Shannon Shields and one of her goat kids , a small but sweet part of the flock
Shannon heartily acknowledged her penchant for bringing home odd animals : “’ Here ’ s a goat , here ’ s a llama , how about an alpaca , because they ’ re cute . Oh , you wanted a skunk , didn ’ t you , honey ? I got us some skunks ,’” she laughed . “ My one sheep turned into 20 or 30 pretty quick . I don ’ t go for onesies or twosies . If I like an animal , I get a whole bunch of them !”
“ Whole bunch ” is right – The barn yard is about a quarter mile away from the main house , tucked back into the trees , and two of the llamas and the horses greeted us as we came down the road , following us in for their evening snack . A jealous rivalry exists between the llamas , who have a flair for the melodramatic , and Mr . T got offended over something and marched off pouting .
The sheep and the small handful of goats are kept in two large pens , one for the rams and one for the ewes , and the curious critters , from the oldest to the youngest , craned their necks over the panels in greeting . Shannon pointed out individual animals by name – Clarice , and Little Bit , and Kipp , and others – scratching eager heads , and picking up a lamb or three for a quick cuddle . A couple did tricks on command . And hanging back behind the ewes was the comical , long figure of Grace , the guard llama , with her ears flat back against her head ,
watching me skeptically . “ She ’ s very protective ,” Shannon said with a chuckle .
Shannon has found a niche in the Royal White sheep market over the years by selling breeding animals all over the country , generally selling rams but occasionally selling a few ewes , or ewes with a ram .
“ I breed for seed stock replacement … . The hobbyists who can get into seed stock production , instead of doing it for food production , have a better chance of at least getting some return on their money …. I carry two different genetic lines , with my rams and my ewes , and keep a very close , very private herd that maintains some of the original , traditional bloodlines of the breed that was founded in the early 1990s . I try to carry on those original lines so folks who are carrying newer lines can go back to the old bloodlines to ensure that they aren ’ t losing their genetic quality .”
“[ Royal Whites ] are an extremely docile breed , easy to manage and maintain for any new homestead raiser …. and [ they ] have a really nice meat quality , [ with ] a milder flavor ,” Shannon said . “[ Royal Whites ] actually have a different muscle striation that creates a nice tender cut . This breed in particular is basically the Wagyu of the sheep world . You can let them age out to over a year and they are still quite tender . A lot of your wool breeds [ are processed ] at ten or eleven months old , but you can process these up to eighteen months old and still get that lamb quality . You can get 42-45 % of the hanging weight off of them , which is a pretty good return on the meat .”
“ Proper butchering is an art , getting good cuts ,” Heath added . “ That ’ s a pretty unique skill , and it is hard .”
“ We wanted to learn because it is a dying skill ,” Shannon said , but the pandemic dynamics were also a motivator . “ During that whole period of time , groceries were harder to find , meat was harder to find , but if you ’ re raising it , if you know where it comes from , if you know how to process it – It is one thing to raise the animals , but it is a whole different thing to process your own animals .” This was a challenging skill to undertake and has been rewarding , allowing them the satisfaction and security of filling a freezer with meat they raised and processed themselves .
In the Thanksgiving to Christmas window , baby fever is in the chilly air . “ November and December is right when we ’ re breeding ,” Heath explained . “[ Sheep have ] a 6-month gestation …. and these sheep are induced breeders , so you don ’ t have to wait for them to cycle . When you put a ram with them , they ’ ll start cycling . It makes it pretty simple .” myblackhillscountry . com Down Country Roads 15