A labor of love, for owner and sheep alike

Joey McLeister, Star Tribune

One of Holly Neaton’s ewes nuzzles her 2-hour-old baby lamb. Neaton is a veterinarian and a sheep farmer who supplies the State Fair Miracle of Birth Center with lambs.

So fairgoers get their fill of cottony lambs at the Miracle of Birth Center, one of the fair's most popular attractions, Holly Neaton breeds her sheep under tight controls.

By CHAO XIONG, Star Tribune

Last update: August 21, 2008 - 9:38 PM

Sows and cows breed naturally so they're ready to pop out little ones when the Minnesota State Fair rolls around, but when it comes to ewes, it's time for what could be called "operation sheep sex."

Ewes, it seems, need precise and calculated intervention when it comes to delivering at the hugely popular Miracle of Birth Center.

This year marks the eighth for State Fair birthing of lambs, overseen by Watertown, Minn., veterinarian and sheep farmer Holly Neaton, and the eighth for the birth center. It's a pressure-filled process that every year leaves her thinking, "Oh, I don't know if I want to do this anymore," until the pie-tin eyes and wonder-filled smiles on fairgoers' faces reel her back.

"It's a lot of work," said Neaton, who first thought the idea of including sheep was crazy because of the challenges they present.

"You know it's worthwhile. It's a very important way for people to come back to Earth and the meaning of life."

Only a few sheep species can dependably breed outside the season, and they're skittish by nature, interested in only two things: grub and other sheep. Sows and cows, on the other hand, are bred year-round and are always available for the fair.

Ewes naturally give birth in spring, so Neaton puts her flock of State Fair ewes on birth control until it's time to mate them, at which point they're given a hormone to bring them into heat. Twenty-five ewes were mated with rams in late March and early April to time births of their lambs to coincide with the fair.

Neaton breeds the made-in-America, white-faced Polypay species.

"You only get this very narrow window, and if I blow it, there'd be no lambs," she said.

In a typical year, 10 State Fair-bound ewes at a time are placed in a pasture with two rams for the purpose of making little sheep. Each ram is fitted with a chalked harness so he will leave a mark on the back of a mated ewe. Five days later, the next 10 ewes are mated with two rams -- sometimes the same rams as before, sometimes different ones. Five days after that, the last 10 ewes are mated with another pair of rams.

The ewes may need a little intervention, but the rams are game to spread some sheep love year-round: the only help they need is to get into the pasture.

When the Miracle of Birth Center was new, Neaton used one fortunate, but very exhausted, ram for each cycle. "He couldn't keep up," she said.

That year, only 12 of about 30 ewes were impregnated.

About 60 days after mating, the ewes undergo ultrasounds. About 90 percent normally conceive, a number that has climbed as Neaton hones her "recipe" for success.

Despite measures taken to ensure some ewes give birth right away and a steady supply of cottony lambs are born throughout the fair's 12-day run, Mother Nature is still at work, said Mary Olson, a Mora veterinarian who arranges getting animals for the center.

"We have to work with them," she said. "We can't make them work for us."

The exhibit has tripled in size since its inception in 2001 and includes hatching chicks and ducklings and an assortment of other animals not born on-site.

"This exhibit is to help people understand that lots of people spend their lives dedicated to making sure people have healthy, wholesome food," Olson said.

When the last fried-thing-on-a-stick has been choked down and the lights of the Midway go dark, Neaton's ewes and their babies go home. They're kept separate from the other 300 sheep on her farm but enjoy the company of a llama.

"It's the same ones every year," Neaton said. "They're so faithful."

Chao Xiong • 612-673-4391

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