The island has 250 acres of heather, native grasses, flowers, and seaweed - all of which are enjoyed by the sheep, but they like to eat the seaweed which they eat in preference to all other feeds particularly in winter when the seaweed is rich in protein. At low tide you can see our sheep as far out on the ebb as possible, vying with the waves to get at the freshest bits of living weed, and as the tide returns, jumping over rock-pools or swimming across gullies in order to return to the beach where they will graze the long fronds of washed up weed called 'kelp'.

This unusual diet combined with the harsh habitat of the seashore gives our sheep their unique qualities which include the strength and lustre to their fleece, the varied colours of their wool which serve to camouflage them amongst the rocks, and the superb flavour of their meat.

As we are the only people living in Auskerry we have been able to work the sheep with our children in the afternoons and teach the boys in the mornings. Though the sheep are considered to be untamable elsewhere, because the boys are constantly walking around the island to go fishing, play football or to look for driftwood, the sheep are used to us and carry on grazing regardless.

At night in the summer we can hear hundreds of sheep hooves shuffling the pebbles beneath our bedroom window, because we built our house at the top of a beach on the relatively sheltered corner of the island. When the winds blast we are huddled by our peat fire whilst the ‘Rolies’ snuggle into the shelter of rocky crags and caves.

It is thanks to these wonderfully natural sheep that we have been able to live our unique way of life.