Aiming to breed for carcase quality and keeping the commercial man in mind are the key goals of Texel, Blue Texel and Beltex breeders, the Gray family from Sunnycroft, near Selkirk, where Gordon and Christine, along with son, David and his wife, Clare, run a 110-strong pedigree ewe flock.
Christine’s late father, Andrew Barr, Heathery Hall, was one of the first six importers of Texels into the UK and from whom Gordon purchased his first Texel ewe in 1982.
“I hadn’t had pedigree sheep before, I loved the Texels conformation and their killing out percentage was hard to go past,” said Gordon, who caught the bug when attending an open day at WK Jackson, Symington, being most impressed by the quality of the sheep on display.
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Gordon has never looked back since and has been heavily involved with the society as past chairman, whilst also making a huge number of friends through the breed.
Lambing takes place in February, with the majority of the Texels AI’d for easier management, with embryos also being born at this time.
Around 100 ewe lambs are retained, along with 80 tup lambs, with the latter sold at Lanark, Worcester, Carlisle and J36 or as shearlings at the Kelso Ram Sales, Bentham or Carlisle.
Ettrick is also one of the original consignors of in-lamb gimmers for the Select Seven Sale at Lanark, which celebrated 25 years last year, and is always a highlight for the team. Semen and embryos are also sold throughout the year. Prior to Brexit the family exported to The Netherlands, Italy, France and Germany, but unfortunately there is too much paperwork and regulations involved now.
Tups are fed grass and left over forage crop before being housed from December to February and fed a Davidsons Reiver nut or TNT feed.
Some 80-100 breeding gimmers are also sold either at auction markets or privately, with 51 already sold off farm this year.
All are wintered on grass to ensure they go on and perform with breeders.
In previous years, the family has sold to highs of 36,000gns for a tup lamb, 26,000gns for a gimmer and 17,000gns for shearlings.
Notably, the 36,000gns Ettrick Jackpot went on to breed the Newhill Major ram lamb lamb that made 110,000gns at Carlisle, while the 16,000gns Ettrick Glenmorangie bred the former breed record breaker 50,000gns, Craighead Hercules, in 2001.
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Ettrick Cockney Rebel also left his mark, having sired the £65,000 Dyke Kelso Ram Sales record holder.
“It is always good to see our offspring going on to do well in the show and sale rings as well as breeding well for our buyers, that is the best advert for us,” said David.
Producing these top prices has not come easy, with the stock tups playing a vital part to the genetics.
The first tup to take the Grays into the first division was Tinwald Yorkie, purchased in 1993.
“He was ahead of his time, with good white hair and cocky lugs. He certainly made his mark on the flock, but it was a major leap into the deep end for us, financially,” said Gordon who purchased a share of him for 17,000gns at Lanark.
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Other notable tups that have bred well include Knock Firefly, Knock Papoose and Clinterty Yuga Khan. More recently, Claybury Dunkirk, which was purchased for 34,000gns in 2020 jointly with Allanfauld and Midlock, has gone on to sire lambs to 17,000gns for Ettrick, and shearlings and lambs to 52,000gns for others. He also bred the female champion at the Royal Highland as well as the reserve female champion at both the Highland and the Yorkshire with three different sheep this year.
Adding another breed to their bow, David and Clare ventured into Blue Texels in 2017, following a trip to the Midnight flock dispersal at Newark.
That day they went to 700gns for an in-lamb ewe whose progeny, Ettrick Casino sold for 2600gns and has also bred females to 2900gns.
“We wanted to try something on our own and we found the Blue Texel becoming more popular which we thought would produce new opportunities. They fit the gap between the Beltex and Texel, with good conformation. We have also found them to be tremendous mothers.
“They are the ideal terminal sire for any breed and the lambs kill out well, with 96% of the lambs born being white which people don’t realise. Customers have been buying tups to put over Shetlands, ewe hoggs or Cheviot Mules. They really work well over any breed.
“It is important that as breeders, we continue to focus on improving that commercial market and not take our eye off the bread and butter of any breed,” said David.
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Two bought in Nantyderri females have also bred well, producing grandsons to 7000gns which sired this year’s Royal Welsh Show champion. An embryo sister to him also made 7000gns at Carlisle last year.
Having an eye for stock is important in the pedigree world, and David certainly has that, having purchased a ewe lamb privately from Glen Forsyth, Corra, that stood sixth at the Royal Highland Show in 2019. She has since gone on to stand first at the Great Yorkshire Show as well as at various local shows. A breeder too, her first lamb made 6800gns with her next crop selling to 3300gns. She is also in the flushing team
To boost numbers, 14 ewes and lambs were then purchased from the Trent Valley flock, which also meant the purchase of a stock ram could be justified. The first such ram bought was Pistyll Dynamite, bought at Carlisle in 2019.
