FLOCK OF SHEEP FULL

In 2020 we expect to offer ( approximately - as of this writing, no lambs have been born yet!) for sale:įor complete descriptions of the above, please click on the page titled “2020 Breeding stock for sale” in this Dairy Sheep menu. The sheep are tested annually for OPP and Johne's (100% negative), and we have no foot rot on the farm.

We pride ourselves on the health of the flock. The yield and component information is analyzed by Genovis in Quebec, and we now receive EBV’s - Estimated Breeding Values - on all individual ewes, for milk yield, component yield (protein & fat%), SCC, and persistency. We meter every two weeks through peak lactation, and then monthly thereafter we collect monthly milk samples on each individual ewe for milk-component analysis for five consecutive months during the lactation season. Meadowood Farms is enrolled in DSANA’s Genetic Evaluation program ( We now submit metering and milk component data from each individual ewe in our flock.

FLOCK OF SHEEP FULL

We bred Freya with Jo, a Ouessant-mix ram owned by Leslie and Marie Hoff of Full Circle Wool and the Capella Grazing Project. (For more information on both: and Genetic evaluation of individual ewes in the Meadowood Farms dairy flock Founding a Flock of sheep Owning a herd of sheep is a beloved hobby for some or an aspect of preserving the heritage and a connection to the beautiful past, and it may not take more than finding some good sheep and providing adequate housing and food for them. Today, we are fifteen sheep strong We have grown our flock gently, through loan, gift, purchase, and breeding. In Fall 2018 and Fall 2019, we again bred our ewes to Lacaune semen from France, as well as Assaf semen purchased from Ms J & Co in Wisconsin. Our first Lacaune-sired daughters from those breedings were milked in the 2019 season - those Lacaune-semen-sired yearlings produced a full 50% more milk than their US-ram-sired penmates. In 2017 Meadowood Farms was one of 20 US farms that took the opportunity to purchase Lacaune semen from France, through DSANA (the Dairy Sheep Association of North America). It has taken 22 years of diligent selection and culling, but we are pleased to report that in 2019 our ewes (aged 1 to 7 years) averaged 945 lb milk per head over an average of 220 days in milk.

We select for milk production and udder conformation. Over the past 22 years, our dairy flock has been bred to thrive on pasture with grain supplement in the parlor, and to be hardy in our Central New York winters. We milk seasonally, and depend on pasture to supply the vast majority of our forage during the lactation season. And since 2018, on a percentage of our flock, we have also begun to use improved Assaf semen imported from Spain via Ms J & Co in Wisconsin. Since 2017, we have been breeding in improved Lacaune semen, imported from France via DSANA’s Semen Importation Program. For 20+ years we have had a base flock of East Friesian x Lacaune ewes. Well, the point of the parable is obvious: The kingdom of God is like a good shepherd who has a flock of a hundred sheep who, losing just one of them, will leave the others and go after the one that is lost until he finds it and brings it back to the fold.