Ecoferme

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• Fencing the best fencing for sheep is 1-1.20m high sheep netting, with 1 or 2 strands of barbed wire on top ( mainly to stop people hopping over the fence). An Electric fence can be used but some sheep will run at the fence knowing that there wool will act as an isolator. Best to used a woven fence or stands of barbed wire the other side of the posts, to stop them running at it. Once use to the electric fence, this can be an affective way.
• Goats, Angora goat will keep in the same type fences as sheep will, but not electric meshing for angoras they will keep pushing, rather than back out the meshing when getting a shock. For Pygmy's electric fences work well, 1 metre high with 4 strands or electric meshing. Also sheep netting but best to back it up with a strand of electric at nose hight, to stop them pushing on the fence. Milking goats, an electric fence 1.30 high with 4 strands, electric meshing or netting 1.30/1.40 with a strand of electric. Also tethering works well.

• Shelter: a three sided shed will suffice, with the option of putting a barrier across the front. so as - to call them in with some corn, making catching them easier, for worming ect..

• Feeding Sheep eat grass, Goats prefer brambles, leaves , weeds, although angoras like grass. Both need hay when there's lack of food plus when the grass is lush/wet. Fresh water should always be available. Salt and mineral licks are a good idea. They probably don't need cereals but its a good idea to give them Wheat or barley, just a handful or so, a day, to keep them running to you, when you call them. Animals in milk and weanling's may need feeding some cereals, to keep there weight on. Avoid giving them too much sweet corn as it can make them too fat, causing prolapse uterus in ewes. Big sheep & goats, depending on the grass, can be stocked at 7-10 sheep per hectare, Pygmy's and ouessants twice as many.

• Rare Breeds As with other rare breeds emphasise is made on 'Use the or lose them' Help Conservation - by eating the produce of rare breeds (surplus males)  encourages more people to keep more of them and therefore increasing the numbers bred and kept, saving rare breeds from extinction. This also makes breeders keep only the best for breeding  and discouraging breeding ram with conformation faults

• 3 ways of helping increase rare breed numbers is to
• start a breeding flock and help increase the numbers
• keep some sheep to help maintain your landscape
• buy produces from rare breeds ,meat, rugs, wool, garments

   

• Ecoferme's goals We breed for the preservation of the race characteristic and sound correct conformation. Increasing the genetic pool without interbreeding.  Encouraging others in breeding primitive breeds for the well being of future generations. Production and raising abilities of the ewes are also substantial criteria for the creation of each breeds survivable, as is the rams need for high fertility. 

The ouessant sheep originates from the ile d'ouessant. 
It is the smallest naturally occurring sheep in the world- around 46-49cm at the withers and weighing 12 -19kg. The most common colour is black, but they can also be brown, grey and white. They give birth to a single lamb following a gestation of 5 months , twins are rare. The lambs are quick maturing being weaned at 3/4 month.  Most spring lambs will give birth the following spring.
Quessants are a rustic breed, being happy to stay out all year.  They are often used as a companion animal and for keeping lawns short. . We use there wool for spinning into garments.
Other uses: like all sheep- meat & skin

 You can't get much more exotic looking than the cameroon sheep , its a breed which stands out in any flock.

Origin
The cameroon sheep is a small domesticated sheep which was developed in western Africa, they belong to the mouflon group, which originated in Western Asia, Corsica and Sardinia.  They are a hair breed of sheep, their smooth dense hair resembles that of deers more than goat. The hair coat allows the cameroon to tolerate the hot temperatures in Africa. In winter they grown a soft wool downing to protect them from the cold. In spring this under-downing is shed, meaning cameroons do not require shearing.  They can be kept outdoors all year round, although shelter against severe weather conditions, must be available, as they particularly hate rain. Cameroon sheep have a strong herd instinct, they move very much like a school of fish, twisting and turning in a flow as they decide to change direction, rather then most sheep blindness stamped scurry. They tend to be shy, alert and ready to flee.  Although with daily human contact they will become friendly ,  eat out your hands and  let you stroke them, like most animals when food arrive on the scene you have all on moving, as they mingle between your legs! With their small stature, they are easy to handle, as once caught they are docile.
Cameroon sheep are very prolific and reach puberty very early ( from around 5 months on). They are aseasonal and can produce two lamb crops per year. Fertility rate is 150% which means 3 weaned lambs per year is possible. They lamb easily without help or assistance. Because of their origin  Cameroon sheep are extremely disease resistant and problem-free sheep..  No wool means no problem with blowfly which in France is common and fatal is most cases.

The standard colour for cameroons is dark golden to red, with the belly, inner sides of the legs and facial markings being black. The tip of the tail is white which is naturally short and does not require docking. Other rarer colors can occur however, including inverse pattern: black body and golden- red stomach and inner parts of the legs or solid black sheep and painted colour occur. The male is horned and muscular with a long hairy lion mane round his neck which is usually sheded in spring. Rams are not aggressive. The females are natural polled and have a delicate feminine appearance which appears almost deer like.  

They are a small sized sheep, with adults (after 2 years old) Rams weighing 45-60 kg & Ewes 35-50 kg. 

 Height at the withers Rams 60-70 cm & ewes 58-65 cm . 

 Most breeders keep them for meat. The goal in selection is animals with valuable meat parts to the back and thighs. The lean red meat is similar in both taste and appearance to game rather than the usual lamb. The taste is excellent, even in the older rams the taste is exquisite . They grow quickly with lambs of 5-8 months producing a carcass of 10-16 kg.  lifespan is 10-15 years. 

