Valais blacknose sheep
On our farm located in Occitanie, in the South West of France, we have been raising these pretty black headed sheep with passion since 2017. Nicknamed « the cutest sheep in the world », they come from a rustic breed of Swiss origin. They are rather large sheep, with a symmetrical and harmonious physique. They are white with the particularity of having black spots on the knees, feet and head. They also have spiral horns, even in the females.
The fiber from the valais blacknose ewes is long and curly, which requires two shearings per year. A fleece weighs about 4,4 lbs. Their fleece must be washed before being transformed. It is a thick and rather elastic fiber, but considering the length of their wool, we can hardly value this fiber, except in felting and stuffing..
Their living condition
Sheeps have a gregarious way of life. They need the permanent presence of their congeners: a male needs several ewes to be happy.
They are not made to live in couple, it is preferable that they are at least 3 of the same gender in the same enclosure. Similarly, ewes and rams should not be together all year round, and should live in separate flocks.
Although they have a very sweet and affectionate personality, we strongly advise you not to cuddle them for your own satisfaction, as they will develop behavioral problems, especially the lambs if they are to be reproductive.
Health
Our animals are closely monitored by our veterinarian.
From their youngest age, they are vaccinated against enterotoxemia and tetanus, treated against coccidia and dewormed.
Our breeding is free of Brucellosis and all our animals are tested and free of Visna Maedi (contagious ovine disease).
Our lambs travel abroad with all the official documents and their vaccines up to date.
All our breeding stock are genotyped for scrapie.
We test them for resistance to this disease so that they do not pass it on to their progeny.
Genetics and reproduction
To date, there is no official herd book in France.
Our animals are registered in the American Herd Book:
« Valais Blacknose International Sheep Breeders & Registry : VBISBAR
This is the only open herd book that allows us to register our animals born in France.
Some of our sheep are very resistant to scrapie, which allows them to be imported without problems, depending on the health conditions of the host country.
The most resistant threshold is called G1 : GENOTYPE ARR/ARR
It is preferable to buy a ram with this genotype so that it can pass it on to its progeny.