In 1977 we purchased a few black Angus cattle and 6 suffolk sheep. The cattle took care of themselves, but we found that we didn’t enjoy taking our lambs to slaughter. We sold our suffolk sheep and in 1989 we purchased our first Karakul ram and ewe and immediately fell in love with them because of their beauty, their personality, their size, their uniqueness, and ease of care. We now have a flock of 90 plus Karakul ewes and rams, all registered with the American Karakul Sheep Registry. The Karakul Registry is maintained here at our farm. We have been fortunate to obtain rams and ewes from the major bloodlines available in this country, and through genetics, the quality of our flock is one of the best in the country. Among the many awards our sheep have won are: Champion Ewe in coarse wool at NAILE for 2000 and 2002, Supreme Best Fleece and Premier Exhibitor at NAILE for 2002, and Champion Ewe at the Missouri State Fair for 2002.

In 1989 we purchased our first llama, Fernando. He was 4 months old. So he wouldn’t get lonely, we kept him with the sheep. Up to that point, it was not uncommon to lose lambs every year to coyotes. We noticed that we quit losing lambs after we got Fernando. We learned that llamas were used in Peru to guard sheep. We started raising llamas not only to guard our sheep but also to sell to other sheep producers. We not only used them for guarding, but we also use them for fiber. We have since added alpacas to our "zoo" for their fiber. We are pleased that the Missouri Department of Conservation includes slides of our llamas in their presentations on predator control.