Welcome to our webpage–thanks for stopping by! If you’re new to what we’re all about, here’s an explanation of how we got our start, what our farm standards are, and what we strive to achieve. Poling Show Sheep initially started from a select few ewes purchased as 4-H projects in the early 2000’s. As a 4-Her, Whitney quickly discovered her love and knack for raising, selecting, and showing lambs. After graduating from Purdue with a bachelor of science degree in Animal Agribusiness Management, she returned home in 2009 to place emphasis on growing a genetically solid core flock of registered Hampshire sheep. Our current breeding program is heavily Miller influenced, Poe, Wheaton, moderate Cabaniss, Slack, Russell, and heavy Robertson genetics— with about 80% of our stock being registered Hampshires, and 20% being Hampshire-Suffolk crosses. In 2012 we were blessed to have had the opportunity to purchase “Robbie”, a 2010 born registered Hampshire buck from Robertson Hampshires who was Reserve Champion Indiana Ram at the 2010 Indiana State Fair, 1st place March slick-shorn ram & Reserve Champion slick-shorn Hampshire ram at the 2010 NAILE. He has consistently added solid tops, length of body, terrific bone, and beautiful structure to his lambs (not to mention many winners!); and we have obtained some amazing sons from this guy.
In 2014 we purchased 2 bred Miller ewes— a Masterpiece daughter, bred to Miller’s Maker, and a Maker daughter bred to Miller’s Mercy due for early 2015 lambs. These lambs have been terrific, and we were blessed with a beautiful Miller Maker X Miller Masterpiece son, we named “Meet Your Maker” in the spring of 2015 who has had a powerful show career as a lamb. “Meet Your Maker” has had tremendous influence on our ewe base, adding the biggest, most solid & correct hips to his lambs of any buck we have seen. His lambs crossed with “Robbie’s” daughters have created some of the most absolutely beautifully made ewe lambs in our barn. Also in 2015 we obtained a super “Picasso” son, who we felt would complement our ewes beautifully; and has also brought home some purple in his very short show career. This big guy is very complete, and is structurally our best moving ram on the farm. His daughters do not disappoint. We didn’t think it could get much better, but in 2017 we were blessed with an absolutely superb buck lamb from our best ewe (“Robbie” {Robertson} daughter on a Cabaniss) and our Miller Maker son “Meet Your Maker”. This guy is AMAZING from nose to dock—and while he is our youngest ram on the farm, he is probably also our best! See all of these boys pictured on our “Ram” page!
We cycle our ewes using CIDR’s for fall lambing, and a majority of our lambing takes place November – January. Our flock isn’t the largest around, but we stand by our select group of ewes and rams that have been specifically selected for their genetic potential; including breed character, conformation, muscling, and prolificacy among other traits. For us, quality is more important than quantity. We try each year to improve our genetics and push to produce “timeless” stock that will not simply keep up with the changing trends of the show ring, but also maintain the constant core attributes for strong breeding stock. We pride ourselves with producing quality slick-shorn animals that perform well in BOTH the show ring, and in the barn; raising thrifty, well balanced, structurally correct lambs each year.
Integrity is a standard for which we DO NOT make exceptions! While our desire and goal is to produce top quality show animals; it is MORE important to us to develop strong, lasting, helpful relationships with other folks in this industry that love sheep as much as we do. We have also been on the flip side of this business in our 4-H days when we were taken advantage of by other producers. We can attest to personal experiences where the animal we selected for a 4-H project years ago had changed prices without notice, or in one case magically changed into a new animal all together! And yes, these are unfortunately some of the very same producers still in the industry today. It was very difficult saving up money for a high quality lamb each year in high school— and to have that taken away by lies & deceitfulness after putting our faith in a seller was heartbreaking after a year of saving. After having multiple experiences like this, we pledged that if we ever became a breeder with a flock of our own that we would hold ourselves to the highest standards of honesty and integrity possible. While we do sell to many breeders, we owe our passion for livestock to the sheep 4-H project–and 4-Hers will always have a special place in our heart. The youth of today will have a massive impact on our industry tomorrow, and it’s important to us that they are fully equipped to take on that responsibility. Where there is a child willing to try, we are here to help you! We are here to serve you all as business owners—and even if you never purchase anything from us, we are here, happy to help and answer any questions you might have about sheep or the sheep 4-H project!
Thanks again for stopping by & God bless!
Sincerely,
Nicholas, Whitney, Deborah, Eli, Ellie and Elliott Poling
