Traditional Hereford Cattle and Llanwenog Sheep

About Traditional Hereford's

Treberfedd is home to the Aeron herd of rare breed traditional Hereford cattle. Traditional Hereford cattle are famed for producing superb marbled beef from grass and forage – ideal for the organic, environmentally sustainable farming system here at Treberfedd.

Our own 'Aeron Herd' was established in 2005 and we now have 22 pedigree cows, as well as a traditional Hereford Bull and young stock. At Treberfedd, we’re helping to preserve this ancient native breed with help from the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

Traditional Hereford’s are medium-sized cattle, red in colour with short curved horns and a ‘beefy’ build (if you’ll pardon the pun). We don’t remove our cows’ horns, because we’re dedicated to rearing cattle in as natural a way as possible. Ideal for smallholders, the breed is well known for being docile and easy to handle, and traditional Hereford cattle are superbly efficient at converting grass into excellent quality beef.

If you are interested in purchasing traditional Hereford breeding animals or traditional Hereford beef please contact us.

History of Traditional Herefords

Our cattle are described as ‘Traditional Herefords’ because they are the pure breed which originated from the English/Welsh borderlands. The original Herefords were so good at converting grass into quality beef and so adaptable to different climates that, in the 19th century, they were exported all over the world. Today they are the world’s biggest beef breed with large numbers in Canada, USA, Australia and Argentina.

In North America the Herefords were bred to be bigger, with longer legs. Bulls of this type were then imported back to Britain and bred with the native Herefords. This  means that today there are very few of the original traditional  Herefords left.

Our traditional Herefords have no blood ties to the imported North American Hereford cattle. You can tell by their appearance; they’re generally smaller and hardier than the modern type of North American Hereford. Our cattle are pedigree animals and their family lines can be directly traced all the way back to the Hereford Cattle Society herd book of 1847.

Traditional Herefords are now classed as a rare breed. In the 1960s there were over 19,000 traditional Herefords but by 2005 there were just over 500 breeding females left. However, the breed is once again increasing in popularity as people realise the benefits of this hardy, easy to manage native breed.

Llanwenog Sheep

The sheep at Treberfedd Farm are from the Llanwenog breed, named after a village just 8 miles from us. Like the traditional Hereford cattle, they are classed as a rare native breed. The Llanwenog breed was established over a hundred years ago by crossing a now extinct Welsh mountain breed with a lowland breed from Shropshire.

Llanwenog sheep are distinguished by their black faces, pointy black ears and little tuft of wool on their foreheads. They’re medium-sized sheep, well known for their good mothering and for producing a lot of twins and triplets. Llanwenog are the perfect breed for smallholders as they’re attractive looking, docile, maternal and, thankfully, not escape artists like so many breeds of sheep!

Llanwenog sheep produce excellent tasty meat and high quality wool which can be made into blankets, rugs and jumpers. Organic knitting wool from our sheep is available through the online shop.