With a master's degree in animal nutrition and years of farming experience, Ray is a wealth of knowledge on how to raise animals. Alice's nursing experience translates well to caring for the farm's animals. With theirown knowledge and that of experts on hand such as veterinarians and human nutritionists, the farm's March lambing events appeal to more than just children wanting to see baby animals. This year, the farm will offer a session on how the type of pasture the sheep are in affects their rate of growth and state of health, with comparisons to humans and their need for a balanced diet.
Twenty years ago, the couple started using Management Intensive Grazing (MIG) the practice of using rotational grazing and careful management to get optimal production and with that they were able to keep more sheep and to raise them for optimal health. Ray says, "Now people are more interested in how animals are raised, what they're fed, where (their food) is coming from, and how they're managed."
Along with this interest in knowing more about the origins of their food, Ray sees an increase in people buying locally where they can get fresher foods. He's received compliments that his is the best-tasting lamb people have ever tasted, and he attributes this directly to the way the animals are naturally raised. His lambs are grass-fed for more desirable flavor, with supplemental grain such as hay only in drought situations.
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The couple has expanded into direct marketing of lambs; they raise and sell feeder lambs (60 to 80 pounds) to people who then feed them up to market weight before selling them. The farm recently received the Wisconsin Master Shepard Award for the Commercial Division for the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative.
Although the farm offers tours during spring, summer and fall months, spring is a fascinating time on a sheep farm, with shearing in mid-February, and lambing (birth of the lambs) beginning in early March. Lambing tours begin March 12,and the lambing events are March 16, 23, and 30 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.. Admission is $3.50 per person, with children 2 and under free.
The farm, located at 1820 Schuster Rd., Oregon, has accommodated as many as 2,357 visitors in a day. With no full- time employees, the Antoniewiczes are grateful for the help of their four married children, all of whom live in the area.
Ray is hopeful that all of the farm's 100 ewes will give birth. In good years, triplets are most common, but in drought years such as this one when hay is needed as a dietary supplement for the sheep, twins may be more likely. Ewes can have as many as five lambs or as few as one. Although he doesn't guarantee visitors will see a lamb born, Ray designated event days in mid- to late-March because they fall when a bulk of the lambs will be born.
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Other attractions at the farm include ducks and rabbits, which the couple breeds and sells, as well as chickens (they sell eggs), horses, pigs, calves, goats, and turkeys. Ray says he's received more requests this year for his natural- raised rabbit meat than in other years. The farm also sells live rabbits; he notes that rabbits don't always multiply as readily as the saying goes, particularly in years of heavy snowfall such as this one.
There will be an incubator in the lambing barn with young chicks and eggs hatching. For both the shearing and lambing events, hand-spinners, weavers, and knitters will demonstrate uses for wool in the farm's heated woodworking shop. The farm sells wool to hand-spinners, and also takes orders for blankets which they have made and then sell.
New this year, visitors at the lambing events will be able to watch DVDs of both shearing and lambing. The couple hopes to have a cornbox for kids to play in this year as well. In summer months, you can take a hayride to see the animals on pasture, and in fall, you can buy pumpkins out in front of the farm. The farm plays host to birthday parties on Saturdays. For more information, visit www.a-zfarm.com.
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