Pen-Theon of Sheep

A chicken coop with a metal roof, surrounded by trees and greenery. There are chickens inside the coop, and a small dog sculpture at the front. A green building is visible in the background, and there are plants and decorative stones around. A large green potted plant is on the right.

The Ouessant Sheep

Have you ever heard of an Ouessant sheep? If not, let me tell you a little about them.  They are the smallest recognized naturally occurring sheep in the world! Averaging just 18-20 inches tall and 25-45 pounds they are the absolute cutest, pocket sized sheep. They are perfect for orchard maintenance and small landholding lawn mowers. They are naturally hardy against the winter’s cold, tracing back to the Viking age on the island of Ouessant. They are highly intelligent and very independent. There are only 7 registered farms/ranches with Ouessant sheep in North America. And you wanna know what? We are partnering with Midwest Mini Sheep to bring Ouessants to Western Michigan! Is there a better community to bring some truly amazing orchard keepers to? We think not!

The Ouessants have joined us here at The Wyldfae Wood! We couldn’t be more excited to share with you our new venture and bring you along with us. Help us spread the word on this fascinating little breed and let’s see what we can do together.

A person is holding the head of a black sheep with large horns in a grassy outdoor area. In the background, there is a blue vehicle behind a wire fence, and another sheep is lying down nearby.

Pascal

Pascal has come to us from Midwest Mini Sheep in Bellevue, MI. He is one of only 5 original 7/8 Ouessant rams in North America and he is joining us and hoping to have you fall in love with him and his journey. He will be the herd sire that begins our Ouessant upbreeding program.

A young lamb with curly white wool standing outdoors on a grassy and dirt area, near a flowerpot and plants, with a grassy field and trees in the background.

Arnemetia (Nemee)

is our very first lamb baby to make it here to The Wood. She is a twin and her mom rejected her. She came home with us at about 18-20 hours old and has been the sweetie we didn’t know we needed. She is 7/16 Ouessant-Shetland cross and will also be part of our upbreeding program.

A black lamb with floppy ears looking through metal wire fence in a wooded outdoor area.

Idunn

has journeyed the shortest distance to us from a cute little farm in Mears, MI. She is 100% Icelandic and will be part of our fiber project, as well as, our upbreeding program. She has the most beautiful fleece and is such a little peanut.

Close-up of a baby goat lying on hay, looking up at the camera with blue eyes.

Cernunnos

also traversed from Bellevue to Hart, to be a part of our fiber project and upbreeding program. He has the most beautiful red fleece and is so calm and sweet. He is 7/16 Ouessant-Soay cross and he’s just a delight to have here

Young brown lamb in green grass with other sheep partially visible in the background

Manannán

rode with Cernunnos to join us here. He is 7/16 Ouessant-Soay/Shetland cross and we are looking forward to having this little boy be a wether companion to our rams. He’s got the cutest little koala face and we fell in love with him so quickly the day we picked up Nemee. We don’t need three boys, but there was no going back. He had to be a part of our journey.

A large tree with green leaves in a grassy yard. There is a wooden pallet and a white object covered with tarp or plastic nearby, with a fence and more trees in the background.

The Jacob’s Sheep

Well, when you start one project, you might as well start two—maybe three. We acquired 2 Jacob’s sheep from an unnamed source, that we call Meth-any. When the sheep were delivered to us, we were so excited. A breeding pair, Vulcan and Minerva, how perfect to start a small fiber project??

A black and white sheep lying behind a wire fence in a grassy area, with vegetation and a light-colored wall in the background.

Vulcan

Well, turns out Vulcan has parrot-mouth and we couldn’t possibly send him back where he came from because they would’ve bred him—bad idea for genetics. So, he will be our wether Jacob’s and he can keep Augustine company in the bigger sheep’s pen.

Close-up of a young sheep or lamb with black and white wool, lying on the ground behind a metal wire fence, with grass and dirt visible around it.

Minerva

Minerva seems to be pretty standard Jacob’s quality and we are picking up a beautiful 4-horn Jacob’s named Augustine from Sweetgrass Jacob’s in St John’s, Michigan. Peg and Joe are amazing resources and fountains of knowledge for this breed and we are lucky to have found them.

Minerva, Augustine and Vulcan will begin our Jacob’s fiber flock and we will breed Minerva this fall to Augustine. We may also see what crossing Idunn (our Icelandic ewe) with Augustine looks like in the future, but for now, we will stick with the three.