Animals and Wildlife Around Site

Animals and Wildlife

This Oxford Down Flock was first formed in 1992 by our original Farm Manager, Chris Turner, who chose the breed due to its local origins, being a Down breed i.e. that type of sheep bred and kept on the Downlands of Southern England. Our special thanks go to the late Mrs Calcutt of Merton nr. Bicester, who has kindly donated several rams over the years. Volunteer Shepherd, Steve Stone, has also helped to establish the flock and has remained as shepherd since the 1990s helping to care for and develop the flock. The numbers have grown to about 15 breeding ewes on average plus their lambs and the two rams, one being a wether i.e. a castrated ram, for company, as rams are kept separate from the main flock for most of the year.

Over the years we have had several rams to keep introducing new blood into the flock and our current ram is a handsome chap called Alfred and he spends a few weeks with the ewes every November to ensure we have a good cropof lambs by the springtime. Traditionally the shepherd would have lived too far away from the flock and therefore would have built a fold in the pasture where the sheep grazed and he would have lived for a couple of months amongst them in a shepherds van. The Museum now has a lambing fold next to the Village Green area in the arable fields and this is used in the lambing season. Click here for more details.

The lambs and ewes are kept together for about four months before being weaned, by which time they will be mainly eating grass anyway. They are then assessed and the best are kept as flock replacements. Over the last 15 years we have only bought in two new ewes, all others were bred here at the Museum.

In the early summer the sheep are sheared and they look very different, and feel a lot better too. Some foot trimming is carried out at regular intervals and the flock takes advantage of the good grass and special crops that grow on our land. After the summer and when the lambs are weaned the ewes that are selected to breed again are brought back to top condition ready for the arrival of the ram once again.

There's a saying amongst sheep men that goes like this;
'There's no good flock without a good shepherd, and there's no good shepherd without a good dog.

Volunteer Shepherd, Steve Stone, and his sheep dogs, Ted and Moss pay regular visits to check on the sheep throughout the year. Whenever they visit, the flock is quickly gathered by the dogs for a close up inspection. When attention is required like trimming feet or worming, then the dogs keep the sheep in the right place using their herding skills.

These dogs are bred to work and it shows in their obvious enjoyment every time they are given the opportunity. Responding instantly to commands given by word or whistle they are able to take the flock wherever the shepherd desires, they are capable of working at great distances, sometimes over half a mile away from the shepherd.

Tom - Toggenburg cross Nubian with brown coat and one horn
Colors of Toggenburgs varying from light fawn to dark chocolate with no preference for any shade. They are the oldest known dairy breed of goats.

Oscar - Angora cross Saanen with a white coat
The fleece taken from an Angora goat is called mohair. A single goat produces between five and eight kilograms of hair per year. Angoras are shorn twice a year, unlike sheep, which are shorn only once.

Joe - Pygmy goats with brown and white coat
They have stomachs with four compartments just as cows do. As browsers, goats are similar to deer and enjoy variety in their diet, including woody plants.

Animals and Wildlife