SOME ASPECTS OF THE WORK 

On the farm, sheep make up the largest group of animals. They are divided into several flocks and looking after them occupies three quarters of the workforce.

We have opted for the system of 'extensive' grazing (as opposed to an 'intensive' method), using local pastures, woods, etc where no chemical fertilisers have been applied.In most cases, the animals must find for themselves all the food they need. In order to achieve this, we try to use grass when it is at its optimal nutritional value. Similarly, we are extremely careful about the precise time we make hay. Food supplements are only given to animals which have special needs, for example, ewes with twin lambs.

For most of the year, the largest flock is contained within enclosures made from mobile electric netting ('Fletinet') which is moved twice a day. This system of rationning for the sheep is also excellent for the meadows because all the grass gets eaten at the same time, resulting in a spectacular regeneration of flora on land which has lain fallow. Most ancient species of vegetation and rare plants (for example, orchids) need light at ground level in order to grow, but they get smothered by old grass which has not been cut or grazed.

When the flocks are not fenced in, a shepherd looks after them. In our experience, there is no better method of caring for sheep. The shepherd chooses where the animals will graze and, as he is walking about each day, he can balance out the animals' diet, making use of those small resources which without him would be missed, such as acorns in autumn on the side of a path. Guided by the weather, he can avoid a pasture when the grass is too wet and take his flock there once the wind has dried it. His store of knowledge is made up of thousands of tiny details, some of which have been passed on to him by other shepherds, and others which he has learned for himself by observing his flock. A shepherd is always learning from his sheep.

Our system of rearing animals requires a lot of time and people and goes against the modern trend of having untended animals on large open spaces for the main purpose of keeping the land tidy. This is often the case of non-farming people genuinely looking for solutions to farming problems. We think that such ideas have very little to offer most breeds of sheep. We also believe that rearing animals has a much more important social role to play. In European society, as well as in most parts of the world, people used to spend a considerable amount of time looking after animals, which were to be found everywhere. They influenced our way of seeing and experiencing life. Their disappearance has left a void, especially for those people caught between the old and the new ways of farming. We believe that there are certain people who feel out of place in our society, ill at ease, who can benefit from daily contact with animals. You might even say "animals are our best cultural connection with nature."

With this in mind, the 'Ferme Conservatoire' offers itself as a host for anyone who wants an introduction to, or to learn more about, traditional farming skills. All that is required are certain personal qualities (a calm manner, the ability to listen and the desire to explore notions of time, liberty, the giving of self and personal development), rather than actual knowledge. Such visitors are given food and lodging in exchange for genuine involvement in the work of the farm.

The 'Ferme Conservatoire' is also interested in the history of animal-rearing, fearing that, in the course of its evolution, simple methods may have been forgotten or abandoned. We tend to keep to, or experiment with, the more ancient forms of animal-rearing, such as mixing different animals in the same flock (sheep, goats, donkeys) or else use a semi-nomadic method (moving around with a flock for several months on unused land such as fallow fields, stubble, woods and winter ley).

Rearing animals of a breed of limited members

In order for any breed to remain strong, resistant to illness and productive, while maintaining its breeding qualities, it must have wide genetic variation. That is to say that, while animals of the same breed look similar, they need as many genetic differences as possible when reproducing so that their genes combine to produce a new organism. The greater the difference between the father and mother, the greater the vitality of the offspring. It is one of life's mysteries that strength is born out of difference.

It is therefore imperative, not only for rare breeds threatened with extinction, but for other breeds as well, to establish a programme which enables the maximum number of individual animals to reproduce in each family group.

Not having the means to put into operation a complex system of targetted mating for the sheep, the 'Ferme Conservatoire' adopted the fairly simple method of using the maximum number of males in reproduction, many more than would normally be used. For example, for the 'Landaise' sheep, when 120 ewes were reproducing, they circulated freely with 14 rams (7 in the first period they were 'in heat' and 7 in the second period).

After several years of experience, this system seems to work very well, the sheep no longer having the problems which had been attributed to inbreeding.

Here are the rams used in 1998 for the « landaise » breed. As can be seen, this breed shows enough variety that some consider them to be an entire population.

Hypothesis : it would seem that when a female mates with several males on the day it is 'in heat', the ovum is fertilised by one of the sperm which is genetically the most distant. What this suggests is that the ovum exercises a degree of choice and that at times nature does not leave as much to chance as we think.