Desert Weyr Black Welsh Mountain Sheep
At Desert Weyr we breed high performance Black Welsh Mountain sheep for the farm flock owner who wants easy care sheep that perform well on forages alone. Our superior mutton is for the local food aficionado ready for a rich flavorful meat that is out of the ordinary. Rich, deep black wool provides a neutral background for the fiber artist whether you are a spinner, knitter, weaver or crocheter.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Our small family farm produces animal products in a humane and environmentally friendly way. We provide our food and fiber animals with a healthy life and a quick humane death. We manage our pastures in a sustainable fashion designed to improve soil fertility and the farm environment.
The fleece is a dark black or reddish black called cuchddu. Check out our shop for raw fleeces, washed and carded roving, spun yarn and sturdy hiking socks.
Sheep manure is a wonderful fertilizer and we offer it for sale to local gardeners by reservation. We also save and prepare the horns from the rams for crooks, buttons and knife handles.
It is our responsibility to use as much of the animal as we can and we take our responsibility seriously.
Come visit and see our wonderful sheep.
OUR BLOG
Learn how we manage our small farm on a daily basis and get to know our flock!
Scone Recipe and AI Class Completed
We hosted a class in sheep artificial insemination the first week of December. 10 students from all over the US and even one from Canada came to learn about non-surgical procedure that Dr. Purdy has developed. Students got to practice thawing straws of frozen semen...
How I got 15 meals from a 9 pound Heritage Turkey
Thanksgiving is over. For the last several years we haven’t had turkey on Thanksgiving because I was not able to get a locally raised heritage bird. I like the flavor and I want to support rare breeds so if I can’t get a bird raised like I want it we’ll choose...
Freezer Management
One of the hardest things to manage when you use chest freezers for storing meat for sale is how to handle the depths of the freezer and not lose track of what you have. I’ve discovered a few tricks over the years that are applicable to anyone with a chest freezer. My...
So How Do I Ship Sheep Anyway?
So you're buying sheep from across the country. What's involved from the time you agree to purchase sheep until your new sheep arrive at your farm? Well the rules vary a lot but here are the basic things you will need to deal with. Paperwork Every livestock shipment...
Non-Surgical Sheep Artificial Insemination Seminar
The American Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Association and Desert Weyr, LLC is pleased to announce that we will be hosting an intensive 2-day seminar on non-surgical sheep artificial insemination December 5-6, 2018 Dr. Philip Purdy from the USDA National Animal Germplasm...
What are those Clusters Anyway?
Black Welsh Mountain sheep in North America are highly inbred. Our founding population was very small so we do not have much variation from which to select. In the USDA’s National Animal Germplasm Program performed a cluster analysis study on the population. This...