The Sheep

I have been keeping sheep since 1978 and it was the growing flock that made it clear that sheepdogs were needed - Border Collies.

The first sheep were of the Shropshire breed, which got a boost from being used for cleaning Christmas trees, so I sold some breeding stock.

Later, the flock was crossed with several different breeds. However, in 2004 I bought 10 sheep from the Danish Forestry Commission, which are known in Denmark as Lüneburger because they originate from the Lüneburg Heath in Germany, where they are known as "Graue Gehörnte Heidschnucken" - or "Schnucken" in everyday language.

It soon became clear, however, that these 10 sheep were descended from several different breeds of sheep. Which ones I do not know, but they could be Swedish Gutes, as most of them were spotted on the head, but they also had the markings of Gotland Pels sheep, which could be seen on the coat, which had a tendency to curl.

Although I do not breed pedigree, I have been using pedigree rams imported from Germany for a number of years.

My aim was to get back to the original German landscape type, i.e. robustness and thriftiness as well as the grey colour with the black bib and the beautiful horn, which I have now succeeded in doing, and I now have one of the very few flocks in Denmark with original Schnucken.

The lambs are slaughtered and sold almost exclusively in the late autumn, as the Schnucken only come into heat once a year in the autumn, which means that the sheep give birth to lambs in the spring. The lambs are slaughtered at around 6 to 8 months old, compared to a fattening lamb which is ready for slaughter at 3 to 4 months.

The lamb meat is a delicacy, darker than normal lamb, but very tender and lean, as it is produced exclusively from natural all-year grazing without the addition of concentrates.

In 2006, some Gotland sheep were added as a "parallel" flock. Mainly because they produce some very fine fleece, but also some good lamb. Gotland Fur Sheep have a very fine fleece, which can produce a very fine knitting yarn. Usually the coat is in various shades of light to dark grey, but as a speciality I have a small group of completely white Gotland Fur Sheep - perhaps the only ones in Denmark.

The two breeds are now kept separately. Both breeds are robust breeds that manage to stay outside practically all year round. They are both healthy in body structure and can therefore withstand the training with the sheepdogs.

I occasionally sell breeding stock (ewes, lambs and breeding rams). My sheep know both wire and electric fences and can be worked with the Border Collies.