Another design fault in sheep, well ours in particular is that Herdwicks are born black and then spend the first three months of their life turning their faces and legs white and their bodies grey. This happens really rapidly – why they couldn’t be born with white bits I don’t know! They do it in a strange way, with their eye lids and mouths going white first and they look like they are in negative. Genghis being slightly older is most advanced and he looks like some sort of voodoo lamb, almost like he is wearing a mask. They don’t look very cute at this stage, a bit sinister really. When we got Horrace last November he looked like a proper Herdwick so I guess they will complete their transition from black fact to white face within the next 12 or so weeks.
Our sheep also seem to be self shedding. Which in one respect is good – it is going to save shearing, however it is a bit of a draw back when we were hoping to do wonderful things with their fleece!