This page provides you with information about the Clun Forest sheep breed and more especially the flock of Gerard and Gabrielle Scholtes in Bodegraven in the province of Zuid-Holland, in The Netherlands.
The Damburgh flock numbers some twenty ewes and two rams, all of which are entered in the Dutch pedigree register.

 

Every spring about 35 lambs are born and in June all the lambs are inspected before they can be entered in the pedigree register. The best lambs are selected for breeding purposes. Each year we sell a number of young breeding ewes and most of our lambs to other (often new/beginner) sheep owners.
	yearling ewe with ewelamb  of 5 weeks old  (April)	the same ewe and ewelamb in August 4 months later (the ewe was shorn in May)

Our flock has the "OPP/zwoegervrij" certificate and we also participate in the Dutch scrapie eradication programme. We are a member (Gerard is also member of the board) of the Clun Forest Sheep Association in The Netherlands, an enthusiastic group of about 120 breeders.
In the summer we take some sheep and lambs to shows, where we can compare them with those of other breeders. These shows are very sociable occasions, where colleague breeders can meet and chat with each other about their sheep.

Key characteristics of Clun Forest sheep are: meat-wool sheep with great adaptability easy lambing and excellent mothering instinct ewes are good milkers alert and lively live to a high average age Cluns have proud, black/darkbrown heads with upright ears, which are never still. In the Netherlands Cluns are kept mainly as a hobby. The Shepherd´s Journal (Feb. 2000): " If you are a novice breeder or if you do not have much time for management, then this is the breed for you".

Ewe lambs 5 months old National Clun Forest Show Ermelo 1997	Our proud ewe Polly with her quadruplets born on March 1, 1998. At the time this photograph was taken the lambs were 2 weeks old. All four lambs grew up successfully and attracted a lot of attention near the Clun Forest stand at the National Sheep Show in Utrecht in 1998. In 1999, 2000 and 2001 Polly again had quadruplets. Lambs get their cream coloured fleece after 7-8 weeks.

The Dutch Clun Forest sheep come from Great Britain and
were first imported into The Netherlands in 1979;
since then, new bloodlines have regularly been imported .

These five ewes were imported by some breeders from Scotland in 1994. Some of our ewes are from these blood lines. This splendid picture was taken by Jan Wever, chairman of the Clun Forest Association in the Netherlands.

 

If you would like more information you are always welcome!
For telephone or email gscho.damburgh@net.hcc.nl see top of this page.