Heritage Flock - PNRA Parc Régional National d'Armorique

Recently I ventured deep in the heart of Brittany, it is a magical place, where myth and legend come to life. The area is rich with celtic symbolism and the geography and landscape does much to draw you close to its beating heart.  Its dark corners hide goblins and faeries in equal measure.

Nestled into the landscape is Ménez Meur seat of the Parc Régional National d'Armorique.  LINK here is a flock of Ouessant sheep  whose origins can be established back to the earliest days of the breed.  They are without doubt a flock whose heritage is a long one.

I was fortunate to visit the flock earlier this year, I was able to spend a quite a bit of time with the flocks (one white, one black)  and came away with the  lasting impression that the breed is in sound hands.  I may have also come away with a sheep  or two oops:-)

Gaia (PNRA)

The importance of recognising the connection of this breed with its cultural home cannot be underestimated and is never more in evidence than when you visit their native region. My trip into Finistère ( the end of the earth) was all too short and I will make time to return.

Ramly Headaches

Ti'beau has a set of horns that would give anyone  a headache,  but I was thinking more along the lines of keeping rams and unbred ewes on the same site.  A recent conversation reminded me that I am lucky to be able to house my rams seperately to the ewes when needed, in such a way that the rams cannot stress over not getting to the ewes when they are on heat. This isn't the case for everyone and keeping rams and unbred ewes apart, fences in place and stress levels down when they are in close proximity can be difficult.

Owning a ram comes with a set of responsibilities, no matter how calm and docile out of breeding season the hormonal influence cannnot be under estimated when an on heat ewe is around. They can become dangerous and even a Ouessant ram can cause injury. Think carefully what the reasons are behind a decision to own a ram, if you really want to breed then there is no reason not to look at the options for  the loan of a ram for a breeding season. Problems associated with in-breeding can be avoided and you still have the option for lambs without the difficulties of a testosterone fuelled set of horns for more than a few weeks at most.  The alternative is to own and all male flock, bachelor groups of rams work very well provided there are no ewes in the vicinity to upset the balance.

This years breeding groups will be together for a maximum period of six weeks, long enough for the ewes to cycle a second time if not bred the first time around. After that the rams will all rejoin the bachelor group and peace and tranquility will be restored for everyone.

Il est parfois difficile quand vous avez le ou les béliers au même endroit que les femelles  surtout s'il y en a que vous voudriez pas reproduire pour un raison où l'autre. Malheureusement souvent ceux qui débutent avec un couple ( mâle et femelle ) tombent sur ce problème  assez vite à cause du consanguinité et le fait qu'il est souvent plus difficile  à placer les mâles. Un bélier même si c'est un mouton d'Ouessant peut être agressif s'il est frustré et qu'il sent une brebis en chaleur.  A devenir propriétaire d'un bélier n'est pas sans responsabilité. Un troupeau des moutons constitué des femelles et les mâles castré peut être un solution. Si vous voudriez des naissances,  à trouver quelqu'un à vous prêter un  mâle peut être un option à fin de limiter les difficultés . 
L'option d'avoir un troupeau constitué seulement des mâles  est impressionnant  à voir et moins  turbulent  qu'un mâle séparé des femelles. Il n'est pas obligatoire à prendre un mâle  avec une femelle surtout si vous n'avez pas l'expérience, soyez prudent, mais n'oubliez pas un mouton seul est un mouton malheureux il faut au mois deux.

Gary and the Giggly Girls

 Gary having a back scratch

This years ewe lambs are not being bred, one reason amongst several is because of  Schmallenberg disease. It falls to Gary  then, the long suffering wether to keep them company. Gary is extremely paternal and takes his duties seriously, however he is long suffering, the giggly girls are so named because they can behave like a group of hysterical teenagers at times. Gary offers them a stable influence always  calm and collected, when the time comes I'm not sure how we'll do without him. Neither are the giggly girls.

Tonton Gary ( mâle castré) reste avec les agnelles de l'année qui seront pas mise à la reproduction, à cause de la risque du virus schmallenberg. Elles lui adorent, il est doux, calme et toujours là au moments d'angoisse. Bon continuation Gary et bon courage!

Getting Fresh

The rams are in full rut and even though they are still no ewes in sight they jostle between them for position. No harm done, the bachelor group is a tight knit community of rams of a range of ages. Each has learnt their place in the hierarchy and even if there is always a youngster willing to chance his luck with one of the mature rams, for the most part the group is peaceable.  Soon I will put the breeding groups together, the final decisions are not yet made and probably won't be until the day the rams go in. Tonight the wind is also freshening, I suspect there will be more damage than the ramly scuffles of last night.

C'est la saison de lutte, on  le voit bien. Les béliers bousculent entre eux. Il n'y a pas de danger, la hiérarchie est bien établi, même si  ça n'empêche pas les jeunes à taquiner les adultes. Il  y a encore du temps avant que  je  mets les béliers avec les  brebis, les décisions sont pas encore finalisé, entre temps soit gentil.....

