Ovis Aries Farm

Ovis Aries Farm raises pasture-raised, happy, healthy and beautiful registered white and colored Romney and Shetland sheep for LAMB and WOOL. Our produce includes fleece for handspinners / fiber artists and tasty, healthy grass-fed lamb, as well as select breeding stock. We are an entirely-grass-fed operation, and our primary focus is on the health and well-being of our sheep. The sheep are our family, and we raise them with the same care we give our children. Ovis Aries Farm is a member of ARBA (American Romney Breeders Association), NASSA (North American Shetland Sheep Breeders Association) and WSSP (Washington State Sheep Producers), as well as the NwRSA (Northwest Regional Spinners Association, under the name YARNSPOTTING), and the Cascadia Fibershed, a nonprofit bioregional fiber producers and artists collective.

We guarantee:
- No hormones or maintenance antibiotics are ever used.
- All animals are born, raised and finished on our farm.
- Your meat order, including ground product, comes from one individual animal.
- All animals are grass fed only.
- Our meats are mild, tender, tasty and succulent...high in Omega 3s.
- All of our meat is USDA inspected.

Our meat and wool may be found online and at various local farmers markets, restaurants, fairs and festivals and may also be bought direct from the farm. Please call 917-446-1555 or sent an email to kelly@ovisariesfarm.com for a brochure with a complete list of offerings and shipping details, or to request a reservation for a farm visit today. In 2016 we hope to begin producing our own artisanal sheep cheeses as well.

MEAT:

Romney lamb is the most delicious lamb you will ever taste. Unlike most lamb you find in a supermarket in the US, which comes from fine-wooled Western range Merino sheep and which has a "soapy", somewhat bitter taste found unacceptable by many Americans, Romney lamb is tender, tasty, versatile and healthy. For holiday, seasonal and every day uses, gourmands love the taste of Romney lamb. Long-wooled breeds in general provide better-tasting meat than fine-wooled breeds, and Romneys in particular are especially delicious. Come to a tasting event at one of our booths at the events listed below, or visit our farm for a free sample (reservations are encouraged). If you would like to cater a lamb-tasting or featured event or to arrange for direct sales (commercial or consumer), please call or text Kelly Bell at 917-446-1555 or kelly@ovisariesfarm.com to make a reservation to visit or to purchase.

WOOL:

Because we can't resist working with our own luscious fleeces, we spin and dye our own yarns here at the farm, under the brand YARNSPOTTING (which brand may be found on Instagram, Facebook, Ravelry and Twitter). Woven cloth, roving, yarns, raw and scoured (washed) whole fleeces, custom knitwear designs and textile artifacts of all kinds are created here at the farm, and we participate in local and national events such as Black Sheep Gathering, Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, Shepherd's Extravaganza, Cascadia Fibershed events, Olympic Peninsula Fiber Festival, Spinzilla, Worldwide Knit-in-Public Day and Worldwide Spin-in-Public Day.

We sell two types of wool in all natural colors, according to the breed. Romney sheep are a long-wool breed, which fleeces contain long staples (4-8" unstretched at time of shearing), with a breed standard strong wool diameter of 30-36u (microns). Our fleeces tend to the fine side of the breed standard, at an average of 32u (microns), are quite soft, and have a very consistent level of variation throughout the fleece of less than 20%. All our fleeces for sale are micron tested at Yokum-McColl testing labs and are available upon request. Romney wool has exceptional lustre, or shine, and make spectacularly beautiful, strong and durable yarns in both their natural colors and when dyed. Romney fleece is often called "the hand spinner's favorite", because it is such a dream to spin. We can provide reliable fleece color reproduction, for those discriminating textile artists who wish to have consistent, reproducible "sheep colors" to work with.

Shetland sheep are renowned worldwide for the fineness and softness of their wool (a Shetland "wedding ring shawl" is a knitted lace shawl in which the entire 6' shawl can pass through the bride's wedding ring). The fleeces come in all natural colors ("sheep colors"). As a rare and Heritage breed, we actively support retaining the original genetics of the Shetland sheep, though there are movements abroad to "improve" Shetlands. We conserve the "primitive" genetics of this breed, because the traditional genetics retain unique characteristics that are at risk of permanent loss if the breed is subject to the "improvement" strategies that many other breeds have undergone, thereby narrowing the gene pool and making the breed more like "commercial" sheep. Shetlands are a rage and previous resource, as are all Heritage breeds, and we fully support all conservation efforts.

HEALTH, WELLNESS and NUTRITION:

Our sheep are a closed flock, which means that all replacement animals come from within our own flock and are not imported from other farms. This is important because it means that we do not import diseases from other flocks, and can be completely assured as to the genetic quality of our animals as well as to their disease-free status. Our Romney sheep all originated from a single farm, Tawanda Farm in California, widely-celebrated for their high performance in genetic selection, health, meat quality and lovely white and natural-colored handspinning fleeces. Our Shetland flock is similarly a closed one, originating from a single farm (Cedar Haven, in Mollalla, Oregon), and are raised strictly for their fleeces, which are then sold directly to handspinners and textile-artists. Wool is our only produce from our Shetlands. We focus on healthy, happy sheep at Ovis Aries Farm. Our sheep are pasture-raised and grass-fed (no grain and no feed lots!), with minimal intervention and calm handling practices to reduce stress and encourage well-being.

Our animals are actively bred for resistance to parasites and disease, and as such require only minimal, as-needed de-worming and other interventions to maintain peak condition. However, if an animal gets sick, we do not hesitate to treat, under the direction of our veterinarian, because to do otherwise would be a cruelty to our animals. Health - yours and theirs - comes first, and we never send to market a sick animal or one in whose meat antibiotics or other medications might still be present. We love our animals, and do everything in our power to make sure that they are humanely and kindly treated until the very last moment. We use USDA-approved, humane processors for our lambs, and take great care to see that their final moments are as stress-free and calm as possible. Our lambs do not see other animals being slaughtered before their time comes. We make peace with this hard but necessary process by understanding that these fine animals wouldn't be here at all without us raising them for our sustenance, and that we have given them the very best quality of life in their time on this earth. We are thankful for their sacrifice and honor them through our devotion to their welfare.

We "hang out" with our sheep for fun. They trust us, and live calm, unafraid lives, with lots of green grass, apples, pumpkins, blackberry and raspberry leaves (they seem to prefer the leaves to the fruit) and other seasonal produce. Sheep, unlike cattle, are foragers, not grazers, and prefer a wider variety in their diet. We cater to the health benefits of that preference by providing many sources of nutrition for them in the form of seasonal forage, micronutrients in the form of custom-mixed free-choice minerals (including calcium, brewers yeast, iron, salt, magnesium, vitamins A and E, selenium and other necessary micronutrients), and plenty of clean, fresh water.

Ovis Aries Farm pledges to provide the highest quality in meat and wool for our loyal customers. Let us show you - please visit us at one of the listed events or come by the farm for a visit soon!