Moments.........from the GEMO Show

I wanted to try to pick a selection of photos that brought together a more intimate perspective of the show. The camera is ideal for capturing a look or a feel, so here is a different kind of focus.

Touchant

Douceur

Turbulence

Patience

Judgements

Un regard

Eyeing up the competition

It has been hard to sort the photos this year, truly I have been spoilt for choice and even though the day was not the best for photography for several reasons looking through the photos of the day, I have been pleasantly surprised at how many are quite serviceable. This head study of a black ram just leapt off the page at me.  Beautiful!!

Judgely decisions were not always easy

and opinions were sometimes split

 but everyone was checking out the competition.........

There was little to complain about on any count.  More soon.....

GEMO Concours National 2013

Vaillant Ewes

This year the National Competition for Ouessant sheep took place at Brécé - Ile et Vilaine. Not too far from home. It was good to see the return of Patrice Royer's sheep to the competition  after three years absence.  It was also good to see some of the newer breeders return once again, surely bitten by the bug. There was a high standard overall and a good entry of over 100 sheep. A significant change this year is the option to bring sheep who aren't entered for the competition but who can still be examined for a certificate of conformity to the standard.
With limited places available and a high standard of sheep in general it can be hard to provide encouragement to newer breeders and reassure them of the standard of their sheep if they are not in the select group of prize winners. The certificates of conformity provide not just breeders but prospective purchasers with the assurance that they are buying sheep that can be considered of the breed.

I chose only two sheep to take this year both home bred, one for the competition and one for a certificate of conformity. Lets just say I wasn't disappointed on either score. I'll post a selection of photos from the day in due course. For now just a couple of candid shots.

Hercules Ballentyne - arriving in style

Ouessant Couture!

Its a bit of an animal........

Sombre Shades

As the shadows lengthen, summer ripens.

 Plus que l'ombre s'allonge, les fruits d'été murissent.

Chinchin!

Wow those colours really fizz!

Eclatant!

Dyed in the Wool

Time for a little indulgence, I am venturing into the world of dyeing wool or fleece or yarn. I don't really have anything specific in mind just  thought it was about time I started to explore few avenues. These are food dyes and the little pots with their lids on was just  too good a photo opportunity to pass up. I have no expectations  and I'm sure I'll be trying a few different methods and dyes to get some sense of where things are going.  Results later.

Faut être patient  - je suis  stagiaire au monde de teinture de la laine. Aujourd'hui la teinture alimentaire. Je ne cherche rien de spécifique,  c'est un essai à voir......... et  ça fait des jolies photos en plus. Résultats plus tard.

Sizzlin!

Personally I enjoy the heat, when it is crisp and dry although it has to be said its not conducive to growing grass, its high summer here in Brittany and it shows.  Whatever surplus of hay farmers were gleefully stocking earlier in the year is in danger of being required now. The corn has been cut and the fields are golden. The sheep are sensibly conserving their energy - lazy sunshine days, bliss:-)

Under The Skin....EID

Dont you just love the way these types of consultations are brought in as quietly as possible, hopefully no one will notice. Fortunately someone did and I for one am very pleased that this issue has yet to go away.

There has already been a dispensation granted for some parcs here in France who maintain ornamental flocks of sheep on view to the public to dispense with plastic ear tags in favour of subcutaneous microchips as was announced in the most recent GEMO bulletin.  Thank goodness some advocacy exists out there for breeders who are not satisfied with the current one cap fits all approach. Its a shame that the option to microchip was not investigated  more throughly at an earlier stage.  I look foward to future announcements. LINK  to the site page and consultation paper for the UK.

Puce électronique  sous-cutanée  bien tôt pour moutons non-destiné pour la consomption? Qui sait.... à voir.

La Paperasserie

With any flock of sheep comes a certain amount of paperwork.  Some of which is required for keeping track of  health, breeding and the flock in general. There are other formalities to ensure that state administrative requirements are met. In general once the systems are in place, the paperwork pretty much looks after itself and updating any changes within the flock is relatively straightforward. For the last three years generating any administrative paperwork to meet the requirements has been a logistical nightmare. The failure to foresee the difficulties associated with the introduction of electronic identification particularly in relation to the Ouessant sheep has meant that many flocks have gone three years without  the means to  satisfactorily identify animals. This has included animals coming in from outside flocks as well as lambs born to the holding.

What a farce! In addition national requirements for flock testing for brucellosis has meant that there is a REQUIREMENT to have animals properly identified to ensure it's possible to tally up blood results with individual sheep. Added complications of the national departmental databases which means each department generates its own system  including computerisation of records ordering and such has meant that  no generalised approach can be translated for every breeder.  In short the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, neither is it possible to co-ordinate  nationally a definative policy - resulting in a shambolic system with advocacy on behalf of the breeder sadly lacking.

Continual delays in the introduction of EID tags which are suitable for small breeds  of sheep has meant that the latest batch of yellow monstrosities arrived for my flock at the end of June. The first official tags for three years..... needless to say the work to bring the flock up to date has been frustrating and  what is rarely more than a nod towards administrative duties was a logistical nightmare to ensure that old and new numbers tally as did the actual sheep being tagged.

The flocks numbering system might be back on track in about three more years, the flock sports a variety of tags and  coloured lumps of plastic. I have no satisfactory system for identifying lambs that doesn't involve retagging at a later stage and still the sheep lose their tags and now ears in fences.

A congratulatory pat on the back for finally bringing in an alternative to cattle sized tags ............what price progress.


C'est la folie Ca y est, après trois ans le troupeau est à jour, .....plus ou moins. Félicitations   pour la situation d'aujourd'hui.


 

Summer Nights

Freshly shorn - Fraichement tondu

Life is good - La vie est belle