A British farmer was tending to his flock of Swiss Valais Blacknose sheep when he noticed something a little different about them. The black and white sheep all had pink heads!
At first, Richard Nicholson, owner of Cannon Hall Farm in Barnsley, U.K. thought someone had taken a spray marker to the heads of the friendly sheep. But the cause turned out to be something closer to home. The sheep had been rubbing themselves against a new red feeder causing them to dye their wool pink.
Nicholson told CBC’s As It Happens that as result his flock of rare sheep have become “fashion icons all around the world” with photos and video of the sheep and their fancy hairdos spreading across the globe.
Cannon Hall Farm is a large, family run farm attraction with lots of farm animals included the Valais Blacknose. The farm has been actively breeding the Valais Blacknose to raise their numbers in the UK. With their distinctive black faces and shaggy white hair, the sheep already look quite distinctive but the pink certainly adds an extra touch of panache.
“We’ve been breeding them to try and bring the numbers back up again, and a lot of people are buying them just because they look so attractive in the fields,” Nicolson told the Canadian radio broadcaster said.
In fact, people can now get their very own “pink lady.” The farm recently shared on Facebook that, “some of Cannon Hall Farm’s famous flock of pink-haired pedigree Swiss Valais sheep are looking for new homes.”
And if the pink hair doesn’t entice you, Nicolson shares the sheep have fun personalities too. “They are quite fun animals to watch,” he said. “Sometimes, you’ll find them sticking their tongue out at you.”
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