Bentley Rathbun cannot imagine life without his sheep. When pressed, he’ll admit, “It would be very boring. I’d have to have animals of some sort around.” But it’s clear that sheep are a firmly established part of his life, as well as those of his two daughters, Julia and Taylor. For the past 31 years, Rathbun has had a flock of sheep that includes Horned Dorsets and Corridale Natural Colors.
Entering the barn, one hears a cacophony signaling the animals’ demands to be fed. Rathbun opens the gate and immediately is surrounded by anxious sheep, which he calls by name. “C’mon, line up!” he commands. He dumps a coarse and whole-corn mixture into a long trough that spans the length of the barn. In a matter of moments, the din changes to collective sounds of contentment.
“They’re just like kids,” Rathbun observes. “Give them candy, and they shut up.”
Acknowledging that there is a lot of work to his labor of love, Rathbun nevertheless thinks sheep are easy because they are such creatures of habit. He finds it relaxing to look out over his land to see his sheep grazing in the spring, “One of the prettiest times of year,” he says. But life is not all grazing. He recently experienced several days without power, meaning the water his sheep need had to be carried in by hand. There wasn’t even enough snow to let them eat.
Rathbun recalls that during the 1998 ice storm he had 18 lambs in his Auburn house huddled up next to the woodstove to stay warm. Once, when one of his ewes had fallen spread-eagle, a most dangerous condition for sheep, he had to prop her up on a bale of hay so she could give birth. Constant care is needed to ensure sheep remain safe.
The hardest time in working with the flock, says Rathbun, is shearing time. On average, a sheep will yield about 8 pounds of fleece, which is a lot more than most people can use. Rathbun admits that there is some danger in managing his normally peaceful flock. He has been injured by a sheep’s horns on more than one occasion, and Taylor has been trampled by a panicked ewe.
Rathbun and his girls clearly love what they do. The work is physical, demanding, and relentless. But, as with any family to which one is committed, the sheep are known by their shepherd(s), called by name, loved and cared for.
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