Awassi sheep in New Jersey

If you have driven past our pasture and thought the sheep looked wrong, you were not imagining it. Awassi do not look like the sheep in a picture book.

The tail

Awassi are a fat-tailed breed. The tail is a fat reserve, the way a camel's hump is — an adaptation to a climate where feed comes and goes. It is the first thing people notice and the thing they ask about.

Where they come from

The breed originates in the Middle East and is the dominant sheep across much of the region. They are hardy, they handle heat and rough grazing that would flatten a European breed, and they are milked as much as they are kept for meat.

They are rare in New Jersey. That is part of why we keep them.

The rams

Our breeding rams are naturally horned — the horns curl heavily as they mature, and on the older tan ram they are genuinely impressive up close. They are roughly a year old and around 95 lbs, and they are vet-checked. They are not registered and not vaccinated, and we say so plainly to anyone who asks.

If you are building a flock and want the breed, come and look at them in person. Photographs undersell the animals.