2. Meet our Valais Blacknose Sheep

Jasper and Jingle

April and Alymer delivering the first arrivals, July 2022

Jeenie and JoJo

2nd arrivals, December 2022

Jericho

June 2023

After meeting champion Swiss Valais Blacknose Sheep breeder April Higgins and visiting the farm, I agreed to buy two lambs once they had been weaned from their mothers. A couple of months later in July 2022, April delivered two gorgeous, fluffy mischief-makers. As they came out of their straw-lined trailer and hopped into the field I was completely smitten. These were two what are called wether lambs, i.e. castrated males.

Being born a boy on a sheep farm does not have the best outcome, and as with other livestock, most go into meat production. April’s sheep are not bred for meat, and her goal is always to produce the best of the best in terms of genetics and breed standard to sell to people who wish to start their own pedigree flock.

Typically in sheep farms, top-quality ewes (females) are retained as what are referred to as “replacements”, meaning that as older females come to the end of their lives the younger ones replace them. This means that keeping a ‘closed flock’ is possible, where breeders are not buying and bringing in animals, raising the risk for disease transfer, but are breeding their replacement young stock in-house.

When male lambs are born, in the case of Swiss Valais Blacknose, they are assessed for the quality of their distinctive black markings which are very specifically determined by the Swiss Valais Blacknose Society and by extension the Irish Valais Blacknose Society.

They are also assessed for their body conformation (shape, strength, straightness of limbs etc) and their overall suitability for breeding. Only a choice few will be left ‘entire’ meaning, uncastrated and suitable for breeding. The ones that are not perfectly marked will be castrated because those imperfect markings will be bred into the next generation which is not desirable.  When breeding pedigree animals, it is essential to always only work with the very best examples of the type, because otherwise there is a gradual decline in quality of stock through poor genetic matching and reproduction.

Also, only one ram is needed for multiple females. So the wether (male castrated) lambs need a job. This breed being particularly friendly and quiet are great for pet farms, for smallholders, for children living on farms for whom high energy commercial meat sheep are too hard to handle, and also due to their magnificent white fleeces, for wool production.

In Switzerland where they come from originally, they are what is called a multi-purpose breed, meaning that they are bred for meat, the milk is used in cheesemaking, and their fleeces shorn anually for wool.  

For pedigree animals top quality is what is required and often it can be something very small that will determine that a lamb will not be destined for breeding. My two lambs arrived, with their not quite 100% perfect markings. Sometimes the flaws are so minor it is borderline, and in any case, it was not important for their job here: eating grass, and entertaining everyone.

They rose to the occasion and captured our hearts plus those of any visitors. Jasper and Jingle like little twins, followed each other everywhere and were utterly adorable.  

Their names beginning with ‘J’ prove their year of birth. It follows a system where each year pedigree animals are named with their official flock name, combined with a name starting with a letter for the year of their birth, which continues on alphabetically. 2022 was allocated to J. The system makes it easy to know how old animals are and is a standard across breeds.  

A couple of months later, April contacted me to see if I would be interested in buying two pedigree ewes from her. This was a fantastic opportunity to assess, because April’s stock is usually booked a year in advance, and a change in circumstances with a client had meant that two females were now unexpectedly available for sale. April knew that we possibly might be looking at increasing numbers in 2024 but here was a chance to get a year ahead.  

Jeenie and Jo-Jo arrived, in the depths of winter, followed a few months later by our pedigree handsome ram Jericho from breeder Michael Healy of Holmes Valais way up at the top of Ireland in Malin Head, Donegal. Michael has a fantastic ram called Gigolo (what a great name!) who is the father of this magnificent boy. The farm is stunning, with a beautiful traditional cottage on it, which Michael has painstakingly restored. He uses it mostly in Springtime to stay and watchover his flock during lambing season, but visits to his farm with his pal Eamon if not possible, happen via webcam - a great combination of traditional setting and modern technology at work. Michael kindly had us as his guests when we went to collect Jericho during an incredibly hot Bank Holiday weekend.

Michael Healy's restored cottage, and location for his flock of sheep in Malin Head, Donegal.

Talk about an immersive experience: wake up in this beautiful part of Ireland, in a stunning cottage, go for an icy swim at nearby Culdaff beach, have a few pints in the village pub, then next day bring a gorgeous new ram home! Mr. Seriously Handsome Jericho was so relaxed and non-plussed about everything too, considering this was a very long journey to his new home.

Kyle

July 2023

While visiting Donegal to meet a few breeders, I called to Anglea Donnelly’s farm to view her lambs and rams. Angela (Farmachla is her flock name) breeds different rare breeds plus commercial sheep. She is another person who loves her sheep so much, honestly it was a struggle to choose one. So I picked a little dote, only about 8 weeks old at the time, a baby ram lamb called Kyle (born March 2023) and when he arrived in July, he completed the little gang. He is an absolute character, the friendliest and cheekiest of all. JoJo and Jeenie are unrelated, so it made sense to plan ahead and have two different rams for the girls to allow us develop two lines, and thus avoid in-breeding with their offspring.

In my next post I will explain all about our other gorgeous breed - Herdwicks!