The Balloërveld gets a new sheep herd, now that the two current shepherds are retiring. The herd of a nature reserve is often taken over by the new party, but that is not the case here. Highly unusual. Four questions about the ups and downs of a herd of sheep:
Rarely, says Albert Kerssies, chairman of the Stichting Behoud Drentse Schaapskoften. “The fact that herds stop and new sheep are coming does not happen very often. But another party is not obliged to take over the sheep.”
Usually a shepherd, when he uses a new site, starts with part of an existing herd. “This so that the sheep are largely used to each other,” says Kerssies. “However, a herd and a shepherd have to get used to a new area, about the first month. For the sheep, the longer you are there, the better they know the area. Then you know what you should graze at what time and what places you better avoid,” says Kerssies.
“If you already have a herd that is used to walking on the heath, then that is not a big problem. What you notice is that when the herd knows the area better, they are often more guiding where they want to go. As long as they do not yet know that, ‘unknown makes uninhibited’ and you will have to send a little more to a new area. terrain. “
No, for example, the Balloërveld consists of heathland. Not every sheep can walk around there. Kerssies: “There is quite a difference between a heath sheep on normal grassland and a heath sheep that walks around on the heath. This means that they have to be able to get along much better with lower quality food. It is important that you start with a relatively young and good herd, because you have to make a new nature area back.”
There are two options. The first is that the sheep are sold. “If we assume that it is a herd that is good quality, then you can relatively easily resell the sheep to other herds. There is a market for that. Then they will be sold in groups and will be retained for the rare pet breed,” says Kerssies.
What exactly will happen to the four hundred sheep will remain in the uncertain.