Around Easter, nature is in full bloom, the days become longer and animals have young. Lambs have also been born in the Holtinger sheep flock again, so it is traditionally time for this kraomschudd’nto celebrate new life.
While enjoying Sleep, baby, sleep on the accordion it fills up with parents and children along the fences near the sheepfold of the Holtingerveld. Many children carry a bag of chunks with them to feed the sheep and their newborn lambs.
Nearly three hundred lambs have been added to the herd on the Holtingerveld this year. “278 to be precise,” says shepherd Jelle Kootstra. There are fewer than last year. This is because breeders have allowed fewer sheep to breed. Kootstra continues: “But this number is still quite a lot.”
The Kraomschudd’n attracts a lot of attention from tourists and local residents. Hans Roest, who had owned Drenthe heath sheep for over twenty years, also came to take a look. “The wolf made me stop,” he explains. “But when I see it like this, I blossom again.”
The sun shone brightly today at a pleasant temperature of over thirteen degrees. A year ago things looked very different.
“It was cold weather and very rainy,” Kootstra reflects. “People stayed at home then, but now I estimate the number of visitors to be a few thousand.”
In recent years, the sheep flock has faced several challenges, such as the wolf and the bluetongue virus. “We had more than a hundred dead sheep due to bluetongue about two years ago,” says Kootstra. “We hope that everything goes well this year and the sheep stay healthy.”
In two weeks the lambs will go out onto the heath with the flock of sheep.
