As outlined in “Our Flock”, we strategically chose our foundational ewes from a purebred St. Croix linage. However, it became clear that we needed to bulk up the musculature of our lambs if we wanted to offer a high quality option of freezer meat for our wethers. But each time we searched for rams to cross breed with, the sacrifice was too much in terms of what we would be losing in ease of lambing, parasite resistance, mothering instincts, etc… That is when we found Abram Bowerman.

Abram of Stillwaters Farm had begun adapting Gerald Frye’s linear measurement techniques for cattle on sheep. This was a game changer! While Abram continued to breed his group of high parasite resistant and easy lambing Katahdin sheep, he was also selecting now for a more compact and muscular lambs without sacrificing anything in terms of ease of lambing and the ability to flourish on a grass-based diet. Abram calls the line of sheep that he developed in this manner, Grassmaster.

It is difficult to overstate the impact that Abram has had/is having on the grass-based sheep world. Seemingly overnight he has become an author and sought-after speaker on a national platform. It has been an honor to get to know him over these years and now count him as friend as well as a leader in this field.

I would offer a link to his website here, but Abram is part of the Old German Brethern faith tradition, similar to but distinct from the Amish. However, a link to his book can be found under “Our Flock”.

Vaccination: when we bring our lambs into the barn for sorting and banding at about 12 weeks of age, we vaccinate all lambs with a 3-Way CD/T inoculation at that time.

Our sheep are highly parasite resistant, so typically, we do not de-worm any of our sheep on an annual basis. When needed, we use the method outlined in the practice of FAMACHA to know if a particular sheep needs to be de-wormed using a traditional de-worming drench.

Yes, we offer year-round free-choice offerings of salt with selenium (soils in this entire area are deficient in selenium) and a medium copper mineral. The latter mineral is critical in offering hair sheep the copper that they need (in traditional wool sheep, copper can be toxic). In addition, we place apple cider vinegar (ACV) as a free-choice liquid that they can access all winter.

With a mid-May target for lambing, we normally sell most of our ram lambs for breeding in late August to early September, and ewe lambs thereafter. We do have a handful of proven ewes that we will consider selling each fall. These are limited, and are on a first-come, first-served basis.

We require a deposit, and normally all deposits are non-refundable. Singing Hill Farm reserves the right to refund or not refund a deposit depending upon the circumstances. Once a deposit is received, a pick-up date will be arranged at Singing Hill Farm, normally within two weeks after the sheep are ready for shipment in your own trailer or know that Singing Hill Farm is always happy to deliver your sheep to you for a fair and negotiated rate.

There are several breeds of hair sheep, but in the Midwest we primarily encounter hair sheep that are St. Croix, Katahdin, or Dorper. Hair sheep produce neither wool nor lanolin, the latter of which can make lamb and mutton have that gamey taste. Traditional wool sheep must be sheared each spring, and that takes both money, (to hire a professional shearer) as well as time and considerable energy. Most traditional wool breeds are a losing proposition when it comes to payment for the wool—meaning that payment to the professional shearer will be more than the farmer will get for all of the wool.

However, even without wool, hair sheep are quite “wooly” and fluffy in winter and exude natural oils that help keep them warm and dry. Here in Michigan our sheep show no sign of stress when dealing with winter temps which almost annually can drop for a week or two into the -10s and even into the -20s, and with daily temps in the single digits to freezing for weeks at a time. For more information on over-wintering, see the FAQ on Shelter

Our sheep are grass-based only, meaning during the summer they graze on the four types of forage that we have planted together in our pasture, each in equal parts: alfalfa, orchard grass, timothy, and fescue. Our sheep graze in what most refer to as rotational grazing. See the FAQ on Fencing and Grazing. During the winter they eat the same mix, but it has been made into hay and fed out in large round bales. Of course, they still graze whatever is left of the grasses all winter, supplementing their intake of hay.

If your pasture is not yet ready, you will have to supplement through providing hay, or a mixture of hay and some sort of pelletized feed—normally, sheep pellets are 15% protein, or you could feed either timothy or alfalfa pellets.

No, you do not need to have a barn. However, it is important in the winter for sheep to have some sort of shelter from the wind, and they have to have access to shade in the summer. Our farm has a large bank barn, but it is rarely used for housing our sheep. We do have what are called, “run-in shelters” where sheep can lay in or in front of the shelter during windy nights in the winter and if they are bothered by the rain. Our sheep also have access to naturally shaded areas all summer. All of our run-in shelters are mobile so that we can move them where the sheep are in both winter and summer.

