Gentle Goodness!
Our Sheep
Our flock of sheep consists of multiple breeds; East Friesian and Lacaune are the main two which makes up the majority of our girls, but we have a few Manech and Awassi breed sheep as well. Each breed brings different attributes and behaviours which adds a great deal of character to our flock – something we love about our girls.
Our flock is very fertile and produce a lot of offspring. We see it as being important for the lambs to stay on mum to ensure they have a healthy start to life. Unlike many milking operations, where the offspring are removed from their mothers within 48 hrs, we leave the lambs on until they reach their ideal weaning age (40-45 days) to allow the ewes to display the same behaviours as they would in the wild. Once weaned, the lambs are moved onto high-quality pastures. We use this system because at about 35-days old, ewes start to naturally wean their lambs onto grass, the lambs get a much better start to life as no one is better than mum at bringing up her children, it puts less stress on the sheep, and it feels ethically right to operate this way.
We have two milking flocks, one which lambs in early spring and another which lambs in Autumn. They are happily milked once a day for the duration of their lactation period (approx. 230 days). We do this to ensure you can enjoy our products all year round! Our ewes naturally roam outside on a 100% pasture diet, plus we give them a tasty snack of grain while we milk them to help keep them relaxed and to give them a boost of some high quality feed.
Unique Qualities of Sheep's Milk
Sheep’s milk contains 60% more protein and calcium of cow’s milk.
Sheep’s milk is higher in iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, thiamine, riboflavin, medium chain fatty acids, linoleic acids and vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B6, B12 & D
Sheep’s milk contains all essential amino acids, all at a higher concentration than what cow’s or goat’s milk contains
Contains only A2-type type proteins which is seen to have great health benefits and be more easily digested than A1 type proteins
Our Milk
Our goal is to ethically and sustainably produce the highest quality sheep’s milk in the world. It is no secret that in order to do this you must start with the ewe’s and ensure they are happy and healthy. We have generations of experience farming sheep in our business, over time we have developed elite management systems which ensures our sheep thrive on their 100% pasture fed diets all year round.
We do not use antibiotics, GMO’s or added hormones in the production of our milk.
The milking shed is a calm environment. We use this time to monitor the health of every ewe as they come through the shed. After each sheep is milked their udder is sprayed with a natural disinfectant to ensure no bacteria can build up and they run across a zinc sponge mat which maintains the health of their feet.
All of our actions are carried out with the intentions of maintaining ewe health and ensuring the milk they produce is the highest quality so that you can enjoy our products, knowing they have been produced the right way.
Low Environmental Impact of Sheep
Sheep naturally have a low environmental footprint when compared to other farmed animals such as cattle. They are much smaller animals which has a lot to do with this. Their bladder size is smaller meaning they urinate small amounts regularly which evenly disperses it throughout the paddocks. This reduces the likeliness of nutrients leaching into the waterways significantly.
The same principle also applies to sheep and their faeces, it is excreted in much smaller amounts and spread more evenly throughout the paddocks. Another advantage of the size of sheep is that they have a much lower chance of damaging the soil structure due to pugging compared to larger animals. If the soil structure is damaged then the land becomes less productive and often becomes compacted as a result. Effects of this result in lower pasture production, less nitrogen fixation, an increase in greenhouse gases emitted and an increase in run-off which causes soil loss and releases nutrients into the waterways.
We are so glad to work with sheep as they make achieving our standard of being sustainable much easier. Sheep have another advantage which isn’t just to do with size, it is to do with the amount of methane they emit. Early research suggests That sheep methane emissions could also be less on a per kg of milk solids basis, we look forward to more research in this space to confirm more about this!
What Makes Sheep Milk So Good?
Great for You
High in folate, calcium, B12, magnesium and prebiotic. Minimally processed and low added sugar.
Kind to Earth
Tummy Friendly
Many stomachs that are upset with cows’ milk, find they can drink sheep milk with no discomfort.
Gorgeous work environment
Nestled along the stunning Wairarapa Coast, our sheep enjoy the wide expanses of grassland that look over the Pacific Ocean. Some breathtaking views which we feel very lucking to be working in everyday, and our sheep sure don’t mind either!
our special flock
It takes a special sheep to produce the finest milk. That is why we have hand picked our girls. We have a range of breeds in our flock; East Friesian, Lacaune, Awassi and Manech are the stated breeds. Each breed has different attributes and behaviours, we love the character our flock has.
Family business
Let us do the hard work so that you can enjoy the health properties of sheep’s milk regularly! As a family, we deliver to you, grass-fed, naturally nutritious products which are free of GMO’s, antibiotics and added hormones. Better for you better for earth!