For animal science senior Justin Shaver and animal science sophomore David Scales, living and working at the MSU Sheep Teaching and Research Center is not that baaaaad of a gig.
Shaver and Scales grew up around farms, showing sheep at fairs from a young age, and their love for the flock continued into college. In exchange for free rent at the farm, the two help out with chores and are in charge if anything goes awry in the evening. They’re especially busy when the lambs are born around January and February.
Morning chores start at 8 a.m., feeding the sheep on the 90-acre facility located south of main campus.
“I grew up with sheep and I figured it’d be a pretty good experience,” Shaver said. “It’d look good on your resume that you actually lived here and managed the place. You learn a lot of new things.”
They’re equipped with their own laundry and bathroom. A tiny kitchen snugly rests in the corner of their living room and bedroom. Old beige couches rest under lofted beds, as their baseball caps hang from the boards connecting their sleepers. Scrawled on the boards are the signatures of those who lived there past and when they lived there, dating from 2005.
“If they ever tear this place down they gotta take a couple hunks of these chunks of wood and hang it up somewhere,” Scales said.
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