As part of his nightly routine, Dan Kiesling delivers babies into beds of straw and hay.
In the middle of the night Tuesday, Kiesling, an animal science sophomore, prepared a sheep to nurse her newborn twins. He milked the mother sheep into a Mountain Dew bottle to help the lambs who had difficulty feeding on their own. He suffered a number of kicks and bumps while milking, getting knocked around the pen and nearly breaking down one wall.
But he’s used to it, he said, since his family owns a sheep farm in Perry. Eventually he plans on earning a doctoral degree and starting his own sheep farm - which means many more nights like this one.
“If it were easy, everyone would do it,” he said.
Nearly hidden in a stand of pines, the MSU Sheep Teaching and Research Facility on Hagadorn Road gives students a chance to learn firsthand what is involved in taking care of the woolly livestock. More than 100 lambs are born at the farm every year.
“Like the chemistry students and engineering students, this is our laboratory,” animal science senior Kate Westfall said.
Built in 1960 to replace the old barn at Farm and Shaw lanes, the center is one of several livestock facilities for agriscience students to gain experience at MSU.
“We’re lucky because MSU is one of the few schools that have their farms on campus,” Westfall said. “A lot of schools are moving their farms off campus, like 20 or 30 minutes away.”
Students at the facility have been involved with all kinds of research and educational programs, from animal handling to genetics and breeding. One research program is designed to breed sheep with more meat.
In the main building, four students share a small one-room apartment so they can monitor the sheep 24 hours a day.
“A lot of us come from farms, so this is like a home away from home,” said Brandie Behnke, an animal science senior.
Although Dennis Peterson enjoys his work at the facility, there are nights during lambing season - when the pregnant sheep go into labor in spring - he only will get as much as two hours of sleep. Peterson, who lives at the facility, makes sure the newborn lambs are fed and warmed to prevent hypothermia, the No. 1 killer of new lambs.
“It’s real relaxing, except for the night checks,” the animal science senior said.
But sheep are not the only animals living at the facility. The small farm is home to a pair of peacocks, a family of cats and a pair of trained attack donkeys.
“The donkeys are trained to keep away the coyotes,” facility manager George Good said.
In the early 1990s, coyotes in East Lansing would kill the sheep, Good said. After the facility purchased the donkeys to scare away or fight the coyotes, the attacks stopped.
“We’ve only lost one ewe since,” Good said.
Often, classes and families come to see the farm, both by appointment and just showing up. The facility is open to the public, allowing people to visit the animals and their caretakers.
“It’s a good chance for kids to come and see the animals, since when they’re from the city they don’t really get to,” Good said.
