Hi folks,
I'm new here too. Glad to see a forum is up and going.
My name is Shannon Mayfield, and I'm from Pendleton, OR. I purchased my first Soay sheep this year from Jeanine who lives a short drive away. My husband and I own a small farm at the base of the blue mountains, where we raise poultry as a small scale hatchery business. My husband has a steady job in town as the local Harley Davidson shop owner, and I have a painting studio at home that I raise enough money to support the animals with.
I've had cattle ever since I was a kid, and have now dwindled down to only two elderly old cows that were my 4-H projects all throughout school. They are about 25 years young and are living out their remaining days in "the sunnybrooks retirement pasture" out back. My husband and I are very active long distance enthusiasts who's passion revolves around endurance riding too. We have several Akhal Teke sporthorses that I compete on in races across the northwest. My husband is the crew and support team on our rides when we camp out. It's challenging and makes my life very worthwhile.
I kind-of got into sheep somewhat due to the fact that my old cows are aging and probably will not be around for much longer. My parents used to raise Ramboulets, and I had a secret hankering to get back into sheep later on in life when I was grown up and had a place of my own. I still want a form of meat for the freezer after the cattle are gone - but I don't want to raise any more big animals that will take up a lot of room and require lots of pasture. So, sheep were my first choice over hogs or goats. (But alas, we do indeed have a pet goat lurking in the sheep flock around here as well...) I also like the appeal of a "low maintenance" breed of sheep. I seem to remember my parents docking tails and shearing a lot....ughhh.
Our sheep flock is very small at the moment, consisting of a Soay ram and two Barbados ewes. In the future, I do hope to get a registered Soay ewe, (or two or three or four, or...
) to produce some purebred lambs. I like Soay's very much because of their smaller size and they are so incredibly cute. I love the Barbie ewes, but they can't hold a candle to how darned cute that Soay ram is!
Anywho, I don't want to write a mini-novel here. Just glad to join.
-Shannon.
Soay Sheep Forum
Author
