Bear Farm-Our Story

Many people have asked us how we came to operate a sheep farm in the beautiful Finger Lakes of upstate New York and what life on a sheep farm is like.

Perhaps a few of you have read 5 Acres and Independence by M.G. Kains. Well, 35 years ago when Mark and I bought our first home and 5 huge acres we read this book.  It inspired us to create a farm on that small homestead and raise all of our fruit, vegetables, meat, and some grains.  We found working our land and producing food very rewarding, and so the idea of a larger production scale farm was born. 

Why sheep?  We raised other animals, cows, pigs, and chickens, but wanted something we could continue to grow and breed ourselves. So one January for our Anniversary we bought each other four bred ewes and a ram.  That was in 1984.  We knew little of sheep raising or breeding except what we read in books.  We fed those sheep and fed them and they got fatter and fatter and we expected lambs in the spring.  Spring turned into summer before we realized our cute little ram was a DUD and there would be no lambs that year.  Still not discouraged, we bought a wonderful ram that summer and had 8 lambs the next spring.. We were now in the sheep business.  By now our 5 acres were really shrinking and we knew our goal was to give up our professional careers and buy a larger farm. 

We farm hunted for about 3 years before we found our farm here in Schuyler County, N.Y.  We really didn’t buy a farm, we bought 83 acres and a house we love with overgrown fields, no fencing and no barns.  We could build a farm!  This was in 1988.  Barns were built, land cleared and reseeded and several miles of high tensile fencing were built. 

Years ago animals were put out in the spring on one big field, they ate the grass until it was gone and then were fed hay again.  Researchers have found that if you divide the pasture into several smaller pastures and move the animals every 2-3 days and let the grass grow back before you put the animals back on that piece you get much more grass production, and if they are given each new pasture when the grass is 6-8 inches high, the protein and nutrient level is very high.  This moving the sheep is called rotational grazing and is what we do. 

We have set up 11 permanently fenced paddocks in two fields and utilize 2 other fields with moveable temporary fences, so that the flock can be moved frequently.  Water is provided in each paddock by a gravity flow system.  The ewe flock is outdoors from about May 1st through early December, most of the time on fresh grass as long as nature provides enough rainfall.  During dry times they are supplemented with hay. 

Summer is also haying time.  We try to produce all the hay necessary for our farm..  It’s an awfully good feeling to see the hay stacked to the rafters in the barn.  As we have expanded our flock we need more and more hay.  We produce hay on our own land as well as several other parcels belonging to non-farmers who are glad to have us keep their fields open. 

Our year really starts in September when we decide for sure which ewes will stay with the flock.  They are each checked over for good health signs, given their annual shots and have their hooves trimmed. 

In October the rams are put in with the ewes.  We have about 140 ewes and 4 rams.  All of the ewes are descended from the original 4 acquired in 1984, however we occasionally buy rams from other flocks to bring in new blood lines. We put our best ewes in with our very best Corriedale ram and all of the replacement ewes are kept from this group. With careful breeding over the years our average fleece weights have grown from about 7 to over 10 pounds of wool. 

We bring the ewe flock into the barn usually in early December as the weather becomes harsh.  Then things are pretty peaceful until early February when the sheep are sheared and given their pre-lambing care. 

We do hire someone to come in and shear the sheep, as this is a very skilled job.  They are not sheared right down to the skin, but instead get a crew-cut, leaving about 1/2 inch of wool.  We close the barn up at this point and feed them real well so they are not cold.  We then get in gear skirting and picking each fleece. This means taking off any foreign matter.  We then send it to a small mill in New England that has been doing custom wool processing since 1820. 

 As spring approaches in March so do the lambs.  Sheep have a gestation period of 5 months.  We expect our 2 year old and older sheep to have twins and occasionally triplets.  Our one year olds we are happy with a single.  This is by far the busiest month of the year.  This year we expect over 200 lambs in less than 4 weeks.  We go to the barn every 2-4 hours around the clock.  

About one in five sheep nationally need some help at lambing time.  If  you are not there you will lose lambs and maybe ewes.  Over the years we have selected for good mothering and easy lambing so we have less trouble than most, but occasionally Carole’s midwifing skills are needed.  Each lamb should have its navel dipped in iodine and mothers milk within 20 minutes of birth.  If so, and assuming they have a good mother our job is pretty easy, but every year there are a few, for one reason or another that need our help.  They then get sheep milk replacer (which is like powdered milk) from a bottle until they are old enough to eat hay and grain. They are affectionately called bottle babies.  They are great fun to feed and hug and take care of but are also pests as they become very attached to their human mothers. 

As spring continues the lambs get stronger and by May the grass has greened up and we let the whole flock outside.  This is one of our favorite days of the year as baby lambs do not walk, they bounce.  Even the ewes, happy to be outside bounce around a bit until they settle down to their first fresh salad in months.  The lambs will continue to nurse off of Mom and also start nibbling at grass. At this point our inside chores are done.  But our outside chores begin.

When the spring grass starts to slow down we bring the lambs into the barn and wean them.  The mothers now go back outside and have a few months off to eat well and rest and get in shape for another breeding season. 

I haven‘t mentioned honey yet but should, as someone will surely ask why we are named Bear Farm, and the answer is we have had bees for 35 years and when we first had honey to sell we needed a name.  Bears love honey and so we became Bear Farm.  We hope you have enjoyed our story.

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Last modified: 03/16/08