A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 3, 2003
Shropshires Perform Double Duty On Menhennett Farm
Farm’s Cheese Will Be Sold At Maryland Sheep, Wool Festival
MICHELLE KUNJAPPU should go into the milking string,
Lancaster Farming Staff Menhennett said.
COCHRANVILLE (Chester The breed is “noted for longev
co.) Each morning Annette ity, so a good Shropshire ewe can
Menhennett lines up about 12 go on producing lambs up to age
Shropshire ewes and coaxes 12,” she said. As for milking,
them, six at a time, through a “1180 has milked 3-4 years, and I
small door and into a parlor hope to continue milking her an
where they nuzzle in and eat other four years,” she said,
their ration of grain. Additionally, while ewes of
Although Shropshire sheep other breeds lactate 60-90 days, a
may not be noted for their milk- Shropshire ewe’s lactation may
Annette Menhennett operates a 110-head Shropshire
market lamb and cheese farm. She has attended the Mar
yland Sheep and Wool Festival since the 1970 s and sells
all the farm’s cheese at the event.
producing ability,
Menhennett has
milked several of her
110-head flock to pro
duce the farm’s cheese
since 1990.
Most of the farm’s
income stems from the
sale of the lambs at
market; however,
making cheese has
proven to be an enjoy
able sideline for Men
hennett and farm
manager Lee Cook.
Besides managing
the farm, Cook also
produces the farm’s
cheese.
The 90-acre farm is
home to more than
100 purebred register
ed Shropshires. The
breed, according to
Cook, is “an old, stan
dard general-purpose
market sheep that
make good lambs and
good mothers,” he
said.
The ewes produce
2'A gallons of milk in
the twice-a-day milk
ings, and all of the
milk goes to cheese
production.
In the beginning of
lactation, Menhennet’s
best ewes will give 40
ounces of milk in the
morning and 25-30
ounces of milk in the
evening. Later in lac
tation those ewes may
give between 40-50
ounces for the day.
“We don’t start
milking until the
lambs are weaned, so
we wait 30 days,”
Cook said.
~ Menhennet begins
milking the goats
about March 1 and
usually ends the
fourth of July, a real
“Independence Day,”
for her, she said.
“When we resume
milking in February, if
they (the ewes) have
had a lamb that’s 30
days old, we’ll take
jhpr . aqd check her
udder” to dceideif she
f
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last five months.
Although Menhennet views the
dairy/cheesemaking aspect of the
farm as a sideline, she does keep
an eye on the dairy traits of her
animals.
“I’m breeding for a fast-grow
ing, well-muscled market lamb,”
said Menhennett. However “if
1180 (one of the best milk pro
ducers) has a ewe lamb, we’ll try
to keep the lamb and she if she is
like her mother,” she said.
Lambing season is the end of
January through April.
Beginning Of A Dairy
Menhennett and her husband,
Warn, had purchased their farm
in 1965, bought five sheep in
1967, and constructed the out
buildings and bams on the opera
tion.
In 1989 she toured, along with
a small groups of sheep aficiona
dos, several sheep operations in
various countries. The trip in
cluded a stop at sheep dairies in
Norway and Iceland.
The seed was planted when
Menhennet sat through a short
course on sheep dairying in Scot
land, which helped point her to
ward dairying. “That’s
what intrigued me,” she W
said. ’
When she came back
from the tour, then, she
was ready to begin dairy
ing in 1990, where she
The breed is “noted for longevity, so a good Shropshire
ewe can go on producing lambs up to age 12,” Menhen
nett said.
milked the sheep and made Cook. With the higher butterfat
cheese “in a very small way I and milk solid percentages in the
first made cheese in the kitchen.” milk, “we get about twice as
The couple built the parlor in mU ch cheese per gallon,” than
1992.
“If, very rich milk,” mid (Turn to Pa" *2l)
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