New Farm Additions
We are very excited about our new additions here on the Farm. We recently moved to smaller acreage, so we really wanted livestock to raise for meat that would thrive in smaller pastures. Enter- Sheep!
After purchasing a lamb from our neighbor last year, we realized we love cooking with lamb. It is so delicious, full of flavor, and moist. However, just like our beef, we wanted to raise 100% grass-fed and finished lamb. After doing some research on various meat breeds, we settled on Katahdin. Katahdin is a hair breed of sheep that does not require yearly shearing. Katahdins are hardy, docile, and low-maintenance. It sounded like a perfect breed for our small homestead!
It took a bit of searching, because this breed is pretty uncommon in our area. I was very surprised to find a small farm just 10 miles away selling two pregnant ewes from their clean, tested herd. We took a bit of a risk, we purchased the ewes pregnant, and whatever lambs they had would be ours. On one hand, they could die giving birth, and we would be out the money. On the other hand, they could have multiple lambs. We felt very comfortable with the farmer, so we purchased them and waited two months for them to lamb before bring them home.
Meet Esther
Sweet Esther is the big momma of the whole family. She had two beautiful lambs this year, a little girl named Coconut and a boy.
Meet Eloise
Can you tell them apart? Eloise is the daughter of Esther and she sure looks like her mother! Eloise is around three years old and is very timid. She also had twin lambs this year, a girl named Maple and a boy.
Meet Coconut
Little Coconut had just stolen our hearts. She is Esther’s daughter and has a sweet, playful personality. She was the first lamb to warm up to us. We didn't initially plan to keep any lambs this year, rather, we planned to breed and sell them. However, Miss Coconut feels like she’s always had a place on our farm, so we will keep it that way.
Meet Maple
We were so delighted to see a little BROWN lamb among our white flock. Although Katahdins come in all sorts of colors, all of our flock is pure white. Maple stands out with her brown hair and white tail. She takes after her timid momma, Eloise. But, she is slowly warming up to her doting shepherds.
Ken is now a shepherd and Sonya a shepherdess. O, it is such a wonderful feeling to care for animals again. We value every animal that lives on our little farm, for whatever purpose.