Dreamy

I rather like the soft focus on the picture. Minimax looking dreamy

J'aime bien  le flou de cette photo, Minimax rêveur

Early Morning Lie-ins

Getting some clear photos of the ram lambs developing horns has been impossible. However with chillier later morning starts the rams are not so keen to get up in the mornings and I am able to catch them napping before they start the day. Finally an updated photos of Eusa the watch word for this season is definately horn symmetry and his are just perfect. I will get some photos for horn comparisons on the blog soon but this years horns are definately ones I will be watching for some time to come.

Il à été presque impossible à photographier  le développement des cornes des jeunes béliers mais je profite des graisses matinées. Enfin une photo à jour de Eusa, à suivre mais j'aime bien le symétrie de ses cornes. Dès que je peux je ferai un article à comparer ses cornes avec les autres de l'année.

Suited and Booted

Ushant - Complete with cravat! / Avec cravate!

Gone Fishing....

Some fish need a different kind of bait. 

Teen Angst

Ok that may be exagerating things somewhat, watching the lambs grow  is always a fun time but you want them all to do well, grow well and look beautiful. Right now I am evaluating last years lambs as their fleeces come off, it is interesting comparing their photos from last year at around this time to now as yearlings without their rugs. Between now and then for this years lambs as the fleeces start to grow it becomes more difficult to really judge how they look. It has to be said that at this stage this fella doesn't disappoint, I only hope I feel the same in 12 months once his fleece is off and his horns have grown. Speaking of  horns..... trying to work out what his are doing  at this stage is  impossible but I'll keep taking photos!!


La vie est belle pour les agneaux de cette année et ils sont beaux, mais  rien est sûr. Il est à voir si  en été de l'année prochaine qu'ils seront encore  beaux après la tonte. 

Listening

There are times when your senses are so tuned in to another that you are as aware of their body as you are of your own. The other evening I was priviledged to share one of those moments. As Lodicia listened intently  to her body in the throws of labour, the calm still evening and the dimly lit surroundings only served to intensify that focus. We shared that moment before her lamb was born, afterwards, exhaustion, elation, all those emotions that new life brings with them but the joy of Lodicias lambing was in touching the intangible and knowing that she felt it too.

Judging Ouessants Dutch Style

The opportunity to visit Holland for a second time and enjoy not only the hospitality but to add in a little sheep viewing was too good to turn down. The presentation of Ouessants at Didam was  hosted by the  "Fokkersvereniging Ouessantschapen" or FOS which is a lot easier for me to say! There was a nice entry, general observations where that black and brown Ouessants were well represented with only two whites  entered.

As is customary in Holland all the adult sheep were both measured and weighed.

Scales

La toise - height 

For me one notable aspect was how relaxed it all was , the use of one handler per sheep and the recent addition of camping chairs was deluxe in comparison to some of the frenetic dashes and chaotic melees  for judging  I have seen and made the whole affair much easier to follow and of course less stressful on all participants. 

There was plenty of time to sit and chat, enjoy the ambiance and the sheep of course. More of those in another post. 

GEMO 2009 St Rivoal National Competition

This year I decided to take two sheep to the show. The shows are not just about competing with sheep but a chance for breeders and those with an interest in the breed to come together, spend alot of time leaning over railings, discussing sheep and the politics of the sheepy world. If at this point you are yawning then you have missed the point of the show entirely. For those of us with an interest in the breed this IS where it gets interesting!

Solaia and Koudou were not entirely thrilled with the crack of dawn start but at least they travelled comfortably. Health and transport regs mean that the flock must meet the legal requirements including brucellosis testing, vaccinations for Blue Tongue 1 and 8 as well as ensuring all the relevant treatments to prevent any transport of extra midges or other disease vectors. A little bit of an effort for the paperwork but on arrival everything is checked.
Tag numbers, next year we move to microchipping ( plenty of discussion on that topic!)


and of course for Ouessants the inevitable height measurement, care is taken to place the sheep correctly. Here one of Koudou's competitiors looking really nice.


Entrants have stalls for their sheep, the sheep are on view to the public and there are always plenty of curious people with lots of questions.

TV was there too. This ram entered by a first time competitor did very well.

The ubiquitous 2 hour french lunch. Here some members of the public enjoying some of the many stalls catering for a variety of tastes. Breeders, many of whom had travelled quite some distance were able enjoy a good meal curtesy of the Parc Regional National d'Armorique.
And so to the judges, the judges had travelled far and wide, here along with two french judges Lawrent Wynant BOV ( Vice- President Belgian breed society) and Horst Roller IGOU ( Head of the German breed club)

And then to the showing, this guy took Prix d'honneur or Champion white ram (adult) .

and this guy was champion of champions and a very worthy winner he looked stunning.

So how did we do?



Koudou des Lutins du Montana Prix d'Honneur
Yearling white ram





Solaia (Billes) Prix d'Honneur
Yearling black ewe





I had to use a previous photo of Solaia she is extremely difficult to photograph and as usual I just got a shot of her peering out from hiding behind others, shes the second one in.

I am chuffed to bits, it is with HUGE thanks to their breeders, Dominique Morzynski once again for trusting me with one of his rams. To have taken the prix d'honneur two years on the trot with one of Dominique's just goes to show the consistancy in his breeding.

And to Claude Billes I was struck with his breeding the very first time I saw his sheep and he never disappoints. Solaia beat one of Claudes own ewes for first place but it was a close thing both were very nice . I'm just pleased he was gracious enough to let me have Solaia.

More to follow.............