In our first year, we laid the groundwork…

• Additions: We added 13 highly productive layer hens with one resident rooster, 100 cornish cross meat chickens, a starter flock of 6 Katahdin hair sheep, and 2 giant angora rabbits with 2 livestock guardian dogs to keep the farm safe. We raised one bottle-calf that was gifted to us on Christmas by a neighbor. With that experience, we decided cattle are not for us, and that sheep and chickens are where our livestock interests are.

• Infrastructure: We fenced in 10 acres in the main pasture area, converted our detached garage into a sheep barn, and purchased chicken tractors, brooders, sheep shelters, dog houses, and a small Amish chicken coop to get us started. We also added an old 50s Allis Chalmers Tractor as our first big farm equipment addition to the farm.

• Output: Resulting in a dozen eggs a day, freezers full of broiler chickens processed on the farm, and 7 lambs born from our first 4 ewes.

In our second year, we continued our growth…

• Sheep: Growing from 4 ewes to 10 and bringing in a registered ram (Kronos), we tripled our breeding operation, bringing us 19 lambs for our 2023 lambing season.

• Poultry: We brought in many more chickens, totaling 50 chickens, with a small flock of Bantams (small chickens) included - to expand our egg production. In the summer of 2022, we did another round of meat chickens, but with a little less birds (80).

• Infrastructure: We converted an old camper into a camper coop to house our influx of chickens and bought a run-in shelter to create a second winter housing area for the sheep. We also brought home a Gravely to help us maintain our fence line.

These numbers continued to grow in our third year…

• Sheep: For the 2024 lambing season, we used two breeding groups, with the addition of a second registered Katahdin ram purchased at the KHSI Expo (Atlantis). With 15 ewes bred, we brought in 26 lambs.

• Poultry: Up to just under 100 chickens (bantams included), continuing to increase our egg production, with a large demand for pasture-raised eggs. We decided to do two batches of 35 meat chickens versus doing one large batch (and prefer this route).

• Infrastructure: We purchased a brand new 1835m Massey tractor with a bucket, brush hog and manure forks to help us maintain the pastures and clean out the barn with some extra muscle. We also added a second camper coop to support the additional egg layers, and built a small chicken tractor for the smaller meat chicken batches.

In our fourth year, we are focused on pasture improvement and investing in infrastructure…

• Sheep: For our 2025 lambing season, we will reduce to one breeding group using our new registered Katahdin ram (Rainier), purchased from Heavenly Oaks in Illinois. We will enter the breeding season with 24 ewes, rotating in some replacement ewes. We’ll be expecting upwards of 40 lambs in 2025.

• Poultry: We are considering trialing a different meat chicken breed in the summer of 2025, moving away from the standard cornish cross broilers. We are also adding quail and turkeys to the farm.

• Infrastructure: We will add formal lambing jugs and gates to optimize our maternity ward and expand the run-in corral area to house more animals over winter. We will also build additional meat chicken tractors as we continue to do smaller batches in 2025.