Little Sugar River Farm

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Little Sugar River Farm A micro-farm of Icelandic sheep, Hungarian Mangalitsa pigs & heritage poultry plus heirloom gardens.

09/23/2026

Forest pigs are the happiest mid September when Oak and Black Walnut drop their bounty.

Sound on if you wanna hear the crunch of those powerful jaws consuming those black walnuts 😲

A bittersweet delivery of beautiful farm-raised Icelandic sheep hides, tanned by Driftless Tannery. Their life lives on,...
09/04/2026

A bittersweet delivery of beautiful farm-raised Icelandic sheep hides, tanned by Driftless Tannery. Their life lives on, worry free of bad weather and vet arrival.

Well, when you’ve got many sheep, there comes a time when they’ve got to earn their keep! For six long years, I’ve dream...
06/08/2026

Well, when you’ve got many sheep, there comes a time when they’ve got to earn their keep! For six long years, I’ve dreamed of transforming the wild, abandoned ag fields around our farm. After a little tractor work and lots of sweat-drenched manual labor carving out paths, 90 hungry mouths have finally been unleashed to work their magic. It’s like watching a swarm of greedy caterpillars devour everything in sight. Viking Icy cleanup crew hard at work!

05/01/2026

Sága, the rogue frosted mouflon, goes where others won’t—belly-deep in pond water, savoring the tender tips of swamp grass.

Come on—does size really matter?Should dudes with big hands really be shepherds?Here’s what went down. I had a wild, pre...
04/20/2026

Come on—does size really matter?

Should dudes with big hands really be shepherds?

Here’s what went down. I had a wild, pregnant ewe struggling to deliver. I could see a nose and tongue. After a bit of a rodeo, I got her into a lambing pen and went in with confidence. Found the head. Great. But… where are the feet?

So I push the head back in, find the feet, and line all three up. Easy, right? Not so much. The head wouldn’t follow. One hand holding the legs, the other trying—delicately—to find the head again. Nope.

In I go farther, fishing around while the ewe is loudly voicing her opinion. Sorry, girl.

After a while, things aren’t going our way. Frustration sets in. I call a friend—no luck over the phone. Try to reset by pushing the legs back in. Still no go.

At that point, I’m done. She’s done. And, sadly, the lamb is done.

I call the vet.

Thirty minutes later she arrives, sleeves up, and gets to work. In she goes—pushes the legs back, finds the head, slips on a lambing snare, and pulls out a 9-pound ewe lamb. No heartbeat.

Then back in she goes for the second. Score—another ewe lamb, alive. No third. The vet figures the second one was tucked away, unfazed, in a separate uterine horn. Turns out sheep have a bicornuate uterus. Learn something new every day.

Now I’m bracing for rejection after all that intrusion—but no. The ewe accepts the lamb. Strong maternal line.

The vet tells me I did everything right. Lambs have long floppy heads that can go far back in the opposite direction. Must’ve been my big hands versus her smaller ones… plus, you know, a veterinary degree.

Aww. Sweet. Comforting.

…right up until she hands me the Sunday emergency bill.

Bartender—make it a double.

04/17/2026

We're half way done in 8 days with lambing with 21! Now the second half might take weeks. What does one do with 40+ lambs . . . don't know but the lamb races will start up soon! 🤣

During the lambing window, this shepherd HATES leaving the farm. Events, however, occur that make it necessary. Before h...
04/15/2026

During the lambing window, this shepherd HATES leaving the farm. Events, however, occur that make it necessary. Before heading out, I do a full walk-around—checking the ewes and giving strict instructions that nothing is to happen for the next four hours.

Thankfully, everyone was obedient. When I returned, however, Long Rifle Farm Cinna gave me that look—it was time.

We settled in the pasture by the pond, listening to the frogs. She stretched while I replayed conversations from the outing. Suddenly, Cinna over-rotated and got stuck on her back with that big baby belly. Sheep can die from this. I jumped up and gave her a solid push. She rolled back over—crisis averted.

With all the excitement, I figured the birthing process would take a bit, so I left to clean the lambing pens. About 90 minutes later, I checked back. Yep—she needed help. One foot and a nose were present. I began to assist and quickly concluded the lamb’s head looked large, so I assumed a ram lamb. Nope—just a big girl. A little assistance and a lot of tissue stretching, and out she came.

After wiping down the lamb a bit and saw that mom had everything under control, I went back to prepping the pen so I could bring them in for the night. After an hour with no more contractions, I assumed Cinna had a single—common for a first-timer, though not typical for my farm. I picked up the lamb and slowly coerced mom into the shed to get them out of the wind and rain.

I noticed Cinna’s udder was GINORMOUS. With only one lamb, I tried grafting an unwanted lamb. Not a chance—she wasn’t having it, despite a couple tricks up my sleeve.

So I got her some power punch tea, hay, and went to feed the rest of the animals.

Two hours later, I checked again—and there mom was, cleaning up a newborn ram lamb. An unassisted second birth.

Wow. I did a happy dance… then left her alone to enjoy motherhood.

04/08/2026

Rue and sire Rory start out the farm's lambing 2026 season with two black mouflon ram lambs! Unassisted births starting at 9pm and both all cleaned up and nursing by 10:30. Nice!

Address

N5929 Schneeberger Road
Albany, WI
53502

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