Small family run farm in Yarrambat
Small family run farm in Yarrambat
Welcome! We are a family run farm in Yarrambat, Victoria, Australia. Get to know us and feel free to drop us a line if you have any queries. We'd love to hear from you.
I first saw these remarkable sheep on the BBC Landline programme. I was completely overawed by their cuteness, friendliness and hardiness. They are a breed of domestic sheep originating from the Valais region of Switzerland. They are a dual purpose sheep raised for both meat and wool. They are so incredibly cute and friendly they will be sold here for pets. They will follow you around just like a dog and can be trained to do all sorts of tricks.
I immediately set about finding them in Australia, only to discover there were none in this Country. I then contacted the Valais association in the U.K. and found they were being exported to New Zealand. It seemed to be an easy solution to bring in embryos or semen from New Zealand and I could use some of my beautiful Dohne Marino ewes to implant them into.
I then discovered how incredibly harsh our importing laws are of live animals or any semen or embryos from the rest of the world. Of that, I am grateful because we will not get the terrible diseases that other countries get.
I started the lengthy and complicated paperwork to try and import embryos from the U.K. myself. I was advised that it was possible, however the rams and ewes have to be five years old and of a particular blood type (rare). After the embryos are made the ram and ewes have to have a post mortem to discover if they have any of the rare diseases which we do not have in Australia.
During this process I discovered that someone was already well into this process and had already managed to import embryos and sperm into Australia from the U.K. I immediately contacted her and have been lucky enough to buy a very limited number of embryos from her of which I implanted in some of my Dohnes in November. I am so grateful for the invaluable advice and assistance Belinda has given to me and so many other members of the Valais membership group.
Meanwhile, I have continued the process of importing myself. We will need a much broader genetic line to ensure the best possible future of the Valais here in Australia. At this stage I have purchased three ewes and two rams in the U.K. who are on a nice farm in Wales. They are isolating whilst awaiting their turn to go into the genetic centre in U.K. to make the embryos. The journey has been far from easy and has had many disappointments. One of the rams just dropped dead over there. One of the ewes turned out to be the wrong blood type. The owner of two ewes we thought we had purchased changed his mine. After a lengthy and very costly process my own embryos and semen arrived from UK last December. I put 12 of the embryos in my recipient ewes and the babes are due on 13th July 2023.
It is so wonderful to see Valais here on my farm. My vision coming to fruition.
- JANE LAUBER
Interested in Valais Blacknose Sheep? We'd love to hear from you.
Yarrambat, Victoria, Australia
Jane Lauber | janel@iinet.net.au | 61 438 329 629
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