Rare Breeds Cattle at Bodnitho, Botwnnog, Lleyn Peninsula

Mrs Rhian Parry and her family own Bodnitho, Botwnnog a lovely old farmhouse for holidays on the Lleyn Peninsula. Farm land surrounds this stylish self catering home for 10 and guests can see the animals at  close quarters indeed they are positively encouraged to visit the working farm a mile down the road.

Mrs Parry says:
"The farm is a modern 700ac beef and sheep holding. Stocking comprises of 200 suckler cows plus followers, with all stock finished on the farm. There are 850 ewes with 250 ewe lambs. Cropping consists of swedes, maize, spring oats and barley all grown in a full farm rotation. Rotational cropping gives us a broad range of habitat which encourages wild life diversity.



All our cattle are Stabilizers which is more of a breeding “concept” than a breed. This concept was developed in Nebraska, USA and was introduced to this country in 1999 by the importation of embryos and semen, in which we have been heavily involved. The cows are a 4 way “composite” or cross which is ¼ Hereford, ¼ Red Angus, ¼ Simmental and ¼ Gelbvieh.


The Hereford and Angus give fleshing, hardiness, and the ability to live on grass, Simmental gives muscling and milk, while the Gelbvieh offers early maturity which allows us to calve the heifers at 2 yrs old instead of the usual practise of calving at 3 yrs old. The advantage of using North American genetics within the concept is – generations of selecting for ease of calving, thriftiness (with calves up on their feet and suckling within 20 minutes without any human intervention) fertility and maternal longevity.


We are part of a dedicated group of producers which supply early season Welsh Lamb to Waitrose, which is marketed as “Llŷn Lamb” in store. The Llŷn Peninsula is ideal for natural early lamb production because of the mild winter climate due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. The native Defaid Llŷn (Lleyn Sheep) play a vital role in our lamb production programme.


The family philosophy towards the farm is to use a proactive management approach and have the business evolve constantly."