Hoeve Ruisdael
On Dijkmanshuizen, between Oudeschild and Oosterend, stands the farm of J. Mantje and sons, called Hoeve Ruisdael. The farm is registered under breeder's number 4091 and flock number 363462. The farm comprises 35 dairy cows, 37 acres of agriculture, 82 acres of pasture and 115 lamb sheep.About twenty years ago, Maedi-Visna was eradicated on the farm and we have been breeding sheep there ever since. In the past, the farm was run by Klaas Mantje. Now his son Jan and his grandson Rene are in charge.
A ram we have used often in the past years is 4030-1460 (general appearance 87). He was born on C. Kikkert's farm and is joint property of him and P.G. Kooiman. The ram is eight years old now and has produced over 585 lambs with 336 sheep, all over Holland. His daughters on our farm all score above average. The seven daughters that we registered this year scored 86.6 point for general appearance and 88.8 points for wool on average.
Wool is our farm's strong suit, we average 87.3 points with the 39 young sheep registered this year. Rams we have used in recent years include: 4030-1810 (general appearance 88), Champion as a two-year-old in Opmeer; 4030-2387 (general appearance 87); and 4030-2310 (general appearance 86), some of whose daughters will be lambing this year.
We aim to breed a well-developed, functional sheep with a striking head, good legs, good wool and a lot of charisma, in short, a useful sheep with show qualities. In 1998 we bought 19 old sheep from L.C. Eelman (3965) of Oosterend, of which the afore-mentioned 4030-1460 has been used.
Of these sheep, seven daughters are still kept on our farm. Sheep 3965-1975 (general appearance 88) gave birth to two good daughters: 4091-1663 (general appearance 89) and 4091-1664 (general appearance 88). The sheep and her lambs were present at the national show in Utrecht.
| In 1999 we bought all 40 young sheep of L.C. Eelman (3965), who is giving up sheep breeding. The sheep, offspring of Verberne and Kikkert rams, fit well into the breeding history of our own flock. Photo: 4091-1663 (general appearance 89), bearing 4030-2797 (general appearance 88) |
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This year we bought two sons of 1907-1349 from C. Kikkert, 4030-2797 (GA 88), born in '99 and 1B in his category at the 2000 sheep fair on Texel. Ram 4030-2797 (GA 88) has tupped over 35 sheep, including 4030-1663 (GA 89) and 3965-2544 (GA 89).
Ram 4030-3020 was provisionally registered in October with 86 points for general appearance. By now, he stands over 65 cm at the withers and has serviced 13 sheep, including 4091-1664 (GA 88) and 3965-2521 (GA 88).
Both rams have Verberne blood on their father's side and Kikkert blood on their mother's side, so they are a good addition to the bloodlines of the flock. We hope to bring out the best characteristics.
 4030-3020 (GA 86) |
 4030-2797 (GA 88) |
We have also used van Weij's 0282-2418 (GA 86) this year, a very well muscled ram with outstanding wool (muscle 88 and wool 90). And two rams bred by G. Bakker of Oosterend. These are well-muscled and have good legs and wool, but lack the extra length and the looks people want nowadays. The rams were given 84 points for general appearance at the autumn show, after more than three weeks of tupping. The rams produce good offspring with all the right characteristics, but lack length and overall good looks themselves.
The lambing starts on March 9, and we are hoping for a good 'harvest' so we will have animals that can hold their own with the best of the Texels at all the shows.