At Quebec, we look after a mixed flock of Lleyn, Texel and wool shedding Exlana breeds. The flock is what we would call ‘self replacing’, meaning that we breed and raise our own ewes (female sheep) and buy in tups (male sheep, also called rams). In November we start tupping, this is when the tups are put in with the ewes to get them pregnant, we will then separate them in December and the ewes are all housed under cover until March. The reason we do this is to ensure that the sheep are in the best condition and to let the grass rest over winter so it can put on lots of growth in early spring, ready for the sheep to graze over the lambing period. Come March, we let all of the ewes out onto the fields and lambing usually begins in early April, with the weather being warmer and lots of grass about, the sheep are quite happy! Once lambing is out of the way, the sheep are happy to forage and graze permanent pasture, herbal leys and cover crops over the summer and autumn untill the whole lambing process starts again.