livestock Record Website).
We have an open housing system in the wintertime and as a result have our lambs born in March. The sheep and lambs are raised on pasture for the summer. Lambs are finished off with whole grain and soybean meal if necessary and any lambs not sold for breeding stock go to a freezer lamb trade we have built up over the years.
For information on availability of breeding stock and prices please contact us (Pour information en Francais demander pour Cécile).