An East Friesian ewe with her hybrid lamb. Photograph by Sally Gale.

A hybrid ewe with her lambs
Photograph by Eli Hammon

The Sheep

The majority of our flock are East Friesian dairy ewes. East Friesians originated in Northern Europe. They are notable for their lovely, sleek, wool-less faces, their prodigious milk production, and their skinny rat-like tails. Their tails aren’t their most attactive feature, but the good news is that those rat-tails stay clean on their own, so East Friesian sheep don’t have to have their tails cut off for hygiene, as most sheep do. We like this, because it is one less painful procedure for our sheep, and also makes for great conversation, as our sheep-ranching neighbors are amused by our unusual sheep who have tails.

Edith, a Katahdin ewe (seated)
and Emily, an East Friesian ewe (standing)

To increase the hardiness of our sheep, we have bred in a bit of Katahdin genetics. Katahdin sheep are descended from African hair sheep. Unlike most sheep, hair sheep shed their wool every spring, so they don’t have to be sheared, a definite advantage in these times when Polartec has rendered wool almost valueless. Hair sheep also are quite resistant to diseases and parasites. We are cross breeding our best Katahdins our East Friesians, in hopes of developing a crossbred strain of sheep with good milk production, who are a bit hardier than the East Friesians. We have some promising prospects in our first group of hybrid ewes, including one hybrid ewe who is not only a good milk-producer, but also sheds her wool like a purebred Katahdin.

Big Otis with some of his flock

To protect our sheep from the coyotes and mountain lions who also live on our ranch, we have three Great Pyrenees livestock-protection dogs. Big Otis and Oso have worked on the ranch for two years. They were born with sheep and raised with sheep, and much prefer the company of their sheep to that of people. They live with the sheep full-time and are very professional, always on guard and ready to fiercely defend their charges. Our newest dog, Gordy the guard-puppy, is currently apprenticing with Otis to learn the guard-dog trade.

I manage our flock with the help of my ranch manager, José Dolores Cortez (Lolo), who is involved in every aspect of veterinary care, lambing, and milking. Lolo is ably assisted by the newest member of our team, Ignacio Castillo Lugo.

Lolo in the milking parlor

 
Big Otis