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The above pictures are of Ned (our first ram on the farm) and Ned with Dolly. They were taken shortly after he arrived in fall of 2008. He was still a yearling - and ate like one, too. He latched right on to Dolly as soon as he arrived here. We figured we would keep him in the pen, where we put Dolly for the night, until he got used to his surrounding and to let the other animals get used to him. Well, he would have none of that. As soon as he saw that Dolly got to go out in the morning, he squeezed through the chicken door in the fence and ran to be by her side. That turned out to be a bad thing though - since the dogs did not know him they attacked him (how’s that for a warm welcome, we thought). So, we called a few feed stores for advice on how to stitch a wound, did some internet research, got some supplies and did the best we could at our first attempt to sew up a sheep. It took six hours to shear his hair as close as we could to get him all cleaned and stitched. Some of that time was spent just getting over being squeamish about the whole procedure; but, as my philosophy always goes: if you are going to have a farm, you have to be willing to handle what comes with it. And Ned was in good spirits through the whole thing. Here he was, in a new environment with new people he didn’t know and we were making him lay down and poking him with needles. But, he laid calmly on our deck during the whole ordeal as if he knew we were trying to help him—he was a real trooper. Eventually his wounds healed, and, in the meantime, we made proper introductions of him to the dogs and we now all live together as one big happy family again. |
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Most people think our sheep are goats because they don’t have thick wool like some sheep. Our sheep are hair sheep—they grow wool in the winter and it sheds off in the summer so there is no need to shear them. Though they are a meat breed, I have them for milking. Hair sheep are more suited for a hot climate however, there are no hair sheep breeds tailored for milking so I just use meat sheep and milk them. We get about 1/4 of the milk we would from a milking breed but, we don’t have to shear them or worry about parasites as we would in a wool/milk breed. Besides, the quantity of milk we receive is just fine for our needs. We use the milk to make cheese and ice cream or simply use it to make pancakes, waffles, custards and casseroles. Dolly was my first sheep on the farm. For three years, she did not have herd mates and would come close to the house and “call” for me to come out and be with her. Then, in 2008, we started breeding. Our first ram was a Dorper and we had our first lambs in 2009. Then, we bought another ewe shortly afterwards (Madison), she came to the farm already bred and lambed triplets at the end of Apr. ’09. |
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<——Dolly with her three day old lamb—Feb 2009. She had twins, a boy and a girl, but the girl arrived stillborn. This lamb was castrated (so he is now referred to as a wether) then given to our neighbor after he was weaned. That way, we would know he is not going to end up on someone’s plate. We understand the reality of eating lamb but we couldn’t bare to know that is what happened to our first lamb on the farm. |
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Above: Dolly, shortly after moving onto the farm (2005) |
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Above: Madison just hours after lambing triplets! April 18, 2009 |
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Below: Madison’s lamb at one week old |
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Above: Dolly and the ‘09 spring lambs (out of Madison) laying in the shade. Belle sits in the background sunning and keeping an eye on everything. |
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Above from L to R: Sampson at around 8 mos. old; Sampson at around 14 mos. old
Sampson is our current (as of 2010) breeding ram. I waited for 2-1/2 years to buy this ram. He is from a very good farm and has Katahdin strong genes. My current goal is to breed a Katahdin dominant herd as I am finding they are the best for milking and, therefore, serve my needs for keeping sheep, the best. |
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Left: Dolly with her first lambs from Sampson. I have high hopes for these sheep. There are two boys and one girl. My sister named the girl Savannah and she will stay here to be a replacement milker as Dolly is nearing the end of her breeding years with us. |
