If you are looking for breeding stock, milky ewes, gorgeous fleeces in a rainbow of colors or just a few lawn ornaments, you've come to the right place. At Reedbird Farm, we breed first for conformation and then for excellent fleece and milky animals.
The exceptional milking qualities of the Icelandic breed also allow ewes to raise twins and occasionally triplets on pasture to a good size by fall while growing that soft silky fleece they are famous for. Icelandic sheep are a triple purpose breed originally kept for meat, milk and fiber and they still perform well in all three categories in the United States. Please see Icelandic Sheep for more information.
At Reedbird Farm, we believe that God gave us the herbs of the field for use in food and to keep us healthy and we also believe this extends to our animals. Alethea chose to study traditional naturopathy and herbs to give her a better understanding of how the body uses the nutrition it takes in to stay healthy and how this can be applied from the ground up in the form of healthy soils, lush gardens and pastures and the resultant healthy livestock. See Natural Health for more information on her studies and degrees. All of this information has been a fascinating study but also an experiment in seeing firsthand how important living and growing naturally is for health and disease-free living in people and animals. It makes a difference in the sheep, their fleece, their milk, their lambs, their meat, their ability to excel to the best of their genetic potential. It's also in tune with living closer to the land, closer to how we feel God intended us to live as caretakers of His beautiful creation.
You don't have to understand or believe in the advantages of natural health to benefit from animals raised without artificial chemicals, antibiotics, hormones or other invasive procedures. It's in the sheep and will give them a healthy start as foundation animals on your farm or additions to your own breeding program.
Each lamb (or adult) is evaluated for conformation, health, temperment, genetic potential and then a decision is made whether this sheep is going to be a benefit to the breed. If so, it will be offered for sale and comes fully guaranteed. We do not put holds on unborn animals for the above reason, we want to be able to evaluate the live animal and see how it compares to our standard and if it meets our criteria for breeding stock.
We are constantly learning and enjoy hearing from others who are interested in natural health, herbs, Icelandic sheep or other breeds. If you have a comment or question, feel free to drop us a line. We offer other activities on the farm and off so check back under Classes or Articles. Our lamb lists will be posted each summer but you are welcome to enquire about animals for sale anytime.
List of Summer 2008 sheep for sale here.
Lambing season has started and we will have both adult sheep and lambs for sale. Package deals are available and all sheep are raised using holistic methods and come with our complete farm guarantee (for more information, click here).
Alethea Kenney, B. S., N. D., traditional naturopath and herbalist, will be teaching a variety of classes this summer on medicinal plants and dye plants, holistic care of animals and traditional herbal remedies. Please see the updated schedule under Classes or contact me for more information. If there are topics you'd like to see covered in a class, please let me know and I'll consider planning a class. Perhaps you'd like to attend but cannot make the trip out to Reedbird Farm? I do travel and can plan classes for other areas of the state or country, let me know if you'd like more information.
If you would like to schedule an appointment to have a one-on-one consultation with a traditional naturopath for information on ways to make changes in your lifestyle, live a more holistic life, understand a specific health problem from a holistic point of view and learn about ways to correct the underlying imbalances that lead to health problems, contact me. I have years of experience supporting clients and animals as they become healthier, feel better and avoid surgeries by making lifestyle and dietary changes and using herbs or essential oils to maintain true health. Please see Natural Health for more information.
Watch for lambing updates and new classes. These will be added as the season progresses but you can always drop me a line for more information on what we is available, in case the website has not been updated recently.