Our friend, Bill Kersey, had retirement plans that included raising sheep. He researched breeds extensively and traveled to out-of-state farms before deciding that Finnsheep were for him. He purchased a small herd and moved them to his farm just outside Peterstown in Monroe County. Then he had to retire from the sheep business because of a foot ailment that limited his time with the animals. Rather than sell them at the market, he let me have four pregnant ewes, an unrelated ram and a wether( a castrated male sheep) to keep the ram company.
Sheep farming was new to us. We’ d never even heard of Finnsheep. While we didn’ t expect them to be terribly difficult, we were not prepared for how much fun these sheep can be.
Finnsheep are a little smaller than other breeds, very docile, and generally excellent, nurturing mothers. Adding to the ease of care, they are naturally polled( no horns) and have short tails, so no tail docking. Multiple births are common. In two lambing seasons, we’ ve never had a birth of just one lamb.
Our first delivery was on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Big Mama had four babies. That was when we first realized that sheep have only two teats. The third and fourth lambs have to be pretty aggressive to win a place at the dinner table. Also, if a lamb can’ t stand up to nurse, mom walks away. It doesn’ t seem very compassionate, but it is the way of sheep and Mother Nature. After four months of bottle-feeding three rejected lambs who grew up not knowing how to be sheep, we figured out that Mother Nature knows best.
We took the bottle babies to school one day that first year, diaper bag, bottles and all, and kindergarten students enjoyed feeding them and rubbing their new fleeces. True to the old saying,“ Gentle as a lamb,” they lay in the arms of older students who let the 5-year-olds hold the bottle to feed the young sheep.
This breed forages well and doesn’ t limit their diet to grass. Ours eat leaves in the woods and brush about as well as goats.
Finnsheep come in five main colors: white, grey, brown, black, and fawn. Although some experts say that black sheep always have black sheep, our Queenie had two black, a brown, and a white lamb in the same litter this spring. Last year she had three girls black at birth who grew up with white fleeces and black legs and heads. The genetics are fascinating.
Observing the personalities in the sheep field is quite captivating as well, certainly better entertainment than on TV. While Queenie, who is the leader, was in“ confinement” waiting for delivery, another sheep, Crazy Aunt Champagne, became the chosen leader. She seemed to really relish the job. When Queenie brought her lambs back to the field, the others remembered that she was really the leader and followed her. Crazy Aunt Champagne pouted and sulked for a week.
The sheep clearly have friends and regularly eat with them in the field. It is easy to imagine that the girls are chatting about the kids and where to eat dinner as they graze. On the other hand, the sheep have some less than pleasant interactions. They even butt heads on occasion to make some unknown point. We
West Virginia Farm Bureau News 17