We have an affection for primitive breed sheep, and we stumbled upon Ouessant sheep in November 2016 at a Fibershed Symposium where Leslie Adkins of Heartfelt Fiber Farm had a stall. We’d been searching for the right breed to bring home to:
- Carbon farm (bring carbon from the atmosphere, where it harmful, into the soil, where it is beneficial) by increasing the vigor and health of the vegetation
- Graze down the grasses and forbs, to get Peter out of the mowing seat and enhance our wildfire resilience
- Companion with and fulfill our Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs
- Provide beautiful, climate-beneficial, no-kill wool, a renewable resource, for crafting and sharing
Ancient
Ouessant sheep are an ancient line. They are more independent than long-domesticated sheep that have been bred for various meat or wool traits. Primitive breed sheep are survivors; they are thinkers and problem solvers; they are hardy and healthy; and Ouessants are close to the roots of the sheep genetic tree. Ouessant sheep are intelligent, charming, and a lot of fun to be around—quite the opposite of the reputation of sheep as dumb, helpless, and boring.
This a rare heritage breed. They hail from an island off France—”Ouessant” in French, “Ushant” in English. The island is famously mentioned by Patrick O’Brian in his Jack Aubrey novels. (Ushant somewhere away on the starboard bow, the Scillies to larboard, The Commodore).
This breed is considered to be the world’s smallest sheep, which is handy. We are part of a small, West Coast USA project organized by Leslie, a safety net/repository gene bank for Ouessants in the United States. As of 2021, there are still no 100% pure Ouessants in this country (the breed is not yet established here).
Building Our Primitive Breed Sheep Flock, Gently
We started our flock in 2016 with the loan of three Icelandic ewes—Freya, Coco, and Coquette—from Leslie. Today, we are fifteen sheep strong! We have grown our flock gently, through loan, gift, purchase, and breeding.
2017 Our First Births
We bred Freya with Jo, a Ouessant-mix ram owned by Leslie and Marie Hoff of Full Circle Wool and the Capella Grazing Project. On June 3, 2017 Freya gave birth to
- Cato and Spiro Lofting (50% Icelandic/37.5% Ouessant/12.5% Shetland), wethers, white and dark respectively
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2017 Siblings Unite
After the autumn 2017 wildfires, Leslie swapped the purebred Icelandics for two smaller, easier-to-handle, crossbred primitive breed sheep, the half-sisters of Cato and Spiro:
- Ella and Bella Adkins (50% Icelandic/43.75% Ouessant/6.25% Shetland), ewes, brown and white respectively
2018 Purchase
In January 2018 we felt confident enough as shepherds to make our first purchase, from Breton Meadow Farm in Massachusetts:
- Tabitha Seo (81.5% Ouessant/18.5% Shetland), black ewe; RIP, passed on 11 October 2021 from kidney failure, probably the result of an infection acquired early in life that Tabitha had walled off internally, that broke loose; amazing how doughty she was and that she gave us two beautiful children in spite of all that
- Zadie Seo (88% Ouessant/12% Shetland), black ewe with brown highlights,
- Hercules Seo (87.5%/12.5% Shetland) (we shared this purchase with Leslie), white ram
2019 Births
In autumn 2018 we bred Tabitha, Zadie, and Bella with Hercules. In spring 2019 along came
- Gil Lofting (84.5% Ouessant/15.5% Shetland), wether out of Tabitha, white and
- Iremia and Isadora Lofting (65.625% Ouessant/25% Icelandic/9.375% Shetland), ewes out of Bella, black and white respectively
- As well as Zachariah Lofting (87.75% Ouessant/12.25% Shetland) out of Zadie, black; sadly, RIP, Zachariah passed at 5 weeks of age from an incurable congenital lung deformity.
2020 Births
In the winter of 2019/2020, we bred Tabitha, Bella, and Ella with Hercules. In the late spring/early summer of 2020, along came:
- Theodore Lofting (65.625% Ouessant/25% Icelandic/9.375% Shetland), wether out of Ella, white
- Beth Lofting (84.5% Ouessant/15.5% Shetland), ewe out of Tabitha, white and
- Ethan and Winnifred Lofting (65.625% Ouessant/25% Icelandic/9.375% Shetland), wether and ewe out of Bella, black and white respectively
In autumn 2020 we did not add any new sheep. The wildfire season was intense and we were entirely focused on fuel load reduction, and getting ready to evacuate with the animals if necessary.
2021 Purchase
In autumn 2021 we are bringing home two lovely primitive breed sheep from Lydia Strand’s flock in Bellingham Washington:
- Strand Hester, Musket fine-fleece Shetland ewe with white spots on face and
- Strand Josette, Mioget Shetland ewe, half fine-fleece
