02/22/2025
Great opportunity.
Great farm .
Great gals!
We are for the first time putting together a starter flock grant to pass along the joy of these incredible creatures. You will win a starter flock that consists of 2 ewes and a ram, registration for the animals, mentoring advice along the way and the opportunity to take part in saving this critically endangered breed of sheep. If this sounds like something that you are interested in, please submit the following information.
Please email the following information to [email protected]
Name, Location, Email Address, Phone Number (If you are under the age of 18, we will require parental consent)
Please also write an essay including the following information: Why do you want to raise sheep? Do you have any experience raising sheep? What do you know about sheep? What is your intention in raising sheep? Do you have appropriate infrastructure and fencing for sheep?
You will receive a confirmation email within 48 hours.
In 2020 Rose and I were living and caretaking on a remote island in Downeast Maine. The island had a decent sized flock of mixed breed sheep in addition to other livestock. I was drawn to the sheep, and I knew instantly that I wanted to continue to raise sheep when we had our own farm. One day while aimlessly scrolling on social media I stumbled across a post about a free starter flock giveaway. It captured my interest, and I decided more research was needed into the giveaway as well as the breed of sheep. The giveaway was coming from a small farm in Connecticut that raised Native Gulf Coast Sheep. Upon further research I soon learned that they were not just any sheep, they were in fact very special sheep. Joyce Kramer from Granpa K Farm had started her efforts to make this incredible breed more visible and had a deep desire to get them further north into New England. I took a chance and wrote an essay about why I wanted to raise these sheep.
Unfortunately, we were not selected for the free starter flock, Matthews Living Museum Farm in Virginia had also applied and they were selected. Joyce still wanted to follow her heart and get the sheep further north, so she put together a “lease starter flock”. The flock consisted of two proven ewes and a young ram. The arrangement was that we would return three registered sheep to her in the future and at that time the registration of the starter flock would be signed over.
We moved to our farm in June of 2020 and started immediately getting the barn ready for our new friends. In July we made the 4-hour drive to Connecticut and brought home some new friends. In May of 2023 Joyce lost her battle against cancer, from that day I knew I needed to follow her legacy and protect these precious sheep. We made two more trips to Connecticut to build the flock with hand-picked genetics from Joyce’s registered flock.
It is extremely important to maintain the integrity of these sheep and shepherd them in the way that has been done to preserve them for so many years. They are not just any sheep, they have survived and thrived in many climates, they have developed resistance to parasites and hoof rot, they are fantastic mothers and do very well birthing without assistance and mothering lambs without intervention. Through all of this they are still critically engendered and as more farmers in the South are aging out of farming it is important to continue the efforts to keep the breed alive.
Applications will be accepted through March 1st, 2025
The lucky participant will be announced by April 1st, 2025
Shipping and vetting cost will be the responsibility of the winner.
You can learn more about Gulf Coast Sheep at
https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/breeders-directory/
You can also browse the Gulf Coast registry website at
https://gulfcoastsheep.pedigreedatabaseonline.com/en/
