My Flock
Learn more about the different animals I keep on my farm
The Market Breeding Sheep
This group of 95 ewes and 5 rams came onto the farm in June 2023 from four different farms in Ohio and Michigan. All of my Rams at this point are full-bred Polypays. About half of my breeding ewes are fall-born Polypays from Matchet Farms and the others are winter-born Polypay X Ile de France X Dorsets from Richard Ehrhardt.
This group of “seed stock” will be the foundation of my herd for the next 10 years or more, so I invested in ewes and rams that match my goals right off the bat.
Out of these sheep I hope to produce three crops of lambs per year that look fully muscled and ready for market at 60 pounds each.
The Dairy Sheep
My sheep adventure actually started with one East Friesian dairy sheep named Penny!
Now I have three dairy ewes (Penny, Muffin, and Clover) and I breed them strategically so that I can have fresh sheep milk all year round. I do not have a dairy ram, I just breed these girls to my meat rams and keep their ewe lambs in the flock to diversify the genetics.
My plan is NOT to sell sheep milk (the regulations are too prohibitive) but I do use it myself to drink fresh, make cheese, butter, and ice cream, and to add to my dog’s food to make her coat extra soft and shiny.
I do also occasionally have dairy cross ram lambs available. So far, all the ram lambs out of my dairy girls have been long and deep bodied which make for very good breeding stock. If you are interested in a cross ram lamb please reach out on my contact page.
The Sheep Guardian Dogs
Meet Sky and Willow!
These two sisters came to the farm even before the sheep did! We second hand rescued them, they were born in July 2022 and were raised in terrible, flea infested conditions. Luckily these girls found a loving home when they were two months old with a family that lived in town. Their owners loved them very much and were very sad to have to rehome them, but Great Pyrenees are meant to be with livestock and the neighbors started complaining.
Our puppers are just over a year old now and they have their work cut out for them. We are still working on behavior, but their amazing natural instincts have already taken over despite living in a house for six months. We can’t wait to see these girls reach their full potential and thrive watching over their flocks.
The Sheep Herding Dogs
Say hello to Lucy!
She is a rough collie who comes from a working mama and she was born in May 2022. So far she is a little afraid of the sheep, but in no time she will be pulling her weight around the flock and taking them exactly where they need to be.
Right now she is training with Tonya at Working GSD and finally starting to get the hang of it. There is a long road ahead of her, so don’t expect any fancy whistle calls just yet. But she absolutely loves spending time with yer human, playing fetch, and getting belly rubs.