How do you look after your sheep?

With love!  
Looking after livestock of any kind is demanding.  It is not something that can be abandoned for holidays or because you are short of time. There are strict laws governing how sheep must be looked after in the UK which embody the five freedoms of animal welfare, ensuring:

1. Freedom from hunger and thirst
2. Freedom from discomfort
3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour
5. Freedom from fear and distress

To help us in planning for the health and well-being of our sheep we have a flock health plan, which sets out the key tasks which we will need to undertake at different times of the year.
Shetland sheep do not have their tails docked as they naturally are a short-tailed breed.
Keeping sheep is also a financial commitment so we have to factor in a lot of costs.  
Any medicines purchased and administered must be recorded. Since 2019 we now take a minimal intervention approach to the flock which means that we do not routinely dose with preventative medication.

What do you do with your sheep?

​In 2018, we made the decision to become a 'no slaughter' flock. 
​For us, the only real way to achieve this is by not lambing, by keeping our sheep purely as a wool flock and by buying in replacements to the flock  when ewes die of natural causes.
Some flocks do claim to be 'slaughter free' but still lamb each year.  This inevitably means you will have tup (male) lambs and, while these can be 'wethered', it is likely that they will end up at market and be sold to the meat men.  This is no longer what we want, and we will not sell on our wethers to another breeder who will just finish them for meat.
We spent a good few years producing tups for slaughter and consumption, but it is no longer for us.
Any surplus females are kept as breeding ewes and sold​ as starting flocks to new breeders.
We keep our  ewes into old age and then - only when necessary for animal welfare - have them  put down on our premises.

Moorit jumper meets moorit sheep

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How can you use the wool?

We are discovering new ways to use the wool all the time!  
The finest Shetland wool is great for making lace items and I am also keen to try making 'vegetarian sheepskin rugs using felting techniques.  
​We get the fleeces commercially washed and carded and sell it for spinners to use.  It's great even for beginners as it's slightly oily and spins like a dream.
The spun wool is great for:

• lace knitting
• machine knitting
• hand-knitting
• crochet
• weaving

and the fact that's available in some many weights means there is surely a wool for you to use.