New Arrivals at Rectory Farm

Welcome! Or should we say Welkom?

This week we have some new arrivals on the farm; 4 beautiful Zwartble sheep!

This striking looking sheep breed originates from an area of Holland called Friesland.  Once a rare breed, they are gaining in popularity.  There has been a long standing tradition at the farm of buying ewes for the children, which allows them to witness every aspect of sheep farming first hand.  It also creates sheep enthusiasts!  What helps for our youngest ones is if they can spot their own sheep.  Aa you can see it will be easy to spot these young ladies amongst our commercial flock of North Country Mules.  They will go in with the ram in a couple of weeks time and we will be keen to see the markings of their lambs in the spring.  These girls are big!  The breed is a storing and sturdy breed, which was traditionally used for milk as well as meat production.  Therefore, handling them may take a bit of getting used to and no doubt at shearing time they will take a little longer to remove their lovely dark wool.

In the meantime, the children are thinking of names, any suggestions welcome and we’ll keep you posted!