Outwintering our hill sheep in the Pentlands Hills.
Winter in the hills
Winter in the Pentland Hills can be a harsh environment for a hill sheep but Scottish Blackface are bred to thrive here. A thick, course fleece and a rumen full of grass and heather can keep a ewe warm on the coldest of days. Over winter, the ewes are in lamb and will the most of their hill environment.
The heft's knowledge
In a hefted hill farming system, such as at Eastside, particular groups of sheep will have been herded to a specific area of the farm in the same way for many decades - even hundreds of years. Each of these groupings (the sheep but also the area of ground) is known as a "heft". Hill sheep will know where home is - which heft they belong to - and the heft acts like a large family. Indeed, they will often be related to each other. The system means that fences are unnecessary on hill ground as the sheep won't want to stray from home.
The collective heft knowledge is passed down from the older ewes to the youngsters. Where the best shelter lies depending on the wind direction, where the water keeps running, and where to dig for grass when the land is covered in snow is all invaluable knowledge passed down the generations.
Undisturbed, the hill sheep do well in cold dry periods and prefer the dry to the wet.
Danger only comes in the form of drifting snow and changing wind. For the most part, a hefted hill without fences is safe and allows the sheep to keep moving, finding good shelter.
The old shepherds would always say that shelter was worth half a feed and they weren't wrong. It's one of the reasons we continue planting trees each year for shelter and shade.
Our hill farm
For more information about farming life throughout the year see our 'farm' page. Find out how we farm with nature, and our landscape-scale habitat plans with our neighbours in the Pentland Hills.