Come and experience them for yourself. A very special part of Drenthe’s cultural heritage!
The Ruinen Flock of Sheep
Are you planning on visiting the Dwingelderveld National Park? Then there’s every chance you’ll come across the Ruinen flock of sheep. A fantastic experience which will briefly take you back to long bygone times. The flock grazes on the heath every day. Irrespective of the wind and weather, through both summer and winter.
Do you absolutely not want to miss out on this extraordinary encounter? The hundreds of sheep and their shepherd leave the sheepfold at the Natuurmonumenten’s visitor centre every day and make their way back there in the evening again too. You’re more than welcome to come along and meet this beautiful flock of sheep in Drenthe!
The Ruinen flock of sheep is one of the two herds which spend their days grazing in the Dwingelderveld National Park (Drenthe). There are approximately three hundred sheep in the flock and they all form part of the ancient Drents heideschaap (Drenthe heath sheep) breed.
The sheep spend their days grazing the heath, both during the summer and winter months. The grazing makes the heath less grassy and the ‘pruning’ of the heather bushes makes sure the heath remains strong and healthy.
A breed apart
The Drents Heideschaap
The Drents Heideschaap is the oldest breed of sheep in Western Europe. They first appeared in Drenthe a long time ago, as far back as 4000 BC. The sheep used to be important for their manure, meat and wool, whereas the animals are now mainly used for maintaining nature reserves. And that’s exactly the case in the Dwingelderveld National Park too.
The Drenthe Heideschaap rams are always horned. These horns are spiral-shaped and are considerably larger than a ewe’s (female). The horns boast a graceful twist which has freed up the ears. Quite an impressive and distinctive sight.
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Breathtaking landschape
Dwingelderveld National Park
The flock of sheep graze in a breathtaking landscape of heathland, forest, fens, marsh and drifting sands. The Dwingelderveld National Park is Western Europe’s largest connected wet heath area and covers almost 4,000 hectares. The Drents heideschapen help to keep the heath, in this quite extraordinary area, in excellent condition. A very useful daily activity.
And what is it that makes the Dwingelderveld National Park truly unique? It’s one of the quietest (and, at night, the darkest) places in the Netherlands. You can literally spend hours roaming around the park. A wonderful and fantastic home for the sheep.
A beautiful home!
The new sheepfold
The old sheepfold dates back to 1949. A need for more space resulted in a new sheepfold being added in 2017. The old sheepfold has since been renovated and is now being used as accommodation for the lambs. The Ruinen flock of sheep was able to expand to 450 sheep as a result of the new sheepfold. Although this excludes the annual lambs!
Information area
The new building also includes an information area. This is open to the public every day and can be accessed free of charge. We look forward to welcoming you!
Our men & women
The shepherds
The sheep head out onto the heath every day under the incredibly inspiring and skilful guidance of our shepherds. Our head shepherd Michiel Poelenije and shepherd Annelies receive some very welcome support with their daily activities from a team of enthusiastic volunteers.
Michiel Poelenije has acquired an impressive amount of experience with sheep herding, despite his young age. He gained experience with several urban flocks of sheep in Arnhem and Coevorden during his Environmental Sciences course. He owns around fifty Charollais sheep privately. He also trains several herding dogs. “I’d like to be able to put the experiences and knowledge I have gained in nature management, sheep farming and dog training to good use,” Michiel stated when he was appointed as the new shepherd at the end of 2016.
Annelies van Nieukerken joined the Ruinen flock of sheep as an assistant shepherd in 2016. She put her heart and soul into shepherding the Orvelte flock of sheep for an impressive 27 years before this time.
Contact & Route
Would you like to visit the sheepfold and will you be travelling by car?
Then please park in the Natuurmonumenten’s visitor centre car park at Benderse 22 in Ruinen.