Say What?

              " Have you seen Myrtles new haircut?"                           "mmmmnnn"

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

Claim to Fame

César- Adult Ouessant Ram

There is an oft quoted phrase associated with the breed. The mouton d'Ouessant - the worlds smallest breed of sheep. Whilst the Ouessant sheep is certainly small  and could be considered one of the smallest, there are other contenders for the title such as the Garole sheep. The Ouessants claim is not without merit however.

What about Frances only native short tailed breed of sheep - I think that deserves a mention. European short tailed breeds of sheep belong to an exclusive group, most of which are to be found in northern Europe notably nordic  and baltic countries - the Ouessant sheep  geographically is out on a limb, it is also one of the least developed, its small size has meant it has been considered largely redundant in terms of commercial agriculture for many generations. 

How about Frances most primitive and therefore oldest breed of sheep.  For such a small breed of sheep it has some impressive claims to fame.

For information on the breed and some of its vital statistics visit the Ecomusée du pays de Rennes  LINK   It is refreshing to see the breed in context with the other breton breeds and also the acknowledgement that far from being an insular variety of a mainland breed it is considered the archaeic form.


Le Mouton d'Ouessant parfois nommé le plus petit mouton du monde - une vérité même s'il y a d'autres candidats pour le titre. Le mouton de Garole par exemple. 

On peut dire aussi la seule race de mouton à queue courte d'origine française. Les races de moutons à queue courte sont pour le plupart trouvés aux pays nordiques et baltes,  le Ouessant est considéré  à faire partie du  même groupe. La race ovine  française le plus primitif  donc la race le plus archaique,  une liste impressionnant pour un mouton si petit.

Pour plus d'infos sur la race surtout en contexte avec les autres races de moutons bretonnes cliquez Ecomusée du pays de Rennes  LIEN
 

Broken Skies

Tonight for the first time in what seems like weeks the sky is overcast and there is a freshness on the breeze. It has been glorious, sultry and hot. The sweet smell of hay fills the barn once again and summer moves forward. Long may it continue:-)

Un ciel orageux, mais un été  splendide, il n'y a rien de mieux :-)

Candidly

Eusa, a natural in front of the camera /  Eusa, à l'aise devant l'objectif

Naturally Ouessant

I am determined to  make some inroads into the amount of fleece and fibre that is accumulating. However I couldn't help stopping for a few minutes to put together this basket of goodies. The knitted panier is a kind gift from Fanou and is a mix of Ouessant fibre and angora rabbit, it  is just perfect for displaying some of the variety of natural colours. All the fleece here has been roo'ed and then combed.

Le panier tricoté par Fanou de la laine d'un de mes moutons et d'un lapin angora est parfait à vous montrer la beauté des couleurs naturelles qu'on peut trouver chez le mouton d'Ouessant. Toute la laine sur la  photo était épilée et puis peignée. 

Inadvertant Introductions

New acquisitions can inadvertantly bring with them a whole host of uninvited guests. It is wise to assume no matter how scrupulous people can be that new stock may be harbouring parasites that don't have to be introduced to your pastures.

I alway take care to ensure that sheep and lambs coming from outside the flock are treated for internal and external parasites prior to letting them onto my pastures. Of course it may be a lot longer before I get any decent photos of them!

 La mise en quarantaine de tous les nouveaux arrivés  est le meilleur façon à protéger le troupeau contre les introductions non invité. Un traitement  pour  les parasites interne et externe est obligatoire en même temps. 

Gone Fishing....

Some fish need a different kind of bait. 

Tactician

As the fleeces come off the sheep my fingers job is to learn as much as is possible about each one of them. Armed with new knowledge from my spinning exploits, my fingers run through the fleeces teasing and testing the fibre to get a "sense " of  its qualities and the differences between fleeces.  This is  part of the process  that I really enjoy. Most of my fleeces have been rooed this year, gone are the prickle sharp ends of the hairs to be replaced by smooth silky fibres.  I imagine how they will spin on the wheel. To try to illustrate this texture in photography is another art and one that I also enjoy experimenting with, I'm not sure I've captured it yet but I have a few more ideas.

La laine des antenaises est la plus douce de toutes les toisons, encore plus douce s'il est possible  à épiler la toison au lieu de  la tondre. Quel plaisir pour mes doigts à connaître chaque mouton en profondeur. Quel plaisir à comprendre la laine et ses qualités de cette façon

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.