We are a husband and wife team committed to sustainable agriculture raising sheep and produce in Upper East Tennessee. Charlesey Charlton-McCallister comes from a rich tradition of farming going back several generations, focusing first on dairy cows, then cattle for meat. With a degree in Agriculture from MTSU, she is the primary shepard on the farm. Three years ago, we sold all of our cattle and invested in sheep. We are passionate about our sheep, the lamb meat market, and raising awareness of the health benefits of lamb consumption.
We take pride and work very hard to ensure that every animal in our charge leads a happy, healthy life. We have deliberately chosen to run a grass-fed sheep operation. It’s less cost-effective and the animals have a slower growth rate; but it provides a healthier end product and gives the sheep a more natural existence. It is a daily challenge to ensure the health and well-being of our sheep. We aspire to be shepards in the oldest sense of the phrase.
We currently have over 150 head of commercial hair sheep and around 40 registered Katahdin ewes. We split our lambing seasons between winter and summer to ensure we have a constant supply of sheep for market. This past November and December, we welcomed more than 70 new offspring to the farm. We know most of our girls by name (or number), we also know their lineage, their heritability, and the genetics that make them what they are. Time, care, and love go into each animal we raise. It’s a very old profession, shepherding, but it’s one in which we find great satisfaction. We hope you enjoy a snap-shot into our operations and are happy to answer any questions you may have about our flock.
Animals are ranked based on performance data generated on every lamb born on the property. Looking at their performance data more closely by taking 30, 60 and 90 day weights, we can pick out the animals coming off lines with high milk production, strong maternal traits, feed efficiency, and parasite resistance.
We generally select for:
1. High performance on grass. We provide minimal supplemental grain and all of our ewes complete their pregnancy on high-quality hay only.
2. A target weight of 130 to 150#’s for our adult ewes.
3. Good parasite resistance – despite heavy parasite loads, our adult animals rarely need deworming.
4. Maternal traits
5. A wide bodied, long and low animal with good thickness to their frame.
We hope you will take a few moments to check out our facebook page and our website @ https://www.primenumberfarms.com/
As always, farm visits are most welcome – we love to show off our flock! Feel free to ask any questions you may have about our operations, our products, or anything else you may want to know.
We are located in Chucky, Tennessee. For shipping and onsite visits, consult the map below: