In June 2024, I brought Cloud to Sajima Farm from another sheep farm in Vermont. This 4-year-old gelded llama is at the center of the livestock on farm. He is the guard animal for my flock of sheep consisting of 5 Merinos and 2 Babydoll Southdowns (added in July 2024). Two more Babydoll Southdowns arrived in September, 2025. The sheep are rotationally grazed on my certified organic pasture. This means that I move them across the pasture setting up small, electrified paddocks every 2-3 days, not returning to any previous paddock for a minimum of 60 days matching the life cycle of parasite larvae. This is non-chemical way to help combat parasites, and to keep the sheep in supply of fresh forage.
I have 3 chickens with 7 more on the way shortly. The breeds include Copper Marans, Cream Legbar, Lavender Orpington, Swedish Flower, and True Blue. The chickens have a coop and free range during the day. I move their coop following the chickens, enabling the chickens to eat various bugs that are treats for them, but potential parasitic threats to the sheep. We experienced an extreme uptick in the tick population this spring. During this time, I kept the chickens and sheep together in the same paddock to enable the chickens to act as a natural tick control mechanism to protect the sheep. The chickens lay beautiful eggs in a rainbow of colors.
The livestock grazing on pasture act as natural fertilizers improving the quality of the soil, further enriching the pasture, and increasing carbon capture.
This creates a virtuous cycle of consume, waste, renewal that is part of the regenerative farming model.