Breed standard
The head and leg colouring is described as grey to grey-tan and is quite unique within the sheep world. For a hill ewe, an exceptionally good quality fleece is produced and they rarely shed their wool naturally.
A good sized hill sheep with length and width. A heavy carcass itself, but when crossed with a terminal sire, it produces an outstanding fat lamb. Meanwhile, pure-bred lambs are flavoursome and provide a good farmers’ market opportunity.
The ewes will lamb outside no problem and do not need excessive feed throughout the winter. They are good mothers with a natural maternal instinct, especially so, when first time lambers.
They have become popular with smallholders due to their good maternal instincts but also being easy to handle. The breed has performed exceptionally well in young handlers classes across the country and is now becoming sought after for these competitions.
The breed performs well in the show ring against other breeds, be they hill, lowland, rare and even continental. A five year old Hill Radnor ram was Royal Welsh Show Supreme Champion in 2011, demonstrating both quality and longevity. There are fourteen shows which put on specific Hill Radnor breed classes, ranging in size from The Royal Welsh and County shows to small village shows.