S. O. S. Save Our Sheep

Hello, and thank you for reading.

My name is Judy, and I need help. I am not the kind of person that does ask for help often. I really dislike not being able to deal with things on my own, and the fact that I must ask hurts.

My husband I have a dream. And we worked very hard to get our dream going. That dream was to run a small fine wool sheep farm in Wyoming, a state my husband dearly loves.

We found our home and farm and started to fix it up and bring our sheep here from our previous farm. Life was good. We spent our days tending to the needs of the sheep, fixing fences, fixing the house, and enjoying the time we got to spend together.

Then came covid. My husband got very sick and needed to go to the hospital for treatment. He held on as long as he could, he is a fighter. 30 days in ICU and 26 days on a ventilator.

He never came home.

He only got to enjoy our dream for 2 years. The past 19 months since he passed have been a nightmare. I lost my soulmate, my best friend, and our second source of income.

As a 57-year-old widow, I have been struggling to hold onto our small farm, home and dream.

I find that my off-farm job salary barely covers the monthly expenses, let alone leave me anything to save for purchases such as winter hay, and fixing my vehicle so that I can get to my paying job. I am slowly falling behind on my bills even as I have cut my expenses as much as possible and still be able to live.

My son helps as much as he can, he’s very good with the heavy lifting around the farm, but he also has his own life. I am trying to generate other income streams, to date they have not brought much additional income.

At last years prices it costs an average of $200.00 per sheep to feed them overwinter. That is just a bit over $1.00 per day per sheep for 6 months. I am seeing that, like all else, the prices are going to be higher this year. The sales from their fleeces does offset some of the cost, but not all of it. Last winter was very cold, and snowy, and I did run out of hay.

I would be so very grateful if you are so inclined to help me buy winter hay so that I do not have to sell off my entire flock of sheep and keep the dream my husband I shared and worked so hard for, alive, and to fix my vehicle so that I can continue to work.

Thank you again for reading this and considering my request and I wish you many blessings.