As much as we care about what we eat, we also care about what our animals eat.  All of our animals are on pasture for as much of the year as possible.  We supplement their diets, when needed, with hay and certified organic feeds from Green Mountain Feeds.  All of their feed is Non-GMO.  

Why Sheep?

Suzy always wanted a Jersey cow, with the hopes of learning to make homemade yogurt and cheese from the milk.  Todd always loved sheep's milk cheese.  One day Todd had Suzy taste some sheep's milk yogurt and that was the moment that the "fat sheep" from Fat Sheep Farm entered the picture.  The yogurt was AMAZING! From then on, Suzy was convinced that sheep's milk was as good, if not better than Jersey milk.  Unknowingly, Suzy also loved sheep's milk cheese as well.  Manchego cheese had always been one of her favorite cheeses and she never knew it was made from sheep's milk.  

Our Herd

We started out with three lovely ladies, Bleu, Feta and Brie and our ram Manchego. They are East Friesians. The breed originated from East Frisia in Northern Germany. Sheep produce the creamiest milk with more fat and protein than cow and goat's milk. This makes the cheese and yogurt made from sheep's milk creamy and delicious!

Our Breeding Program

We began our sheep breeding program in the fall of 2017. Since the spring of 2018, we have been milking our own sheep and making our own sheep's milk yogurt and experimenting with various sheep’s milk cheese recipes. In the spring of 2020, we received our Dairy Handling license and our cheesemaking license. Since then, we have been developing some fabulous recipes that we are excited to share.

Sheep are seasonal breeders. This means that they can only get pregnant at certain times of the year. We breed our sheep in November and our lambs are born in April. The lambs nurse exclusively on their mamas for about 6-8 weeks. Our milking season begins in May. By October, they’re milk production ends and the sheep are “dried off” and the farmers and sheep both get a rest for the winter.

Our herd of sheep continues to grow in size. We hope to milk up to 12 sheep in the future. During the summer, you’ll be able to watch the sheep being milked, as well as, enjoy viewing the sheep grazing from your cabin porch.

Mr. Socks

Mr. Socks would be very upset if we didn’t include him. He is our one shetland sheep. Shetlands produce beautiful wool, much nicer than the wool of East Friesians. Mr. Socks' job is to keep our ram company when he is not allowed to mingle with the ewes. Sheep are very social animals and always need to have a friend to keep them company.  Some say it may be the worst job on the farm, but also the most important!

The Chickens

Our chickens are spoiled! There is really no other way of putting it.  During the warm months the chickens live in their "summer home" on wheels.  We are always moving them to a new pasture with fresh grass and insects to hunt.  The fresh pasture and protein from the insects makes their eggs really stand out from most store bought eggs.  The chickens also get to enjoy some of our fresh produce when we have an abundance.  Guests of the farm will have the opportunity to collect eggs from the chickens.  Guests will also have a basket of fresh eggs waiting for them in their cabin when they arrive.

The Goats

There are three Nigerian Dwarf goats on the farm, Billy, Gronk and Brady.  Although Nigerian Dwarf goats also produce excellent milk, these goats are all boys. They are always up for having some fun and love meeting new visitors.  In theory, they also make great lawnmowers, but unfortunately, our goats were quickly fired from that job. (FYI, it’s really difficult to get all three goats to pose for a photo at the same time)