Sheep and Bramble Control

An insight into how our grazing sheep are opening up scrubby habitat for wildflowers and creating a safe haven for birds and small mammals.

Across Kent Wildlife Trust’s 80 nature reserves, we utilise the skills of four ancient breeds of hill and mountain sheep; White Faced Woodlands, Hebridean, Herdwick and Manx Loughtan, which do an amazing job at grazing a range of habitats from chalk grassland, lowland acid heath or even woodland areas. These sheep do well on poor quality vegetation and make excellent mothers with very little need for assistance come lambing time. They are well adapted for life out on the reserves, and each have their own unique skill set and food preference.

Mountain and hill sheep have a high drive for woody, scrubby plants as a component of their diet. That is why, in high densities when they are being managed commercially for instance, they can remove too many trees, bushes and edge habitat from a landscape. The same can be said for all intensively managed grazing animals though, whether that’s a dairy farm or a livery yard for horses. With sheep a little goes a long way In smaller, more natural densities sheep’s scrub management skills are highly valuable, especially in a county like Kent, which is a strong hold for some of the UK’s most biodiverse habitats, created primarily by sheep grazing.

Sheep have narrow mouths which make them highly selective grazers. Unlike their lowland cousins who focus primarily on grasses and flowers, our upland breeds are great for browsing leaves on low hanging branches and will move readily into scrubby vegetation to eat brambles. As sheep browse the bramble, they can open-up paths through large blocks creating increased edge habitat. This allows light to reach the ground, encouraging the growth of wildflowers such as common dog violet, oxeye daisy and creeping buttercup, which go on to attract a wide range of insects and birds. For our chalk downland loving wildlife they can be a more subtle, kinder way to manage unwanted regrowth, than bringing in machinery, especially in the spring months when it is most effective to remove new bramble and scrub shoots.

An additional effect of sheep browsing bramble or thorny scrub is that the plant will begin to redirect its energy from growth to defence. They will slow their growth and will focus on creating more thorns to protect themselves from further grazing. This results in a dense, spikey bramble bush that is ideal protection for small birds looking for a safe refuge from predators, as well as a great nesting spot to raise chicks. Other species such as wood and field mice will also use the thorns as protection. Small pockets of dense bramble will eventually become a nursery for saplings, creating a mosaic of scrub and woodland edge habitat across a simple grassland. Over time, species diversity and the density of wildlife will increase.

White Faced Woodland

Our White Faced Woodlands are our rarest breed of sheep and are also the largest out of the four breeds, with both ewes and rams being horned. As their name suggests, they are brilliant at grazing within woodland habitats and prefer browsing leaves and woody growth – great for controlling the encroachment of woodland edge habitat into grassland areas or diversifying a young chestnut coppice plantation for instance.

White faced woodland sheep balancing on its hind legs stretching out to reach leaves higher up” style=
White faced woodland sheep balancing on its hind legs stretching out to reach leaves higher up ©️ volunteer Rob Williams

Hebridean

Hebridean sheep are the most used breed in conservation grazing and have a particular preference for browsing bramble and young tree saplings. They are fast and nimble, using their small stature to infiltrate dense scrub and break up vegetation clusters. Their colour allows them to hide in shadows easily too. Often, if we didn’t have a sign on the gate, people would never know they were on the nature reserve.

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Hebridean sheep herd. ©️Alison Ruyter

Herdwick

Herdwicks are very well adapted to rainy weather thanks to their oily, dense fleece which keeps them warm and dry in all weathers. Their fleece also acts as a brilliant camouflage tool in the hills of the Lake District, where they originate, disguising them as rocks to avoid predators. They have a distinct preference for thistles when grazing in the spring and summer rather than the really tough vegetation but they will take young woody regrowth too.

Manx

Manx sheep do well on rough grazing and is an active browser preferring stinging nettles. They use their horns to bash the nettles and remove the irritating pin-like hairs on the stem before eating them. The breed also retains its ability to self-shed its fleece by rubbing against branches, logs and tree trunks to help remove it’s thick felt-like wool. The most striking feature of these sheep is the presence of four horns, with some growing six.

When sheep are used in conjunction with other animals such as cows, ponies and pigs, the habitat becomes even more diverse. Whilst cows and ponies graze at different heights, rootling pigs turn over the soil and create a mosaic of grassy tussocks and micro habitats which will attract insects, birds, small mammals and much more.

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Very low intensity summer sheep grazing to extend the flowering time of the grassland

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©Philip Precey

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