Rathkenny breeders instilled with a passion for the Blackface 

By Chris McCullough  

BLACKFACE sheep breeding is immersed in the history of the Adams family based at Rathkenny outside Ballymena, having first started using the Perth type back in 1978. 

Today Tom Adams still follows the family tradition with a flock of 200 Perth type ewes managed alongside a flock of 50 Mules, fitting in with 250 Holstein milking cows and a 40 acre potato enterprise.  

And the ethos of family farming has carried on as well with Tom and his wife May, joined by their sons Joe and Alan. Their daughter Gayle works as a physiotherapist and helps out on the farm when she can.  

It was back in 1926 when Tom’s grandfather David began farming at what is now the home farm at Rathkenny. The farm passed through the generations and Tom started working there full-time, after finishing school in 1983, with a herd of 20 milking cows and 60 Blackface ewes.  

Tom said: “The first Blackface was purchased in 1978 in the local pub when my father Thoburn made a deal with JB Carson for four in-lamb ewes at £6 each.  

“We began showing sheep the next year and were placed first and second in the single ram lamb class at Ballymena Fairhill Mart, which sold for £180 and £100 respectively.  

“The flock has continued to develop over the years to what it is now, however the breeding cycle has remained within the same timeframe. The ewes run with the tups from October, scanned in January, start lambing in March, weaning in July ready for the female breeding sales in August and the ram sales in October.” 

Flock foundation 

The foundation females of Tom’s flock originated from Joe Smyth’s Littlederry flock; as well as Auldallan, the Glenhead dispersal and from Billy McFarland when he moved to Scotland in the late 1980s.  

Tom said: “We purchased Billy’s top pen of 10 ewes for £205 per head which was a substantial investment for the farm in those days.  

“Joe Smyth was also a driving force behind the Blackface breed on our farm, always encouraging me to continue with the breeding. He often offered me cast ewes and told me to pay them the next year after seeing how they would do. Joe was always encouraging youth into working with the breed and these females were a great help to start the flock we have today.” 

Since their flock was founded, the focus for Tom has always been on trying to maintain a closed female flock, breeding all replacements and only buying stock tips to enhance the overall genetics.  

Replacement ewe lambs are selected from those with excellent mothers demonstrating good mothering and foraging abilities. Also, for their milkiness, and broad mouth ends along with strong breed characteristics such as clean colouring on their legs and crowns with tight skins.  

Over the years the Perth type Blackface has changed dramatically, moving away from predominantly long wool to a much tighter coat. Like many breeders the Adams family have also moved along with this breed change, which is now one of the main traits sought after when sourcing a stock tup at sales or privately.  

This change in skin type was first bred into the flock in the late 1990s when a shearling ram was purchased for £2,400 from Robert Loughry. This ram bred much shorter tighter wool into his offspring and made a real stamp on the females within the flock.  

Continuing to pursue this trait, another shearling was purchased for £10,000 in 2000 from Glendamph, in partnership with Andy Hunter and the late Sam Wallace. 

Once again this ram contributed to tight skin on his offspring along with excellent bone. The following year ewe lambs off this tup were sold to a top of £280/head at the Braid Sheddings sale in August 2001. 

This was the highest price received for ewe lambs from the flock up to this point. Other excellent female breeding tups over the years have been the £15,000 Harkin and the £19,000 Haughton, purchased in 2005 again in partnership with Andy Hunter and the late Sam Wallace.  

As the Adams farm expanded Tom took a step back from the sheep to focus on both the dairy and potatoes enterprises, giving Joe control of the flock, now with the prefix Fernbank. 

Boosted by the experience, Joe judged his first show and sale in 2013 at Stirling, subsequently purchasing the champion lamb Hillhead (Obama) for £7,000. This lamb brought excellent clean colours into the flock with his offsprings being very black.  

Then, in 2016, he purchased the £5,000 Auchdregnie, whose ram lambs the following year averaged £1,850, the best average ram lamb price achieved to this point.  

Joe said: “Generally, we only use the rams for breeding for two years; however this ram was an exception and was used for four years.” 

Tom returned to judging in 2019 at the Stirling ram show and sale, purchasing the Woolford’s champion, The Fireman, for £10,000 in partnership with Archie MacKinnon. 

Joe added: “This tup bred great style and character into the flock with many females being retained and his breeding has produced some of the top lambs in recent years.  

“Although females are the main focus of the flock, ram lambs are also an important output. The 2023 URBA ram sales were our most successful to date with a pen average of £3,650 per head. 

“Most of these lambs were bred off the £9,500 William and Michael Smyth (Foyleview) ram purchased the previous year,” he said. 

Tom and Joe agree they get a great deal of satisfaction when their sheep sell well, and with repeat customers. This proves their stock integrate well into other flocks, giving the father and son team a sense of accomplishment that they are breeding animals that customers require.  

Whilst the overall aim of the Blackface flock is producing high quality breeding stock, Tom and Joe also pride themselves in producing top quality fat lambs.  

Joe said: “We are running with a lambing percentage of around 170 to 180. Our goal is to breed lambs with the ability to thrive well from birth and finish off grass at 21kg deadweight by September or October. Most of our fat lambs achieve R grades with U grades becoming more common over the years. 

“It is a combination of good breeding and management that contributes to achieving these grades without supplementary feeding. 

“Grazing management is important, but so is animal health practices such as fly strike prevention as well as fluke and worm control. As we run a mixed lowland farm, the sheep have a strategic position in grassland management, grazing cow residuals to ensure a leafy, productive regrowth.  

“Using mixed grazing not only improves the grazing platform but also helps to reduce the worm burden as a result allowing the lambs to be more efficient in thriving, fleshing and overall meat production contributing to the kill out results achieved,” he added. 

The next generation of the Adams family is well under way as Joe and his wife Cathy have a three year old daughter Hailey.