Lambing Workshop, Farm Tour, and Potluck at Carnation Farms

Back by popular demand, this day contains two events: a farm tour/potluck and a workshop. Join us at noon if you are only interested in the workshop.

First (at 10am) we'll begin with a farm tour and potluck where Alex Hagiepetros will give a tour of the sheep operation at Carnation Farms. At 11am we'll dig into some lunch and social time; please bring a dish to share if you're able, otherwise just bring yourself! Sno-Valley Tilth members are always encouraged to invite their crews and other farmers to attend.

The second event (beginning at 12pm) is an in-depth, hands-on workshop hosted by Michelle Canfield (Canfield Farms) and Alex Hagiepetros (Carnation Farms). The workshop will begin with a chance to see the flock operation, where they lamb in the barns and where they are rotationally grazed the rest of the year. There will be about 300 lambs on the ground! We'll talk about portable fencing, livestock guarding dogs, herding dogs, and pasture management. Then we'll move to the barn to have a deeper discussion on husbandry practices around lambing (and kidding!). There will be opportunity to see and get some hands-on experience with tube and bottle-feeding lambs, doing injections (SQ, IM, IP, and IV), blood draws, correcting prolapses, drenching, hoof trimming, doing fecal egg counts with a microscope, parasite management, necropsy, and anything else that comes up in discussion!

Please expect to be moving around the farm and getting hands-on with the sheep. Dress accordingly for both the activity and the weather as this workshop will run rain or shine.

Registration is required for the workshop and the tour/potluck can be added to your ticket at checkout. This event is free for Sno-Valley Tilth members and a $25 donation for non-members. Learn more about SVT and/or become a member at www.snovalleytilth.org/membership/.

About the instructors:

Michelle Canfield works full time and on the side runs 100 Katahdin Hair Sheep ewes, raising 150 meat lambs and breeding stock each year on 37 acres in the Snohomish River Valley.

Alex Hagiepetros is the Livestock Manager for Carnation Farms, where she and her team run operations for 100+ hair and wool sheep, as well as a 40 head beef finishing operation. Alex started farming in Oregon in 2017 after a lifetime of working in food service spurred her into a job working with animals in the great outdoors.

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