CHEVIOT SHEEP MINIATURE
AND TOY (The tiniest of them all )
Smokey Valley Farm A WORD FROM THE OWNER
RICHARD SHANNON THESE CHEVIOTS OF OURS ARE LIKE NO OTHER STRAIN ANYWHERE. THEY WERE ORIGINALLY FROM A FAMILY FLOCK DIRECT FROM THE HILLS IN
EUROPE. THE ORIGINAL OWNER BROUGHT THEM TO HIS RANCH HERE IN THE U.S. AND RAISED THEM IN A CLOSED FLOCK FOR OVER 60 YEAR'S . I WAS ABLE TO GET SOME OF HIS SMALLEST "OLD STYLE TYPE" SHEEP HE HAD ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SHOW FLOCKS IN THEIR TIME, THE
50'S TAKING THEM AS FAR AS CHICAGO FOR EXHIBITION HE WAS QUITE SUCCESSFUL IN THE U.S. SHOW RINGS FOR MANY YEARS MY CHEVIOTS ARE NOT SOME SALE BARN CROSSES AS ARE MOST OF THE OTHER'S SOLD ON THE MARKET TODAY. WHERE DO YOU THINK THE COLORED ONES CAME FROM? OURS ARE BUILT LIKE LITTLE RHINOS SHORT THICK
AND STRONG!
WHAT A POSTER GIRL! They just don't come any nicer than this!
And the boys aren't too shabby either! The Boys and they should look like boys!
and the girls like girls
Below Two Lovely Ewes in full fleece
The rarest of happenings
for us this year.... TWINS!
AND we had Two
Sets!!!! Unheard of until now as it is
NOT common for hill breeds like these to
twin Ewes love their lambs and you can tell they know it,
look at those smiles Winter Wonderland These sheep (18 in this rare group of small Mini and Toy sheep)
are quite hardy and will be out in the snow grazing, as you can see by the snow on their backs, even when they
have a nice barn with hay in it waiting for them.
The tiniest of all the small sheep breeds, they are known to
be as small as 16" and 17" when full grown!!! Their tails are left in the
natural state as they were meant to be. Their wool has a quite nice spring
to it and has some nice luster also. The lambs must be seen to be believed!
One look at the photos above and you are sure to think you are seeing things!
The above two lambs are NOT day olds, but are more than one week old. No matter if the size is the Miniature or the Toys you are sure
to be hooked on these tiniest of all sheep.
Miniature Cheviot Sheep History and Breed Information Sheet (The "tail" of the small, perky Cheviots.)
The Miniature Cheviot Sheep are a small, extremely hardy, wool
breed of sheep. Their meat qualities are good as well, but their fleece
and size are the breed's strongest points in today's market. Three breeds
of Cheviot Sheep (North Country, The Hill and The Brecknock) are native
to the Cheviot Hills country that form the border country between England
and Scotland. This native land has a harsh climate with very cold
winters. In the formative period of the breed, the animals were given little,
if any, shelter and very little feed other than what they could rustle
up for themselves no matter the time of the year. Under such conditions,
the development of a hardy breed was inevitable, and so it is how they
are still found today, a very hardy breed indeed.
The Cheviot breeds were never accepted well on the western ranges of
the U.S. primarily because of their small size and the fact that they do
not herd up well, but the miniatures small size makes them the perfect
small farm sheep and a great little lawn mower and good, small family pet.
The Brecknock Cheviot sheep are naturally the smallest of the five
Cheviot breeds and Miniature Cheviots are mostly of this breed type.
The Miniatures are the most beautiful, stylish, alert, short legged and
blocky of them all. Both sexes are horn less. Their head is medium
small in size; males have a slight roman nose. Their ears are sharply erect
and small, eyes bold. The neck is medium short and thick. Their backs are
broad and flat with a strong rump and a large full hip. The ribs are well
sprung. Legs are short and somewhat slender, being set wide apart.
The tail should be left in the naturally long state, as in Britain. The
eyes, nose, lips and hooves are to be all black. Most often in the color
white, though some blacks are seen and these do fade to gray. Small conspicuous
black or white spots often appear on the ears and occasionally on the face
and legs. Rams are to appear more masculine than the ewes.
The fully matured miniature sheep at two years old are to be 19-24"
when measured at the top of the shoulder after being sheared, and less
than 100 pounds. As in most miniatures, the smaller the better as long
as quality, health and structure do not suffer. Toys are being seen more
often now and are very small under 19" tall.
As dams, they are excellent mothers; staying close to their lambs at
all times. They milk well and though the lambs are born very small, they
are strong and grow quickly. Twins are not as prevalent as with some
other breeds. Somewhat unique to the breed is a ruff of wool behind the head and
ears around the neck. Their wool varies from fairly coarse to quite fine
qualities, in the 46's to 56's with lengths from eight to twelve inches.
The wool has a natural crispness and some luster and springiness. It has
an invitingly soft handle when made up into garments.
We continue to be surprised at the number of people who have never
heard of "small breeds of Cheviot," but we gladly tell the "tail" of our
"small" flock. This is truly an old breed being saved from extinction by
a very few people who had the wisdom and foresight to see how others would
love the breed too, if they had only known!
There are few breeders of purebred registered Miniature Cheviot Sheep.
With most of the sheep being from three to five separate bloodlines, however,
interest in the breed is increasing and the registering of these flocks
will surely increase the numbers of the Miniature Cheviot Sheep in the
next few years. The standard for Miniature and Toy Cheviots are exactly
the same except for size.
