Zwartbles lambs

Zwartbles to you too.

Meet our newest animals. Zwartbles.

No, I'm not being rude. That's what they are called and don't ask me how to pronounce it. Originally from a cold, wet, windy area of The Netherlands, they seem like the perfect choice for our very Dutch landscape here in the district of South Holland.

This pair are wethers (males which won't get to become rams) which have come off an organic farm. They are becoming more common over here in the UK, as they are prolific, good for meat and docile.



Monday 20th August 2012

So yesterday morning we hooked up the horsebox, kindly lent to us by a fellow smallholder, and tentatively drove the few miles to the smallholding where several of us were to collect our lambs. Being unbraked, the livestock trailer took some getting used to and often seemed more in control of the car than vice versa! Fortunatley we were travelling on rural backroads where we could keep things nice and slow.

We pulled into the smallholding to discover that the lambs had swapped paddocks over an electric fence during the night. This was a little concerning as our fencing was lower and was all that would separate the lambs from the road or Don's vegetables. However, they were surprisingly easy to herd back where they were needed and made no effort to jump over the insubstantail hurdles into which they were coraled and grouped. They even began nibbling at my shorts.

Now began the fun and games, as we began our crash course into sheep handling. I am glad I did not have my camera!

Firstly you lift up your lamb (remembering that, though technically lambs, these are actually sheep to the untrained eye), sit it on its bottom and wedge its shoulders between your thighs,  so that its feet protrude out the front. At this point, if you've got it right, the sheep becomes docile - remember I said that Zwartbles are a docile breed anyway. When it came to my turn, I got the lively one! Probably more down to inexperience and tentativeness on my part.

Then a lesson in toenail trimming and some of these lambs were well overdue a lambicure. This was a good opportunity to inspect the feet of the lambs and one of ours did have a cut between its toes which was becoming infected. Next a syringe of wormer fluid into the mouth - sheep have a perfect space between their teeth for one of these. And finally the flystrike liquid, sprayed down the back and round the tail / bum.



Number 10 and Number 18

And all this under a blazing sun in almost 90 degree heat.  At least we weren't wearing thick woolly coats though!

And while the small herd of Dexter cattle were giving my car a close inspection and setting off the alarm in the process.

Then into the trailer - oh, how I wish pigs would go in so easily - and home, where we let our two Zwartbles out into the paddock with the geese. They quickly made themselves at home and settled down to munching the grass.


I must say, they really are very nice creatures, gentle, good-looking and friendly. If this goes well we may take more next year, once we know how much grass they need and how easy they are to look after. We may even possibly go for sheep all year round. It could save me a lot of mowing time, not to mention the petrol money. 



Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you their names.

Number Ten and Number Eighteen. That's as close as they'll get to being named, considering that they'll be going on another little journey round about late October.