They are fluffy, have soft fur and are part of the Easter festival like the Easter bunny.
But Sebastian Best accompanies the sheep all year round.
He has a particularly close relationship with his lambs, some of which he raises with the bottle.
A visit to the breeder and his black Jura sheep.
Fürstenfeldbruck
- Fredi is a bottle child.
And almost a Christ child.
Born two days before Christmas, the little lamb spent the first days of its life under the Christmas tree of its owner Sebastian Best and was hand-fed with milk every few hours.
Now, at Easter, Fredi has long since become a lively member of the flock of sheep that the Bruck breeder keeps in a stable near Biburg.
“We love animals”, say Sebastian Best (28) and his partner Teresa Heid (24).
When they discovered that Fredi's mother couldn't give milk, there was no question for the two of them to take the little lamb home and give him the bottle every few hours - even at night.
Fredi thanks them both with special confidence.
Not even if you take it out of the pen and place it on the meadow, it will run away.
Pepe becomes a real herding dog
Against this, Pepe would probably intervene - another youngster.
The four-month-old Harzer Fuchs puppy will later help Sebastian Best to drive the sheep from one pasture to the next.
As a scion of an old German herding dog breed, he has the instinct to keep the herd together.
For the time being, however, it is above all his two people who Pepe never lose sight of and who are called back with excited whimpering when they move too far away.
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Future herding dog: Pepe the puppy is looked after by Theresa Heid, as is Fredi the lamb.
© Peter Weber
Agricultural master Sebastian Best already came into contact with sheep on his training farm in Eichenau.
“When I was 17, my trainer gave me my first sheep,” recalls the Brucker.
Over the years he bought more animals.
He now owns 36 ewes with currently 24 lambs.
A buck also belongs to the herd.
Because that is the case, offspring are born all year round, mostly in the form of twins.
The wool is sold at the farmers' market
Because Best likes black sheep best, he has specialized in a dark breed - the Jura sheep, a black to reddish-brown mountain range from Switzerland with particularly good, fine wool.
The 28-year-old's herd has already been shorn for this year.
He will soon be selling the wool along with fruit, juice and schnapps at the Bruck farmers' market.
The market stall is one of the mainstays of the agricultural master who recently started his own business.
He also grows vegetables for direct marketing together with colleagues and works once a week in the Bruck slaughterhouse.
This is also where the lives of most of his sheep end.
Slaughter is part of it, even if Best gives every animal a name and has a relationship with everyone.
“It's not nice,” admits the 28-year-old.
“But if you want to eat meat, you have to get along with it.” In order for sheep breeding to be worthwhile, the animals have to be completely used, not just the wool.
Best also attaches great importance to the regional origin of food - whether as a producer or as a consumer.
It goes without saying that he literally accompanies every lamb to the slaughter.
“The animals trust me.
I owe that to you. "
Sheep as lawn mowers
Soon the herd will be allowed to go outside from the stable between Biburg and Wagelsried.
“This is the most species-appropriate husbandry,” explains Sebastian Best. During the warm season, his sheep will keep the grass short on various meadows in the area - especially on those that are too small or too crooked for mowing vehicles.
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The Jura sheep herd is in a stable between Biburg and Wagelsried.
Soon she will be allowed out on the meadow.
© Peter Weber
Fredi will be there too.
He may be spared the slaughter.
Best is already thinking about neutering him and leaving him with the herd - as is Felix, another former bottle-necked child.
The breeder has a very special relationship with them.
You can read more news from the district here.