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America’s Master Shepherds
Shady Hill Farms, Ltd. has produced Polled Dorsets since 1964, and Suffolks for almost as long.
Along the way, we have acquired some of the very best genetics in the World. Genetics that are predictable, productive and profitable.
At times in the past, we ran over 400 head of sheep on our farms. Throughout our decades long history, we have always sought to retain the best of the genetics that we have produced. By “best,” we speak not only of phenotype, but of genotype. We have no absolutely tolerance for sheep that do not breed, do not produce twins consistently and then raise them unassisted, and that do not transmit and produce consistent quality.So, for decades we have retained the best and sorted off the rest.
While we did acquire a few Polled Dorset ewes from Reynolds Stock Farm in 2018, and a pair of Polled Dorsets ewes from Brian Balfanz the year before, we have now officially closed the ewe flocks. We have no plans to add more ewes to our flocks as, in our long experience, very few of the acquired ewes have outperformed the ewes we have had on hand. We no longer are willing to encounter the biosecurity risk of adding additional ewes.
We added a Reynold Stock Farm Dorset stud ram in 2018 and two Huntrods stud rams that same year. While we are continuing to seek for the truly special ram of either breed to add to our program, we will wait for that extraordinary ram as we have no appetite for trial balloons and in the meantime we have extraordinary rams on the farm and in the semen tank which we will be using selectively. The rams which we acquire will trpically be sold within two years of acquisition as we wish to add their genetics to our gene pool and do not need to use the added rams long term regardless of their quality.
We do not expect to be selling any breeding stock in 2019, as we will retain the best and ship the rest. At some point in the future when we have sheep to spare that are representative of what we seek to produce, we will make them available for your inspection.
We are no longer selling lamb meat cuts, sheep skins or woolen blankets but can help you find them. We are offering our popular High Meadow Skin Care line of products so please watch for it.