Since the Moor Schnuck is threatened with extinction, I decided in 2008 to include this breed in the herdbook of
Hessian Sheep Breeding Association
to breed. In this regard, I breed under certain conditions, which the purebred and compliance with the
Breed standards
of breeding animals. In this respect, I only breed with registered sheep, which have thus also received their form rating in terms of muscling, wool and external appearance. Each of the sheep that I have born that is supposed to go into breeding is also visited and evaluated every year and a half by the breeding inspector of the sheep breeding association.
I also keep a lambing list in which, in addition to the date of birth of the lambs, the ear tag number, any special features, etc., their birth weight, 50 - day weight and 100 - day weight are entered. This list can be used to precisely record the descent and the individual characteristics of the lambs.
Regardless of the herdbook breeding, it is also the duty of every sheep owner to mark the lambs with electrical ear tags. This gives each animal an individually assignable number. I also get the bluetongue vaccination every year.
In order to gain important expertise in obstetrics, parasite management and hoof care, I have attended seminars and have received many valuable tips. Fortunately, obstetrics are only required occasionally with the Moorschnucken, but I actually already had to use it.
I try to avoid bottle lambs as much as possible by leaving the lambs with the nuts in a pen in the open stable. So at the beginning I come every two hours and hold the mother so that the lamb can drink. The intervals become longer and longer with the days and weeks. The nice thing about it is that the lambs don't influence me too much and then afterwards it is not so difficult to be completely sheep in the herd. Bottle lambs usually tick a little differently than the usual sheep. However, lambs that have not been accepted are rather rare among the Moorschnucken. Difficult births, multiple births, especially with inexperienced mothers, can lead to lambs not being accepted.
Sheep farming means a lot of "paperwork" and the larger the herd, the more bureaucratic work has to be done. Nevertheless, I generally consider an objective "monitoring" to be important in breed breeding and therefore even happily undertake the effort.
If you want to follow my breeding, you can take a look at my sheep blog.
