Kiger Family Vineyards > Babydoll Sheep

Since November 2006, we've been caring for a family of babydoll sheep that came to live and work at Kiger Family Vineyards. There are currently 7 sheep, 5 of which were born here in the Springs of 2007 and 2008. The primary job of the sheep is to eat grass and weeds in the vineyard and leave natural fertilizer behind them. They excel on both counts! For most of the year, their pasture/vineyard diet is all they need. During the summer, as all of the natural grasses have either been eaten up or dried up, we do supplement their diet with grass hay.

Above is the family tree of our babydoll sheep. Our breeding stock is registered with the Olde English Babydoll Sheep registry in Rochester, Washington. We produced a new crop of three lambs this year:

Farley Junior is our one-eared wonder lamb. You may recall that when Juni was born in early March, our Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD) Francesco took charge from first-time mom, Agnes, watching over and cleaning baby Juni. Francesco licked and licked, and the tender 12-hour-old ear tore a little bit. And Francesco licked, and it tore more, and the salty blood must have tasted pretty good. Then he licked it completely off and ate the evidence. We are sure there was no malicious intent, and thankfully there was a happy outcome. (Sigh.) Below: a photo of Junior and Agnes taken at 6 weeks old; the second is Juni at 5 months old.

All three of the new ram lambs were neutered (wethered) in June. Wethering reduces the male battles for dominance but lets us retain their amazing grass-eating talents.

In the last (May) update, we mentioned that we were seeking a new home for 7 year old ewe (and 6 time mama) Lana, whom we had to protect from breeding activities. With the help of local breeder Deborah Walton, we found Claire at Ten Acres Farm out in Tomales. Claire was happy to provide a testosterone-free home for Lana, and immediately put Lana to work as a "mentor" for her new orphaned babydoll lambs: Schwarz, George, Castor and Pollux. During the move from KFV to Ten Acres, Sheila shot video and Deb posted her first video to youtube (which we refer to as ewe-tube!) Click here for a 2-minute amusement!

In the Vineyard: The sheep spent 5 full months living in the Upper Vineyard, from November through mid-April. They effectively kept the grass and weeds down all winter long, with the ground resembling a golf course until the warm spring flush just as we had to take them out. In addition to the snapshots at the top of this page and on the farming page, here are some of them at work in the vineyard in February (with all their winter wool.)

Vineyard Exodus: To answer a frequently asked question, YES, sheep do like grapes, or at least the green vines. We initially didn't think the sheep would be able to reach the grapevines. But with the steepness of the Upper Vineyard, as they stand on the high side of the vines, they are able to reach up with just a little effort, and found that the tender green shoots of Spring taste pretty darn good.

So shortly after budbreak, we move them from the vineyard to a summer pasture, making a temporary layover in the tall grasses surrounding our house and driveway, where they make quick work of mowing down the vegetation around the house, septic fields, and a wooded ravine. Gus (below) and the crew made short work of eating all the grass, wildflowers, weeds and poison oak, essentially keeping us from having to mow and weed-whack, and providing a wonderful fire protection buffer for us.

Breeding the Flock: In temperate climates like ours, nature meant for sheep to mate in the fall, so that lambs will be born in the spring when the weather is mild and the grass is plentiful, thus enhancing the lambs' chances for survival. So the early part of autumn also heralds "the season." Our only remaining ewe, Agnes, will start coming into estrus (heat) around the first of October, and Gus (below) will get pretty frisky. We expect (hope) that Agnes will have twins, and as we are still expanding our flock, we probably won't have any lambs available to sell. But if the lambs are female, we will probably try to trade with another babydoll breeder for other females (since it's not good practice to breed ewes with their own sire/father.)

Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD): Francesco (pronounceed fran-chess-ko), our nearly-two year old Maremma weighs in at around 120 lbs., and is chartered with protecting the sheep from animal predation. Several goats and sheep in our area have been carried off by mountain lions and coyotes in our area; we have seen no trace of predators on Francesco's turf. He usually joins right in with the sheep when the evening hay comes out. He either thinks he's the head sheep or he just likes to eat hay!

In addition to protecting the sheep, he watches over the chickens and also recognizes the cats as family members (although they clearly don't recognize him as a valuable member of the family!) The Maremma breed originated in Italy where they have been used for many centuries as guardians of flocks of sheep and goats. Francesco's parents, Paolo and Cima, were brought from Italy to Boulder Creek in the Santa Cruz, California, mountains in May 2004. Francesco was born to their second American litter.

Livestock guarding breeds originated in Europe and Asia, where they have been used for centuries to protect sheep from wolves and mountain lions. Americans have used LGD's since the mid-1970's. They are large animals (80-120 pounds) and are usually all white or fawn colored with dark muzzles. Some of the more common breeds are Great Pyrenees (France), Komondor (Hungary), Akbash and Anatolian Shepherd (Turkey), and Maremma (Italy).

Unlike sheep herding dogs, like border collies, LGD's do not usually herd sheep. Acting independently, LGD's stay with or near sheep most of the time and aggressively repel predators. Yes, Francesco lives outdoors with the sheep and has never been in the house. Unlike our cats, he has a real job! It's to reduce predation on the sheep (by the mountain lions and coyotes, for example, with which we co-exist), reduce our labor by lessening the need for night corralling, alert us to disturbances in the flock, protecting the ranch property, and allow for more efficient use of pastures.