A22—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 28,1984
The Suffolk folks of Breezeview Farm
V
BY JACK HUBLEY
ATGLEN - BUI MacCauley had
a lot to learn about sheep when he
married Joan Niemyer 22 years
ago. And judging from the way
things turned out at the couple’s 17
acre Breezeview Farm near
Atglen, it appears that Mr. Mac-
Cauley graduated with honors.
Situated on a grassy knoll m
Chester County, the blue-gray
house and matching bam with its
flock of black stockinged ewes and
lambs has become well known for
its production of quality purebred
Suffolk sheep.
The MacCauley’s flock of
breeding ewes currently numbers
35, with 15 yearling ewes rounding
out the female contingent.
Representing the men’s club at
Breezeview Farm are Breezeview
267 Highrider, the farm’s home
grown stud ram, and two
This yearling ram, a son of Breezeview Night rider, shows
the handsome head characteristic of MacCauley Suffolks.
Suffolk flock. “What we’ve accomplished is the result of the
whole family working together,” notes Joan.
yearlings, including a Highlander
son, and a Brewer ram named
champion at this year’s Pa. Farm
Show.
Completing Breezeview’s four
legged membership are the farm s
four cats in charge of rodent
control, and an equal number of
Border collies, a breed specifically
developed to keep the livestock
moving in the right direction.
Breezeview traces its roots to
Jdan’s involvement in the 4-H
program, when at the age of 11, she
raised her first three lambs at the
family’s home in Newtown Square.
A self-confessed city slicker
from Upper Darby, Bill stepped as
easily into the sheep business as he
did to life with his new bride, and a
winning team of Chester County
Suffolk shepherds was bom.
The couple produced their own
stud rams during the 1960’5, until
A field full of freshly shorn Suffolks, along with a sprinkling of smaller cheviots, are the
"long and short of it" at Breezeview Farm.
1970 when they bought their first
ram, an Ohio animal out of the
famous Spanish Jack.
By that time, young Bill, age
five, was already heavily into
sheep. Now 18, the oldest of the
three MacCauley children
maintains his interest in sheep,
living on a sheep farm and
majoring in agribusiness
management at Penn State.
At ages 17 and 13 respectively,
daughters Nancy and Donna share
their parent’s interests, as well.
The MacCauley name echoed
repeatedly during this year’s
Farm Show, with all three young
shepherds winning their respective
classes. Nancy’s FFA project
lamb became the show’s reserve
grand champion market lamb, and
Bill showed the champion ram and
junior champion ewe.
The young MacCauleys have
also demonstrated their abilities to
pick other winners, with Bill being
a member of the winning livestock
judging team during 1982 state
competition, and Nancy named as
high individual in last year’s junior
division.
As a first-year collegian, Bill
continues his winning ways by
being named reserve champion
Suffolk showman at Penn State’s
Little International Livestock
Expo last weekend.
But his parents emphasize that
awards, ribbons and plaques are
far from the entire picture.
“If you’ve got a good show flock
and a good commercial flock, then
you have a well-balanced
operation,” stresses the senior
MacCauley.
And the waiting list for Mac-
Cauley’s lambs testifies to the
flock’s commercial success. Most
of the MacCauley animals are sold
privately for food, or to com
mercial breeders, with few
animals ever reaching the auction
block.
** ***•*
Fortunately for those with a
taste for Breezeview leg of lamb,
the flock is very prolific. Through
good genetics and proper diet, the
flock’s lambing success was 194
percent this year, with every ewe
producing at least one lamb, and
six sets of triplets born.
A diet of ground corn, oats and
soybean meal keeps Breezeview
ewes in good trim, and Bill makes
sure that mineral supplements are
available at all times. The Mac-
Cauleys note that such a menu
produces a tender, tasty product,
and they recommend that their
Suffolks are table ready at three to
four months of age, at a weight of
about 130 pounds.
The family finds its 10 acres of
cropland sufficient to keep their
animals supplied with corn and
ly t
team: Breezeview Suffolks and a trio of second-generation
MacCauley shepherds, Bill, 111, Donna and Nancy.
Jeb, the MacCauley’s nine-year-old Border collie, is one of
four canine shepherds on the farm capable of showing the
sheep just where they're supposed to be. And he’ll take
fences in stride to get the job done.
hay, and last spring the Mac-
Cauleys experimented with
Brassicas as a means of providing
a high protein forage source for
ewes during the breeding season.
Planting both rape and turnips in
early May, Bill started grazing his
animals in 90 days, allowing the
sheep to feed for a half hour, to 45
minutes at a time. The Brassicas
were grazed for six weeks, per
mitted to regenerate for three
more weeks, and then grazed
again for another three weeks. Bill
found his Brassicas to be an
economical source of protein, and
stated that the two crops
weathered last summer’s drought
very well.
Lamb chops, of course, are not
all there is to sheep ranching, and
although Suffolks aio primarily a
meat breed, they also produce a
good fleece. Joan says that Suffolk
wool washes very white and dyes
nicely, although some black fiber
is not unusual.
Bill handles the shears not only
for his own flock, but for a number
of other shepherds as well. He’s
been “cutting hair” for the
Philadelphia Zoo’s flock of 17
animals for the past 10 years, and
has given shearing demonstrations
for many school groups.
Shearing 500 to 600 sheep a year,
MacCauley has managed to trim
his time to between five and seven
minutes per animal, but he wasn’t
always that adept.
“Before we were married we did
our first sheep with a pair of
scissors,” Bill chuckles, “and it
took us three hours.” Though he
currently uses electric equipment,
MacCauley can de-fleece a full
grown Suffolk, one of the largest of
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