[kanisha]

Hi Carole right now I just feeling the waiting is endless! Oanez has been threatening to give birth for what seems like days you know what they say about a watched kettle! colours are fun I would be very interested to know what ratio of blacks to whites you have. I hav e one brown ewe put to a brown ram but she isn't due until later. fingers crossed lambing goes well for everyone.

[carole]

Just so happy !!!!! this morning 2 more lambs born, both black, both mothers are black and dad is white, 3 more to go.
All happy and healthy which is to me more important than anything.

Good luck everyone waiting, as they say it all comes to those who wait- and yes we have been waiting


Carole

[kanisha]

great news!!!! so pleased for you Oanez is still looking hugely fat and pregnant and showing no signs that she will ever give birth 

re your black lambs. you can start to work out colours and who carries what useful if you want to breed for colours. white is dominant. to black so in theory if your male ram was white on both sides ie he inherited a white gene from his mum and one from his dad the lambs should have been born white no matter the colour of their mums. if he was white but carrying black there is a fifty percent chance with black mums of having black lambs. so it will be interesting to see what colours your other lambs are. it is possible also to have a colour gene called dominant black inwhich case the dominance of white is reversed it takes a while to work out but if your ewes are dominant black no matter what the male is they will always throw black lambs but the the lambs may themselves then carry white..................hmm maybe you don't want to know  as you say healthy lambs is the most important thing congratulations I am not in the least jealous .......no really ............. 

[pigsatlesrues]

That is really interesting about the colours.  We are still trying to work out Cyclic breeding in GOS pigs so another one to challenge the mind is all for the good - yeh!

Congrats Carole - pics please?

Kate

[carole]

Oh now youve got me started looking at sheep family trees!!!!! I am bad enough with pigs but this is even more daunting.
Brambles- the white ram is 2 years old and his mother was white, his father was black. Grandfather on dads side was also black. Thats as far as I have got at the moment. The person we bought Brambles from is also investigating further for us, as this is so interesting.

My black females are more complicated as the previous owners seem now not to know anything about them!!!!!

My white ewe was a rescue and that is my challenge of the day to find out more about her history.

Luckily it is pouring with rain so I can spend as much time here as I want without feeling guilty!!!!!

Will post pics when the weather better.
Thanks Kanisha you have been very helpful.

Also Kate, any news on your little ones?

Carole

[kanisha]

I can bore people to death with sheep genetics  but in ouessants the important things to look for are two white parents producing a black offspring this means that the black lamb is a true recessive back and cannot carry dominant black.( this canb e useful for breeding programmes)

A white lamb born to two black parents this is very significant because for the lamb to have been born white one of the parents must have been carrying dominant black and hiding the fact they are in reality a white sheep.

why is dominant black so important; well it is and it isn't; many breeds of sheep are thought to have dominant black black welsh mountain and jacobs even though they are white ( long story) the important thing with dominant black is it hides other colours ( but not brown) so if there are other patterns of sheep out there that may be in ouessants you may have them but not know because your sheep are dominant black its a moot point if it is in ouessants at all but the more recording of colours and breeding the more likely people are to find the answers;  ( sorry just wante d to use the emoticon coz its cute! 

[ben10]

Hi KANISHA

Are ouessants hardy sheep, are they more manageable than others I have read about?

We are looking for something to look at, keep grass down, be ok with horses and taste good
Asking as you are very knowledgeable of this breed

Ben

[kanisha]

Hi Ben ouessants are hardy sheep  as to being more mangeable not sure what you mean you still need to worry about shearing feet worming at the moment fly preventative etc is important so they can be as much "work" as any other sheep i have found if you take care of your sheep they stay healthy in general but all to often people think they are OK and just leave them in the field they do require some attention.  mine are perfect lawnmowers i don't have a huge amount of experience with horses but I understand they can compete for the same grazing so you may want to consider if you want to do this although I understand they also tidy up quite nicely. I know people who leave a section of field fenced off with electric fencing to allow the sheep to pass under but keep the horses on one side if they start to kick up and annoy the sheep;  as for eating ask me a little later in the year  they are very small an adult ram will weigh 18 kgs live weight so any meat is going to be not a lot but i am told the eating is good. i will have one or two hoggetts going for meat  at the end of the summer so can tell more then;

[carole]

Hi
After searching for more info on these sheep, I have had a lovely e-mail from a chap in UK who has inherited some ouessants and for those in the UK wanting a taste of french breeds he is the man to contact

www.Baylham-House-farm.co.uk he has possibly some stock for sale, if not now, later.

Go on give this breed a chance, oh and for ben 10, yes I have tasted the meat and it is superb, sweeter than most and not as small as you would think.

[kanisha]

there is quite a network of breeders of ouessants now http://ouessants.ning.com/ several from the UK are listed not to mention a few of those in france and other countries. ( I admit having a hand in the site 

[woollyval]

Hi anyone who wants to buy Ouessants in the UK (waving sheepies)
Hope you are sitting down whilst reading this but they sell for .........£300 plus for ewes and £450 plus for rams at the latest time!!!

Do make sure if you buy some that they are correct....ie rms have horns and they are not too close to the head etc, ewes do not have horns and that if you buy breeding stock they are unrelated!!

There are quite a lot of us around and we hope to arrange another import from France on 09 BTV permitting and that is a possible cheaper option for aquiring animals. In th meantime join the fantastic site set up by Kanisha

[kanisha]

when you consider the official GEMO ( breed society) price for a to size standard breed ouessant is 130 euros in france  you begin to wonder what you are paying for it is certainly possible to buy cheaper and if you are buying quality stock from a reputable breeder then I see no reason why their input can't be recognised and a fair asking price be demanded  but those sums are a joke!

[carole]

How much!!!! wow.
Anyway luckily not needing to source out of France-- Yes another born this morning!!!!!

2 more to come now and then the waiting all over

Carole

[kanisha]

I am still waiting!!!  arrrggh! congrats on yet another lamb 
I am hopeful we are talking hours for the next lamb but..............

[carole]

Guess what !!!!!! YES ANOTHER BORN THIS MORNING

Sorry Kanisha, only 1 to go .
Any news from your side of Brittany.

Carole