In sheep farming, the term mule is used to refer to a cross between a Bluefaced Leicester ram and a purebred hill (or mountain) ewe (usually a Swaledale sheep) . [1] The production of such mule ewes is a widely used breeding management system which offers several advantages to …

Sep 13, 2017 · The Mule is one of the most common breeds of sheep in the UK. It’s a mongrel breed which owes much of its origins to the hill farms of Northern England. It’s estimated that 50% of all the sheep kept in the UK are mules of one sort.

The 3-tier breeding scheme utilizes traditional British Hill & Upland ewes from breeds such as the Scottish Blackface, North Country & Border Cheviots, Clun Forest, and Shetland sheep. These hardy and adaptable ewes are bred to a Bluefaced Leicester tup to produce the popular and prolific commercial ewe called the 'Mule'.

The Mule ewe is the backbone of the UK ’s prime lamb production system. Fifty percent of all UK crossbred (commercial) ewes are Mules. These Mules inherit the vigor and hardiness of its hill dam with the added benefit of an improved wool clip, increased size and capacity, prolificy (some flocks exceed 200%), early maturity (it is common to ...

The Clun Forest ewe is a hardy ewe with excellent mothering instinct and is a proficient and economical converter of grass and forages to milk and meat. Her crossbred Mule progeny inherit her qualities in combination with the excellent gains, increased prolificacy, early maturity, and improved handle and luster of the wool clip from their ...

Jan 21, 2021 · The mule ewe is a great sheep, easy to look after and always get you out of trouble by doing the best they can. They replace 250-300 ewes a year after generally getting 5 crops out of them aiming for at least 1.75/lamb per sheep/year over their lifetime which enables the sheep to pay.

From these commercial Mule ewes, I produce prime, grass fed finished market lambs. This paper is intended to give a brief introduction about a group of crossbred sheep collectively known as Mules.

this commercial flock is a crossbred ewe commonly referred to in the UK as a 'Mule'. The flock is based on British genetics from Clun Forest and North Country Cheviot ewes, crossed on the UK's premier crossing sire, the Bluefaced Leicester, to produce the prolific Mule ewe.

Mule a type of crossbred ewe, usually a cross between a hill breed ewe and a Border or Bluefaced Leicester tup. May be called a Scotch Mule (from a Blackface ewe) or Welsh Mule, if from a Welsh Mountain ewe or other geographical term.

The North of England Mule is a cross-bred sheep sired by the Bluefaced Leicester ram with either a Swaledale or Northumberland type Blackface dam. The Mule ewe remains Britain’s most prolific sheep breed in terms of numbers and is the country’s most popular commercial sheep for crossing purposes.