Our Sheep have Arrived!

 

The day I have waited for, prayed for and hoped for has finally arrived. I have been wanting sheep ever since I was a kid! I remember going to our Pastor's house and just watching his sheep. I honestly never thought this day would arrive. But it has! We wanted a tri-purpose breed so that we could get the most from the sheep. We knew we wanted a heritage breed. I want to milk our ewes and make cheese, yogurt, skin care items. I also wanted to harvest the wool to spin into yarn, insulate, use the droppings as a fertilizer and use as a mulch in our garden. What other type of livestock can do all of this?

We had narrowed it down to the Clun Forest breed of sheep. They are also listed on the Livestock Conservancy threatened list. So we will be adding rams to breed to our girls. Hopefully we can help to increase the knowledge and sustainability of this wonderful breed!

We were having so much trouble locating ewes that could be breeding stock. Which means they needed to be registered with the North American Clun Forest Association. We went through most of the breeders on the eastern seaboard with no luck. We had no way (or the funds) to have them transported here. I just kept praying that if the Lord wanted us to breed these then we knew He would find a way. 

I decided to hit social media to see if anyone knew of a breeder or anyone selling their registered ewes. Let me tell you God came through in an amazing way! A woman reached out to me stating she was getting rid of her Clun Forest ewes. She was offering us an amazing deal! So we all got to work building a temporary shelter. After a week it was complete at very minimal cost to us. We used wood pallets from around town, wood we had here on the farm. 

They all need to be sheared in a bad way, but I have that scheduled for a couple of weeks. They were very frightened at first, but started to warm up to us pretty quickly. The ewes are 2 years old, they had lambs in late February and early March. So the lambs will be up for sale as soon as they are ready. I am completely in love!

Look at that profile!! Since the lambs can be weaned soon I plan on getting them use to the milking stand. They actually let me examine their utters this afternoon. I cannot wait to start getting milk! 

We have not named them just yet. But we are going with a Beatrix Potter theme to name them. We will pick a different theme each year for the names. 

The lambs are a Clun Forest / Finn Sheep mix. We might keep one of the ewe lambs and try breeding her to see what we end up with for milking. 

Look at that sweet boy! This is the ram lamb. Look at those eye lashes! He was enjoying my barn boots..YUCK!

This is one of the ewes. I just love those little faces. One of our Mennonite neighbors stopped over yesterday to see our sheep. They might purchase one from us. 

Another shot of the Ram lamb. He was very photogenic! IT feels so good to just go outside and see and visit with our sheep. We are still in shock that they have been entrusted to us by God. They will not only nourish our bodies, but cloth them as well with the wool that I will spin into yarn. 

I hope you enjoyed this quick look at our new family members. I will be back to share with you all the good things that sheep do for us. Have a great day!