 Origin

The skudde (or skudden) sheep is an old landrace breed, currently on the endangered breed list.

 Up to the beginning of the 20thCentury they roamed the Baltic, Swiss alps and eastern Prussia.  The exact breeding and origination of this primitive breed is uncertain, There is strong proof of the skuddes existence in this area since the iron age. In fact aarchaeological digs have found the first humans remains with wollen clothing, made from skudde sheep wool.   Although its still undecided if there were already Skudden sheep in other regions at this time.  They are often referred to as the ''sheep of the Vikings''  being a domestic animal that moved with them. Meaning they are likely the ancestors of the Celtic breeds, like the Shetland, Icelandic, Manx, and soay. They are thought to be direct descendants of the stone age sheep. Making them not only culture-historically important, but also genetically very valuable. Being one of the purist breeds in existence.

In 1930 there were 70,000 skudde sheep and in 1936 the numbers had dropped to 3600 pure skuddes. By 1945 the skuddes were nearly extinct due to the 2nd world war and the Gold race in its country of origin . Thanks to of few zoos and small farmers the race was just saved.  There is currently 1000-3000 pure skudde in the world. (making them rarer than a rare breed )

Breed characterictes

The skudde is a small hardy and robust sheep with great resistance to disease. They are noble and agile creatures. Their alert behaviour has similarities with that of primitive and wild breeds of sheep. Being always on the look out for danger.  They have strong a herd instincts, straying together as a group and not scatted like many breeds, making them easier for the shepherd to survey. Some animals  in the herd set themselve on watch and there is always kind Aunt that watches over the playing lambs of other ewes . At regular contact with humans, the animals become tame and will eat food from your hands. Here at ecoferme our skudden flock is bucket trained, meaning they come immediately when called and enter their building without hesitation for the night. Like all animals they like a routine and will be waiting at the gate to be put to bed. 

Rams have large beautifully spiraled snail horns but despite this impressive appearance they are not aggressive or hostile. Ewes are normally hornless or may process stubs. The head is wedge-shaped occupied with a broad forehead and a fine nasal bone. They have small pointed upward-arranged ears. Black pigmented noses and eye lids are further typical characteristics of the Skudden. The body is short to medium. The tail is naturally short (no need to dock) and slightly hairy. The legs are strong and fine with little hard hoofs. 

• Mature rams  45-50 kg, 50 to 60 cm high.
• An adult ewe weighs 35 to 40 kg at an altitude of 45 to 55 cm
• They are fully mature (stop growing) at 2 -3 years

  The race is characterized by a good fertility and asaisonale rut (eg they breed all year round) having usually 2 lambs, with 3-4 birthing every two years.  They are long lived and keep reproducing into old age. Young ewes may be covered only if they are fully grown normally around a year old. The breed processes strong mothering instincts, with lambs being born problem-free without human assistance. Lambs are thrifty and quick to get on there feet and suckle.

  Wool

  Skudde sheep can be white, black, golden brown and blue with black fur on legs & head. Although the most common color is white, with lambs sometimes having a rust-colored marking on the nape of the neck and legs. This coloring disappears in adults. The original Skudden also had multi colored and speckled fleeces which is no longer desired in today's breeding, being certified as being no longer pure bred. The fiber typical of this race is a mixed fleece, consists of very fine underwool and coarse guard hair coverage.  Average yearly wool growth is around 12cm long and 1.5 - 2.5kg in weight. The underwool is suitable for spinning into fine garment once run through a dehairing machine, or can be spun natural unto an array of beautiful naturally coloured rugs and blankets. This wool also lends its self to being felted as the guard hair are evenly intermingled with the wool giving it  super water repelling properties suitable for making into shepherds hooded cloaks.  The wool can be spun and plyed into useful strong rope. In the past the breed naturally shed its fleece but this characteristic was out-bred.

  Maintenance

  

  The skudde is happy living outdoor all year round. A normal sheep mesh fence will contain them, of 1.20cm. With a simple shelter from the sun or prolonged rain is desirable.  This breed lives happily on moors, heather and mountain regions. Skudden are suitable to use today for landscape conservation in lean locations. They is little discriminating with food intake and they even consume, thistles, leaves and weeds.

Meat

The gourmet meat of the Skudde is a specicaty product which is highly succulent lean (low in calories) & tasty without a sharp sheep or strong gamey taste. Although they have slower growth and a lighter slaughter weight than commancal breeds. This is well reimbursed by them being able to turn rugged grazing pastures, scrub and whole grains into natural organic meat which makes commercially fattened lamb taste like soayer. They can be culled as lambs at 6-8 months or can be reared on to the next year as hoggets at 15-18months for a bigger caresses with more richer flavor.  Butchering cutting cuts are similar to goats kid. 

Other uses included cosy sheep skin rugs in natural colours, buckskin leather, product made from horns buttons , toggle.  reenactments tools made from bone and horns. This is a heritage breed 

We have a small flock of Suffolk, texel & Charolais sheep They live outside all year. Feeding on chemical free natural meadow grass, whole grains & spring water.
We selectively breed our flock for hardiness and twin births and nice wool.

They keep us in meat for the table, for all the year .
We tan their skins, into soft sheep skin rugs.
We also spin there fleece into a variety of garments and for roof insulation.

Angora goats are a very beautiful and docile breed. They grow a luxury fiber called mohair. They are sheared twice a year, in march/April and again in September, giving 1.5 -3kg of mohair per shearing.

This breed is very small, 43-50cm at the withers & weighs 9 -20kg.

They are born with a variety of coat colors having long & smooth hair. Bred as family pets and for clearing woodland bottoms.