Brier Day is building his own herd registered sheep flock
MARSHFIELD, MO. – Not all teenagers are addicted to video games. Some spend their summers at county fairs, displaying their animals and hard work. Brier Day is one of those teenagers.
At 15, he has around 100 head of sheep. Brier’s parents, Aaron and Angie Day, have cattle backgrounds, so they didn’t really like it at first.
“They were like ‘no, that’s your problem,’” Brier recalled. “Then I got them interested and they fell in love with it. My dad probably likes it more than I do sometimes.”
Brier lives in Marshfield, Mo., in Webster County. His sheep are on his grandpa’s farm just outside of town.
“My grandpa (Jim Day) and me went and bought a set of registered White Dorper ewes,” Brier shared. “The way I really got hooked on it was my uncle, Jeremy Day. He had a set of commercial ewes that we were showing around the county fairs.” Brier is in his seventh or eighth year of showing sheep.
Brier has chosen all registered Dorper and White Dorper sheep for their adaptability.
“They’re really good. They can adapt to fescue or they can go up north and adapt to those grasses and different things. They’re the main meat breed. They’re all hair, so we don’t have to shear them. They can just go out and find a tree or a fence and rub against it and lose all their hair,” Brier explained.
While Dopers are hair breeds, but they do require grooming to get them ready for the show ring.
“We slick them,” Brier said. “We have fine-bladed trimmers and trim all the hair on them. It doesn’t go to the skin, but it leaves just a little bit of hair on them. It’s a ‘show shine,’” Brier explained.
The difference between Dorper and White Dorper is self-explanatory.
“The Dorpers have the defining black head and can sometimes have dark spots around their body, but usually just the black heads. The Whites are all white,” Brier stated.
He shows at many of nearby county fairs, as well as at the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield, and the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia.
“We show at the Mid-America National Dorper and White Dorper Show and Sale in Duncan, Okla. It’s our big National Show and Sale in April,” Brier said.
Duncan is the farthest he’s gone for a show but Brier would like to one day travel to some larger shows.
“I would like to go win the Louisville show; the North American International Livestock Exposition. I haven’t been there. We’re planning on going this year. We’ll see how we do. It’s in November,” Brier stated.
He won first place ewe at the national show and sale.
“I won the Missouri State Fair in 2020. Probably the biggest award for me personally was in our showmanship at the national show and sale; I got reserve champion showman,” Brier said.
His main advice for anyone wanting to start showing sheep was to start by doing all your research and really learning what breed you want to start with.
“Then go around and watch at some of the fairs and such. Watch the older kids do it and kind of get a feel for your techniques and different things. Don’t jump right in,” Brier advised.
Many interesting things happen when you’re showing livestock.
“When somebody else’s sheep get loose and I have to try to catch it while holding my own is always pretty interesting,” Brier said. “It happens almost every show; somebody letting something go. It’s not just kids. “Actually, adults lose them, and that’s always embarrassing for them.”
While Brier said he’d show anything, he prefers to show a ewe.
“I get along with them a lot better. To me they’re sweeter. Rams can be hard-headed sometimes, and mean,” he remarked.
Brier is a member of the Farm and Field 4-H Club. “It’s a pretty big group that just got started a couple of years ago,” he said. He was president the first year. He is also a member and officer of the Marshfield FFA.
The Dorper breed of sheep is a meat breed.
“It’s the main meat breed,” Brier said. “If you go to New York or some fancy fine dining restaurant, you’re going to find the Dorper lamb and they’re trying to come out with Certified Dorper lamb.
“It doesn’t have that mutton taste like some of the older wool breeds can have at different times.”
The meat quality is one of the attributes Brier appreciates of the breed. He said they are heat tolerance and the lack of wool make them very desirable.
“Those are their big qualities and attributes and very marketable,” Brier said. “They actually handle it very well. A lot of our Dorpers will walk away from a shade tree and just go lie out in the sun on a hot day. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
They also handle cold weather very well. “They grow out their hair, or sometimes they have a wooly hair mix, but it’s usually hair based. It keeps them very warm and they tolerate it extremely well,” Brier said.
They sell their sheep off the farm and at association sales.
“Sheep are a hot deal right now. A lot of people are getting rid of their cows and just kind of downsizing to 10 or 20 sheep and it’s low maintenance. People love them,” Brier said.
He doesn’t like to sell a sheep under 5 or 6 months old.
“They might weigh 60 to 90 pounds or they could even weigh 120. It just depends on who grew the best that year and different things. It also depends on the mother; how good she milked and how good a mother she was,” Brier explained.
Sheep can have three lambings in two years, but Brier feels that is too much stress on the females.
“That can run your ewes out pretty fast and it’s hard on them,” Brier said. “Sometimes it’s good just to have them lamb about once a year. Some will breed back and have spring and fall. It just depends on the ewe, how she’s being raised and fed, and her genetics,” he explained.
Brier doesn’t have a lot of single lambs. “A lot of ours are twins and we’ve had some triplets. I’ve even had a set of quads. That was pretty impressive,” he said.
Brier will be a sophomore at Marshfield High School. He hasn’t decided on future plans, but would like for it to be “ag based.”
