Jerusalem Ridge Farms

My new sheep got here last Saturday.  My friend and associate Shawn Harper was kind enough to go by the Deering's farm near Murray and pick them up for me.  Since he was on his way to Frankfort for the Kentucky Proud awards luncheon, he hauled them up here for me as well.  I hope I can soon return the favor.

If you're not familiar with hair sheep, they are raised specifically for meat and instead of wool, they produce a hair coat which is naturally shed, rather than having to be sheared.  Their tails do not require docking and, from all reports, the Katahdins fit very well into a forage-based operation like ours.  We should soon be able to offer grass-fed lambs.

Our 12 ewes are Katahdins, a breed that was developed in Maine from British and Virgin Isles stock.  Our Dorper ram's breed originated in South Africa as a cross between Dorsetts and Black Persians.  The Dorper looks a little like our Boer goats, also a South African import.

The other good news we received yesterday was that our Border Collie Jake is a papa.  Seven pups were born to Socks (belonging to Kathy Stephanski) throughout the day yesterday.  We should be getting one of the pups and I plan to make sure she has an appropriate education so that she'll be useful in our sheep operation.  I made lots of mistakes with daddy Jake that I hope not to repeat with his off-spring.  Jake comes from a national champion bloodline, so hopefully the genes will be there to build on in the next generation.  Don't get me wrong, Jake's a working fool, but his lack of discipline makes him far more of a liability than an asset.  However, he's a beautiful and wonderful dog and should not be held accountable for my shortcomings.  He does play a mean game of Frisbee, though!

I intend to have some sheep photos on the web site soon.  They're making themselves right at home and try to follow me wherever I go.  I really love my goats, but these sheep are really winning me over as well.

Your blessings are where you find them... don't forget to look!

Ray