Boy, there sure is a lot of Blackbelly farms in Oregon! Our farm is on the Oregon coast in a rain forest and a back door neighbor is a large timber company. We are only 2.5 miles from the beach but it would take a day or two to hike/climb there due to the rough terrain. We have more wild animals than people in our neck of the woods. Lin and I both shot bucks within 1.5 miles of our house. During this hunting season we had three encounters with cougars. Last year we had one encounter. The previous 25 years we had a combined 4 encounters. The cougar population is going up in Oregon due to a law that forbids hunting cougar & bear with dogs. We have rushed for rifles as we have seen both coyotes & large bobcats checking out our sheep. Lin says that she uses her rifle more than her bread maker. The llamas seem to inspire a feeling of awe from the coyotes and bobcats but I am not sure if a cougar would respect their vigilance. Keep up your guard!
We are very busy people. Many of our friends are amazed at all the things we do. We both work full time and have offices in our home. My job as a sales rep takes me on the road an average of 225 miles a day. Lin is on the run as an HR manager for a credit union taht has 5 locations. We are hunter/gathers. Hunting,fishing, clamming, mushroom picking, wood cutting and gardening help fill in our free time. Due to our proximty to the beach and the elk herds we often have people "camping" at our place. We always make time for our Airedales and our Blackbelly herd. We have 3 acres of uneven propert that is not conducive to cross fencing or running a ram in a separate paddock. Next year we hope build a barn that is set up just the way we like it. We are going to check out Diane Baker's new barn and incorporate some of her ideas. We have raised American Blackbellies for almost 10 yers now and our mission is to raise breeding stock. We have sold a few meat rams but we never castrate. We have orders for 14 animals on the book and all are being sold for breeding. Only one of the buyers has ever tasted Blackbelly. Two years ago "SHEEP!'" magazine wrote that the average per capita consumption of lamb/mutton in the USA was 1.3lbs. Thats about 5 quarter pounders per person. This takes into consideration all of the lamb eating ethnic groups that live in the USA. My guess is that most born in the USA types have not and never will taste lamb. Most lamb sold in Oregon will probably be sold to Hispanics or Eastern Europeans. We do not breed for carcass weight or length of back. We do not worm or inoculate and we must supplement our pasture with hay. We like having lambs out of season and our current lamb include births in May, August, October and November (including "Chanterelle" born Thanksgiving day). The two born in May and August will be moving to their new home in a week or two. We recently met Barb & Bob Lee at a gathering at their Black Locust Farm. There were 6 farms represented. Barb and Bob are home most of the time and the most of the rest of us are "on the run". Barb and Bob are "more hands on" than the other 5 farms put together! We all appreciate the work and energy that the Lees' put into our organization. Barb's writing is great and a great source of info. If you don't have the time that Barb and Bob have don't back away from raising these sheep. Blackbellies are hardy and are perfect for the hobby farm. Mark & Lin Storey Foley Peak Farms Nehalem, Oregon _______________________________________________ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info http://lists.blackbellysheep.info/listinfo.cgi/blackbelly-blackbellysheep.info
