Matt and Sally Brock started Brock Farms in Bourbon County in 1994.

On June 23, the farm had its first set of Katahdin Hair Sheep quadruplet lambs born.

Katahdin hair sheep provide a practical option to producers who are primarily interested in raising a meat animal, with great lamb vigor, mothering ability and do not want to shear or are no longer able to find shearers, according to https://katahdins.org/

“In the 1970s, someone bred an African Hair Sheep with an English Suffolk Sheep,” Brock said. “It sheds its hair in the summer. The wool industry became unprofitable, so in America, it changed to meat sheep.”

The recent quadruplet lambs were taken to the barn for extra care and fed for two weeks, he said.

“The decision was made to separate one lamb for bottle feeding. The other three lambs and momma were put back on the pasture with the rest of the herd for grass grazing on July 1. All lambs are healthy.”

“The sheep farm has also raised five sets of triplets, but the ewes normally have twins or singles. Statistically, it is said a quad birth is 1 in 500. Their goat herd has produced two sets of quads from Kiko and Nubian goats in past years as well.”

About the Brock Farm

Brock Farms comprises 300 acres near Redfield and currently has 100  hair sheep ewes raising around 150 lambs yearly. They have four dairy goats. The family works together to care for the herds.

“We started with cattle and switched to sheep in 2010,” Matt Brock said. “When we sold cattle, we got 30 Kiko breed goats and 30 Katahdin hair sheep. We decided that hair sheep is what we preferred to put on our pasture. The dairy goats are more of a hobby farm.”

They give about two farm tours a month, he said.