For our first few years of raising sheep, we did the traditional practice of moving our sheep into the bank barn for lambing, then slowly moving them out to pasture as the lambs grew. Then we took the leap to what is called “lambing on pasture”, meaning that the ewes deliver their lambs in the pasture and go back immediately to grazing, only now with their lamb(s) at their side. We have found that problems with lambs developing respiratory illnesses or getting bacterial infections when they are out on the clean grass versus inside of a barn, no matter how clean that barn is, have virtually disappeared. An added bonus is that we save on feed and hay costs that comes with keeping them in the barn, when in fact, there is nothing that produces better milk for the lambs than their mothers continually grazing the grass right at their feet.

To lamb on pasture, however, you do need to be aware of the following.

1. You must breed at the right time as you want lambing to start when it is warm enough to be safe for the lambs to be outside 24/7. We typically start breeding in mid-December and that means that lambing begins in mid-May.

2. You must have some area set up where you can move and contain a ewe and her lamb(s) in the event of a problem—this could be a ewe or a lamb that may be struggling or in need time and space to get back on track.

3. You must have some sort of protection for your herd—a livestock guard dog (LGD), a donkey, a llama, or another such arrangement to keep the lambs safe. See FAQ on Herd Protection

In addition to good quality fencing (see FAQ on Fencing), to keep your herd in and some predators out, you most likely need to employ the services of a Livestock Guard Dog (LGD), a llama, or a donkey. We have a Karakachan livestock guard dog, also called a Bulgarian Sheep Dog. Although there are number of available breeds such as Anatolian, Maremma, Great Pyrenees and others, if you are interested in a LGD, do not search for specific breeds, rather focus your search on breeders who know, understand, and breed their dogs for the specific needs of being a working dog on a working farm. Sadly, a number of LGD breeds have become popular of late and some breeders are selling dogs that have no lineage or breeding line that has any experience as a working dog. I suggest starting on Facebook with a search for the various LGD groups that exist there. If you are interested in a LGD and are not locating anything in your area, we do have a handful of connections that we can recommend.

We love how intuitive our LGD is and really enjoy watching him do his work, but they can be a challenge (these dogs are called “primitive dogs” for a reason). If that does not sound like something for you, then we have suggestions in terms of searches for llamas or donkeys. If you do not have or want any herd protectors, then you will need to lock up your herd every night.

Farmers use the term “proven” when selling lambs of either gender. A “proven” ram means that the male has already “proved” himself a sire by having bred a ewe or ewes before. Same is true for ewe lamb who has “proved” herself by being bred and delivering a live lamb(s).

All ram lambs and ewe lambs are sold as “unproven”, meaning they have not yet sired or birthed any lambs. There is always a risk involved that a ram lamb or a ewe lamb may not be able to breed / be bred. Proven rams and ewes always cost more than unproven ewe lambs and ram lambs. Over the years there has been very little risk in purchasing an “unproven” sheep, but it is important to know that there is always a small risk of infertility in any unproven livestock.

We do have a handful of proven (mature) ewes that we will consider selling each fall. These are limited, and are on a first-come, first-served basis.

With this specific breed of sheep, our ram lambs can be fertile as early as four months old, although the normal timeframe would be more like 5 to 6 months for the ability to breed. Ewe lambs are normally exposed to the ram at seven months old and deliver their first lamb(s) at one year old. The rule of thumb for the gestation period in sheep is 5 months or 147 days. That means that we breed in mid-December, with the aim of mid-May for the start of lambing. Most years, 85% of our ewes lamb within the two- week window starting in mid-May, with a handful lambing either before or after that two- week window.

Fencing can vary greatly, and lots of folks are rightly concerned about what type of fencing is needed to keep sheep contained. The reality is that sheep are unlikely to ever test the fencing if they simply have adequate feed available to them within the fencing. To a contented sheep…the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the fence.

If you intend to practice rotation grazing (also called, intensive grazing, mob grazing, high density grazing and other such identifiers) it is best to use electrified high tensile wire as your perimeter fence. This is normally a 12ga wire of 4 to 5 strands, powered by an energizer.

Once the perimeter fence is set it allows the grazer to run temporary, normally, braided polywire fencing, to create lanes for the livestock to graze within. Then a set number of times per day (could be one time to five times) the grazer moves the fence allowing access to fresh forage. After each lane is fully grazed, that area is allowed to “rest” from 30 to 65 days during which time the animals are grazing elsewhere and slowly working their way around the pasture to that same lane when it is ready again to be grazed.

There are of course other ways to do rotational grazing (e.g. grazing one entire field, then moving the animals to another field to graze while that one replenishes itself), and there are other types of fencing such as woven wire, barbed wire, and electrified mobile netting. All will work, depending upon the needs of the grazer.