Hengarth is a working sheep farm in the Great Northern Catskills. We breed a small flock of registered Clun Forest sheep, a rare heritage breed from the Welsh/English borders in the UK.
Hengarth is a small-scale Catskills sheep farm we built from scratch. Previously, the property had been used for hay, tree farming and hunting but when we saw the pasture opportunity and spaces we immediately knew it was perfect for our dream of bringing sheep to the Catskills!
Our flock are grass-fed and graze on just over two acres of fenced in pasture, with temporary pastures in our many acres of meadows in summer. They are watched over by our guard llama, Sandman. Read more about our animals below >>>
Sandman the Llama
Sandman, registered name "Mister Sandman", is our Guard Llama. He is head of our flock and in charge of protecting the sheep from predators. He stands at almost 6 ft tall and is 4 years old. He has been with his flock of sheep for 3 years, they are fully bonded and see Sandman as their leader and protector. Sandman is a friendly Llama, who likes rolling in the dirt, running in the paddock and herding his sheep! He eats grass and hay, and has a thick wooly coat of a beautiful sandy color (which is where he gets his name), his fleece is very soft and gets shorn every two years - we hope to make blankets and throws out of his wool very soon!
Our Ewes "The Girls"
We now have six ewes, four of our original starter flock -– Tess, Bea, Cheeky and Pretty – and two of our ewe lambs from 2022, called Little Blue and Fi. All the girls are registered Clun Forest sheep, a hardy breed harking from the Welsh/ English border, near to where Jen (Hengarth owner and chief sheperdess!) is from. Clun forest sheep have thick cream-colored wool and black legs and face, which both makes them great for fiber and beautiful to look at on the hill. All our ewes have their own distinct personalities, with some loving nose scratches and some less so! They're all curious, and always interested in coming to check out visitors to the farm!
The Rams "The Boys"
We have two Clun Forest rams, affectionately named "Big boy" and "Bam-bam". Big-boy is so called as he came to us at 2 years old at already 200Ib. He is an absolute gentleman and takes his role as deputy to Sandman very seriously. Both our rams have a firm friendship with Sandman the llama and could be considered his sidekicks! Bam-bam came to us at only 10 months old and had a tendency to get stuck in fences, and get bashed about slightly as the smaller ram, hence his name! He is now easily 200Ib himself and grown into a great ram, and while you always have to be on guard around the boys (especially at breeding time), he is very friendly and loves nose-scratches at feeding time.