• a black ouessant ram

We'd like to introduce ourselves. We are the Dieker family. We live in the East of Holland, East of Arnhem

Our main hobby is the Ouessant, the smallest sheep in the world. Ever since 1989 we have kept these mini-sheep and by now we've quite a flock of them. We would very much like to tell you about our sheep and to show you our sheep on these pages. If you would like more information or if you'd like to exchange ideas from whatever part of the world, we would appreciate it very much. You can contact us by clicking on the e-mail button and we promise to always answer your questions. Remarks and suggestions are welcome, too.

• The children Jesper and Anouk, a flock of ouessant-ewes on the front
(summer 1998)

 • A white ouessant-lamb

GENERAL

The Ouessant sheep, or the Breton miniature sheep, is the smallest breed of sheep in the world. The breed originates from the tiny island Ouessant, situated some dozen miles off the coast of Britanny, France, in the Atlantic Ocean (Western-Europe).

• A white ouessant-lamb

AN IDEAL BREED TO KEEP AS HOBBY

Because of the size, they are 50 cm tall at most, these sheep can easily be kept on a small piece of land. Due to their thick coats they can stay outside all year round, although they appreciate some shelter.

In spite of their small size, they are a strong breed. They demand very little care and they are not/hardly liable to any common sheep-diseases.

• two brown ouessant ewes.

• Curious as they are, the Oussant-sheep are coming towards the little boy.

The ram can mix with the ewes all year round. The rut is in the autumn and in spring the lambs are born. Mostly the lambs are dropped without any help and problems are exceptional.





As a rule, an ewe gets one lamb, twins are very rare. The lambs are very lively and the ewes are caring mothers.

The Ouessant is quite rare, there are only about a couple of thousand of them worldwide, mainly in France, Belgium and Holland. Ouessant-sheep are very pretty. The rams carry beautiful, impressive horns. The ewes have no horns, some of them have horn knobbles. They come in three colours: black, brown and white. The Ouessant-sheep aren't shy at all, they are rather affectionate. This small breed of sheep has always been very popular for good reasons.

• Two young ouessant rams, black and brown

 • A Wensleydale Longwool sheep in a flock of ouessantsheep

HISTORY OF THE BREED

Due to the harsh climatic conditions on the tiny island Ouessant a natural selection has taken place over centuries. Thus a small, but very hardy breed of sheep developed, which managed to survive not with standing the difficyult enviromment. Ouessant's population made a living fishing and kept the sheep mainly fot the wool. Because of their own production of wool, the people didn't have to import wool from the mainland until the start of the twentieth century. The original black wool enabled the people to manufacture their own clothing without having to dye the wool. In those years brown sheep were sometimes born. However these sheep weren't wanted.

In the beginning of the twentieth century sheep of a different breed were imported from the mainland to breed a bigger animal and to produce white wool, more popular then. After that as well as the black and the brown, the white coated sheep originated. So the original sheep were cross bred. Thanks to private persons on the mainland the breed still exists. Pure-bred animals were transported to the mainland. That meant the survival of the breed. The descendants of the sheep form the present Ouessant breed. On the island itself the originalbreed disappeared a long time ago because they continued cross breeding. Since 1971 this breed of sheep has been in Holland.

• A young black ouessant ram.

• Ouessant rams carry beautiful horns

CHACTERISTICS OF THE BREED

The Ouessant sheep is very small, relatively high on the legs and built rectangularly seen from the side. When fully grown the ewes have a shoulder height between 43-48 cm, the rams between 45-50 cm, and they weigh 13-16 and 15-22 kg respectively.



Seen from the front the head is triangular: the ewes have a straight nasal bone. The rams sometimes an arched nasal bone. The eyes are clear with a lively look, the ears are delicate and short. The neck is short and well accentuated. Some of the animals have so called "bells" in their necks. The sheep have got straight backs and strongly curved ribs. The belly and the flanks are not deep. The croup is flat. The tail is not long and reaches to some centimeters above the heel. The wool is long with also wool close to the body. The wool covers part of the cheeks, part of the top of the head and the whole body till the knee and the heel. The fleece of the rams weights 1,2-1,8 kg and the fleece of the ewes 1-1,5 kg. That is about 10% of the total weight of the sheep. This means that the Ouessant produces the most wool of all European breeds of sheep! The wool is black, brown or white, every colours with its own shades. The colour is uniform all over the fleece, however.

CARING FOR THE SHEEP

Ouessant sheep demand very little care. All they need is a small meadow with a shelter, plus some hay and water, if necessary some concentrates. A few times a year the animals must be wormed and be shorn once a year (mind the "bells"). At the same time the hoofs must be trimmed.