Welcome to
A small farm dedicated to raising high-quality Full-Blood Valais Blacknose Sheep in the USA
Located in Northeast Ohio, USA we are a husband and wife team passionate about raising full-blood Valais Blacknose sheep and helping them grow and thrive in the US.
With great determination, we achieved our initial goal on February 14, 2022 with our first full-blood Valais born in our barn. Since then, we've continued to grow focusing on full-blood Valais.
Our journey has involved lots of research, using all our skills and knowledge from over 46+ years in the livestock industry, and connecting with people in other countries as well as the US. We work on expanding our knowledge through hands on experience, reaching out to fellow breeders and attending events featuring the Valais Blacknose breed. In 2023 we attended the American Classic National show in New Jersey and the U.S.A. National Valais Blacknose Sheep Show held in Des Moines, Iowa. The Iowa show was a great opportunity to attend workshops, meet other breeders and talked to great judges as well as vendors and nutrition specialist. To help encourage youth to get involved with this breed, we donated a proven F1 ewe along with a straw of semen from renowned Parkdale Crackers.
Our experiences now include:
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selecting quality foundation ewes for the breed-up program (experimenting with different breeds)
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importing fullblood semen from the UK and New Zealand
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purchasing fullblood live ewes and a ram in New Zealand
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importing fullblood embryos from New Zealand
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interacting with multiple veterinarians with embryo transfer experience
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selecting quality recips
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best prep for lambing
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following a strict protocol to make AI successful
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understanding a different nutrition program specifically to the Valais breed
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maintenance program for health against disease, parasites and the weather
We have learned so much and know we have lots more to experience and learn. We take a great deal of pride in the maintenance and quality of our Valais.
ABOUT
Welcome to Valais Blacknose of Lovers Lane. We are Fred and Cheryl Hayes, a couple filled with lots of passion and just enough crazy to begin this journey into the Valais Blacknose Sheep breed-up program and full-blood Valais Blacknose sheep. With our kids grown and a history of raising livestock, we started this adventure in 2019. After researching the topic, we traveled to the UK and attended the Valais Blacknose Sheep Show in Carlisle, England. There, we experienced firsthand why the Valais Blacknose Sheep are called "the world's cutest sheep." And the real journey began.
