Winsor Cross Ouessant

23/06/2026

There is always one 😂.

22/06/2026

Working through the shearing. Wethers and rams are done at Nutwood leaving everyone at Winsor. Weather has not been great for us this year as fleece had only just lifted when the last wet spell hit us.

If you are looking for rams we now have several available in breed standard colours. All ages but youngest are shearlings. We do not sell lambs I’m afraid. Some are tested scrapie AAF/AAF
If that is important to you.

Please do not message me for price. Price is dependent on ram. It is not one price fits all.

Viewing July.

All registered to the Ouessant Sheep Conservation Society. Rams are fully provenanced from zootechnically imported Dutch rams imported and registered in OSS grassroots, but we chose not to register to this society going forward.

Please do not message me regarding this. If you wish further details then contact your society.

Rams can be accompanied by a wether if required. .

You will require cph.

Needless to say good breeding homes are really important. Full back up is provided as usual.

19/06/2026

Update.

Charlotte is back with her flock this morning. Took a little longer than I thought and she actually had a course of b1 to bring things back into normality. Although I don’t use antibiotic lightly, she also had another shot to clear the slight rasp in her lung. As she was compromised with thiamin decided belt and braces was called for. Head tilt gone and lungs clear 😀

Little Charlotte seemed a bit under the weather this morning. She is 8 and had no particular outstanding issues she just wasn’t ‘right’. Gave her the once over and a little raspy in lungs but temperature top end normal.

Then I noticed a very slight head tilt. Nothing drastic but something you could see if you were looking for an issue.

Thoughts go to CCN which is neurological and is a thiamine imbalance. Symptoms can be intense including blindness and staggering. Charlotte had none of the intense symptoms only a slight dilation of pupils, a little shivering and the tilt.

I called the vet to check her over and she thought similarly so Charlotte had a b1 jab to sort out the thiamine. She then had antibiotic and anti inflammatory to calm lungs down.

Looking more the thing now but still breathing a little heavily.

This is why it’s so important to jump on even mild issues as deterioration otherwise can be so quick.

I’ll monitor and maybe repeat b1 in the morning if necessary. She’s up and about albeit covered in shavings 😀

18/06/2026

10/06/2026

Great wooly molehills lying around the fields 😂.

We get some lovely fleeces which are great insulators for the sheep, providing protection against not only winter weather but also during the warmer months. Around this time of year, the fleece will ‘rise’ and everyone is ready for shearing.

The sheep are always glad to get their big fleeces off and this is when we can get a really good evaluation of our sheep and can measure our young stock without masses of fleece getting in the way.

Ouessant sheep are noted for the quality of their fleece and we breed our sheep for fleece consistency with no breaks along the back.

Healthy sheep give good fleeces.

What does Ouessant fleece offer?

A distinct double-coat consisting of a longer, coarser outer layer and a soft, dense undercoat. The fiber thickness generally averages 26 microns, featuring a distinct sheen that is highly sought after by hand spinners. The wool grows approximately 9 cm over a 12-month period.

Here at Winsor Cross we only offer breed standard colours of black, brown and white. There are soft variations within the wool but they retain solid colouring.

If you have interest in our wool we will be shearing in the next couple of weeks when we will have some Ouessant fleece available. You are welcome to visit and select your fleece. We welcome spinners and groups. Fleeces are skirted only and debris removed and they are then shrink wrapped.

03/06/2026

Well that’s a wrap on the 2026 lambing season. I can never be laid back about lambing. I am conscious that I make the decision to lamb and I feel such a huge responsibility to bring everyone through it safely and happily.

Only one assisted birth which ended fine with no long term implications and amazingly the ewe having struggled to birth her baby absolutely loves him to bits.

Last little one born yesterday and I can’t ‘stand down’ until he’s at least a week old. Weather is horrible - one extreme to the other and I wish it wasn’t extremes as we’ve been having.

Other than that, waiting for weather for shearing which is imminent and haylage field is nearing cut time. That’s another fraught time as we do rely on a good cut to support not only our breeding stock but our welfare activities.

As to shearing, we will have Ouessant fleece in white, black and brown and Shetland fleece in assorted colours. If you are interested in crafting we are always happy to supply fleece to groups or individuals. Just pm.

Managed a catch up zoom call at the weekend with some other breeders which was enlightening and enjoyable. I think it’s important to stay in touch and to be able to share thoughts on Ouessant breeding and the way forward for conservation.

There was some criticism that Winsor Cross zootech imported lines are not generally available in what is a genetically starved market in the uk but I was able to explain why this has been the case.

Conservation breeding necessitates patience, commitment and investment. We never breed immature stock and we hold stock pending breed standard attainment at maturity.

That being said we WILL have stock available in a few months and we have some cracking rams in all colours ready and mature for covering duties this year.

As usual we will have rams to suit different situations and experience. We try to match rams to homes to ensure minimum of issues. Breeding must be enjoyable not a trial. To that end we welcome visits, by appointment, to meet the boys where we offer advice and guidance on how to interact and get the best from your breeding experience.

More soon

30/05/2026

More fencing at Nutwood. So hot! All done and the boys can go up there shortly. Grass has got away so they’ll have their work cut out chomping through it. They tell me though they’re up to the task. Lol

28/05/2026

Lovely and peaceful. Ewes are asleep with their lambs tucked in beside them and I moved the fence quietly to do some work in the field.

Still peaceful - everyone still asleep and I congratulated myself on not being ‘helped’ by multiple sheep and lambs getting in the way - then ……..there’s this lot 😂. I never counted and clearly not all lambs were asleep. They were the escape committee😂

Not a ewe in site. Not a bleat for them to return. Apparently I am appointed flock babysitter for these delinquents 😂😂. They were having a great time so left them to it.

Funniest thing - one of the lambs was super mom Eliza Dane’s. She clearly has given up being over protective declaring herself ‘worn out’ with motherhood.

Covered in cement dust but declared themselves to be ‘having a great adventure’ 😂

24/05/2026

The first swallow babies. Dear little souls.

It’s been a horrendously busy week but had a rough date from the shearers. We always touch base to confirm when fleece is ready. Shetland’s are rooing, which means taking their own fleece off and wandering around like Miss Haversham from Great Expectations trailing fleece. 😂 Ouessant are a little behind and estimated for a couple of weeks.

Also waiting on fencers for Nutwood and that’s scheduled in.

Excessive heat is very ‘trying’ for the animals but everyone is fine. We keep a close eye in this weather looking for sunburn on the whites and general signs of dehydration.

Lambs are pretty much done with one to go. I think she may have ‘slipped’ during early pregnancy so is a few weeks behind. Or she could be fat! 😂. No - seriously she is showing signs of a little one.

Here’s a very bad photo of the first swallow babies and a slightly better photo of Winsor Cross Arctic Whisper, a 2023 ewe and her ‘snow’ baby. Lambs are as yet unnamed.

The whites seem more affected by the heat than the other colours.

22/05/2026

Bless her. Little Winsor Cross Eliza Dane has taken motherhood very seriously indeed. In fact she could be classed as a perfect mum except she gets into a spin trying to keep all lambs in sight and gets so intent looking for her baby that she fails to realise her daughter is following her in this clip. 😂😂. Everyone’s a week old now so starting to get full of fun.