Troutsdale Farm Holiday Cottages

General information

My name is Evie. I am a rare breed of sheep called Shropshire breed, formerly known as North Staffordshire and Shropshire breed so I am native to this area. We have one of the oldest breed societies in the country.
I came to Troutsdale Farm in 2006, with 2 other sheepy friends from Claire Jackeman (from the Shropshire Sheep Society) because Mr T was having a hip operation and Mrs T wanted some sheep that would eat the grass getting overgrown in between the Christmas tree plantation, and this is one of our specialities of the breed - with carefull management we will not eat Christmas trees!
My new owners are Ray, Barbara and Kathryn Turnock at Troutsdale Farm.
Im not sure that Mr T really wanted us - well we are a 'rare' breed! But when Claire just turned up with 3 of us so he had a choice (they only wanted 2!) he said we could all stay -after all 2 is a pair, but 3 IS A FLOCK!
I was chosen because of all my experience with me being older and I could show the other 2 younger girls the ropes, after all they had never even lambed before - and that is my role in the flock still today.

My eartag starts with EV so Claire had always just called me EVie which has stuck, Mr T was not exactly original with the names for the others but named them 'Barbara' and 'Kathryn' - I wonder why?!
Anyway you could say they have stayed true to their namesakes - Barb is the most wonderful mother, her family constantly give birth to 3's and even a 4 's last year, they are big bagged and always have lots of milk. Kathryn had 2 girls the first year and then just unexpectedly died. She was supposed to be 'technically' the 'best for breeding', but her girls have been a bit of struggle to get in lamb and technically should not have been kept for as long a reprieve as they have had - BUT last year they both had a girl each, and they are crackers! - Like I told Mr T - good things come to those who wait!

All the female ewe lambs have been kept so we are quite unusual in that we have generations of the 3 original family strains, and we all live as a family group. From the 3 originals there are now 33! There are 23 ewes and 5 tups (and a few younger tups).

We are very well looked after by Miss KaTy who treats us with lots of 'John Cooks specials' (corn nuts) and we have our own private 'chiropodist' Charlie Redfern who comes and looks after our feet - and at my age I do have trouble with them sometimes! He also comes and helps us to take off our winter wooly coats when it is shearing time - well he is a prize-winning sheep shearer you know!

The Moorland Veteniary Centre look after all our medical needs. They even come out and mend broken legs - when I broke mine there is quite often not much chance of a sheeps legs mending but i had mine plastered - TWICE!- and then when the plaster was being taken off one of my main arteries was was accidently caught with the scissors and there was blood everywhere. The vets had to come out again and stitch it up! - so I am a surviver.

Richard Spencer has been very kind in letting us get started as a flock by borrowing one of his tups each year - so that we can 'go forth and multiply' and keep the breed going. And never mind all the 'human Hollywood film stars or A-rated celebrities' such as your Simon Cowels or Cheryl Coles etc - our claim to fame has to be that if anyone watched and enjoyed the television series 'Victorian Farm' on the BBC then we had the 'tup on the telly' come to stay with us! His name is Frederick - he had a certain prescence about him and was VERY good looking - and you could say he performed VERY well!

So although there are more of us here now I have all the experience. If there is anything wrong or we need anything I give Miss KaTy a big 'Baaaaa' and she comes and checks us out, it does good to talk to these humans you know!
BUT I am still in charge, I am the matriarc to this flock, and so the breed lives on.............