Sarah Murch with a seven-week-old Valais blacknose sheep, which is part of her breeding plan now in its third year.
Their friendliness and loveable personalities make Valais blacknose sheep great pets. And they are utterly adorable to boot. ANDY WILSON spoke to one of Australia’s 70 breeders.
One can be forgiven for thinking all 43 Valais blacknose sheep owned by Sarah Murch and Andrew McNaughton were bottle-fed and hand reared as they bear down in a cacophony of bleating toward any visitor to their Toolamba property.
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Their curiosity and natural friendliness makes for a warm reception on nearing the paddock.
“We often see the fully grown ewes racing along the fenceline together, kicking out their legs in excitement, and frolicking about on the channel banks,” Sarah said, ushering two of the younger ones out for a few photographs.
“Every time I walk into the paddock they will want to bowl me over.”
Despite only having four of this year’s progeny raised on the bottle, those that were reared naturally will still approach with the same friendliness.
Sarah and Andrew began breeding the irresistible variety through artificial insemination in 2022 and are now part of a boutique community of 70 breeders managing a national flock of only 300 purebred and 800 animals registered as F1 or up.
Originating from Switzerland, the Valais are a dual-purpose sheep — bred originally for both meat and wool — but due to their rare breed status and loveable personalities, their purpose for breeding in Australia is purely for the pet market.
Despite their heritage originating in the Swiss Alps, Sarah said the Valais have adapted quite well to the climate in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley and are sheared in October and April.
“This ensures they don’t overheat in the summer and get a bit of growth before the winter rolls in,” she said.
Sarah said the breed was ‘not quite’ in the country when she first saw it online in 2019 and soon found importing one from overseas was ‘as good as’ impossible.
“We have quite strict biosecurity rules in Australia,” she said.
“I did make some inquiries, but there were just too many barriers.”
The solution was to buy semen straws (at up to $1000 a pop) to inseminate the 25 English Leicester ewes they bought in Tasmania.
“The English Leicester is the breed most similar to the blacknose,” Sarah said.
“That produced our first generation — the F1 — which is 50 per cent blacknose.
“And those F1 lambs are now first-time mothers — we are now up to F2.”
The fifth generation will be officially classified as purebred, a heartily deserved reward after a long and expensive process
Sarah and Andrew admit they are not into making money from the venture, but are doing it purely for enjoyment.
“They are friendly, they are funny. Even their behaviour as adults is very much like children,” Sarah said.
“We are keeping our ewe lambs to return to the breeding program, but the wethers are a bit of a by-product, so we sell the boys as pets.
“Our buyers range from small hobby farmers, to bed-and-breakfast hosts, even to animal therapy farms.
“Like most other sheep breeds, Valais prefer the company of others, so we like to sell them as a pair, or to a farm who already have other sheep.”
Compared to other breeds, Valais blacknose require lower maintenance and, although being a large frame breed, they don’t tend to push through fences, nor are they susceptible to common foot problems.
And despite the need to be shorn twice a year, Valais blacknose do not produce a high-quality fleece beyond use for felting and carpet.
With only 300 purebred specimens in the country and 800 on their way to that status, Australia's Valais blacknose flock is shared among 70 breeders.
After some losses to foxes last year, the sheep were bred inside a shed, an integrated management regime that has paid off.
“Because they are AI, we know when they are going to lamb within the same time window,” Sarah said.
“We have also got alpacas, so we have not lost any to foxes this year.”
Each of the ewes in the farm’s breeding program have undergone DNA testing, giving them certification of registration and being added to the grade registry with Valais Blacknose Australia.
But it is the personalities of the Valais that set them apart from regular breeds.
