Strathbogie's Clarendon Shropshires favours the heritage breed

Marilyn Mangione, Strathbogie, had owned Wiltshire Horns but found the breed was too strong for her to manage.

When she was offered a Shropshire ram that needed a home, she jumped at the chance.

"I'd always loved the Shropshire sheep with their little ears and brown legs, so I got this beautiful stud ram," she said.

She then sourced two ewes but said the first year was "a disaster" because of foxes.

The following year her luck improved with one ewe having twins, and so her flock began.

Her stud is called Clarendon, named after her founding ram, and has been operating since 2000.

She now has eight rams and 48 breeding ewes after sourcing bloodlines from different breeders.

The Shropshire's temperament was one of its standout attributes, she said.

"I had a Wiltshire horn ram and he went at me one day," she said.

"Clarendon was like a big puppy dog - he just followed me around like a teddy bear or a dog and I could give him big cuddles.

"He had a beautiful temperament, and the ram he sired, Rocky, he has the same temperament.

"All that line from Clarendon, I've never had to trim their feet."

The versatility of the breed was another positive, she said.

"I tell people they're four crops to one acre - you get the wool, which I spin and knit, it's a very resilient, springy type of wool," she said.

"Then you can use the Shropshire for meat, you can use the Shropshire for terminal sires, and you can use the Shropshire in orchards."

The breed's conformation means they can't jump to eat low hanging branches from trees, which was why they could be used in orchards to keep the grass down.

Ms Mangione said she started showing in 2008 and tries to get to the Australian Sheep & Wool Show each year.

She said it was important to have the sheep judged even if she was the only competitor in the class.

She said the social aspect was another important part of showing.

She aims to breed sheep that are true to type.

"I don't try to change anything simply because the Shropshire introduced into Australia was a crossbred anyway," she said.

"There's one thing I'm extremely particular about, I do not use other breeds to improve my flock."

Ms Mangione also started a Facebook group called Shropshires Australia to raise the breed's profile.

"I started off with four or five people and then all of a sudden we now have 16 registered studs and that increase has been since I started the Facebook page," she said.

About six years ago there were only nine registered breeders, she said, but both the Victorian and WA flock numbers had increased.

The group is also made up of some international members.

She said there was now about eight people who planned to chip in to import semen to bring in new bloodlines.

"I'm really pleased because I now have choices when I can't do it anymore," she said.

"I'm glad I made that effort."