“We were looking to put some size into our lambs and he really put us on the map and helped lift the trade in our shearlings,” said David.
However, the most influential sire to date has been the 500gns Lyles Eagle that has sired progeny to 7000gns twice and 6800gns.
The current stock tup, Saltire Blue Ferocious, was purchased last September for 9000gns jointly with Mark Wattie, Alford.
“We are excited to see how his lambs progress, but they are already looking promising. He has bred lambs with good skins, which I would say is the biggest fault in the breed at the moment, although we are actively trying to change that.
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“At the moment, we are rewarded for keeping rams as shearlings as opposed to selling ram lambs, especially for the commercial man. This was very noticeable last year,” added David, pointing out that Carlisle is the main sale for the Blue Texels, and where the family aim to sell 10 shearlings and 15-20 gimmers annually between society sales and privately.
Ettrick Blue Texels have also made their mark at local and national shows winning classes at both the Royal Highland and Great Yorkshire shows.
One of their most notable successes has been winning the reserve inter-breed sheep at the Border Union Show 2022.
More recently the family added a small flock of Beltex, for the Gray grand-children, Evie, Harris, Oliver, Gregor, Molly and Leo. Although just infants the team is ready to breed well with this flock:
“We wanted something different for the grand-children, and the Beltex have strong commercial attributes,” said Gordon, who purchased the first females in 2020 from the Rathbone and Tiree flocks.
The family also run 250 commercial ewes, which are mainly Texel crosses, Suffolk crosses or Scotch Mules put to Texel and Suffolk rams.
The commercial flock is housed after scanning, normally attaining 190% with lambing taking place in March.
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From October to March David pregnancy scans cattle and sheep nearly full time, managing to scan up to 12,000 cows annually along with in excess of 100,000 sheep, with Clare also running her own pregnancy scanning business for cattle, pigs and dogs.
Sunnycroft is also home to 24 pedigree Aberdeen-Angus cows plus followers, having established the Ettrick herd in 2003.
Originally the cows were all AI’d, however, with the purchase of the in-calf heifer Rawburn Rosebud producing the retained son, Ettrick Rockafella, they have moved to natural service. He has bred bulls to 6800gns and is the sire of most of the females.
“The Angus was a no brainer for us, we have very few calving issues and they tick all the boxes for our system,” said Gordon.
One of the most recent bull purchases was Linton Gilbertines President bought for 17,000gns in partnership with Caroline Orr, Keirsbeath.
“He has bred exceptionally well for us and is still going strong. He also has a fantastic temperament which is vital,” said David, adding that President has sired their top priced bull to date, Ettrick Batman, which sold for 10,000gns at Stirling in October 2020.
Last year, they went to 10,000gns for a new stock sire in Drumhill Minor Pro and they’re looking forward to seeing his offspring.
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“When we are buying a bull, we want something with a single myostatin gene as we find it breeds well in all aspects. All cattle need to pay their way,” said David.
The business aims to sell around 10 bulls annually, between private and society sales at Stirling and Carlisle, with heifers kept for replacements. Anything not fit for breeding is sold through St Boswells Mart where they have previously won the Christmas Show twice.
Farm facts
Involvement: Father and son duo, Gordon and David Gray along with additional help from the family at busier times of the year. Self-employed shepherdess, Chloe Cormack is also on board and is a huge help with the Blue Texels.
Livestock: 110 pedigree sheep split between Texels, Blue Texels and Beltex, alongside 250 cross MV accredited ewes and 450 non-MV accredited sheep, plus 24 Aberdeen-Angus cows and followers.
Acreage: 170 acres owned, plus 80 rented neighbouring Sunnycroft, with a further 200 acres rented locally for the 450 non-MV accredited sheep and 100 bought in store cattle.
On the spot
Best investment? Gordon – a good stock bull or tup. David – Scanning machine.
Best advice? Gordon – It’s not what ye hae, it’s what you do with wi what ye hae! David – If you like it buy it. Trust your gut feeling.
Biggest achievement? Gordon and David – selling a bull, a shearling, a tup lamb and a gimmer all at five-figure prices in the same calendar year.
Where do you see yourself in 2033? Gordon – above the sod…..hopefully. David – hopefully still succeeding in a close run family business. By then maybe Gregor and Molly will have a say in matters.
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