Cottage Hill Farm’s sheep tradition spans more than 200 years

The Moore family has raised sheep at Cottage Hill Farm near Cadiz since 1816, building a farming tradition that now spans eight generations and continues through Harrison County 4-H and fair activities.

Recognized as an Ohio Bicentennial Farm, Cottage Hill Farm has remained in the Moore family for more than 200 years. Today, the operation is managed by Stanley, Rick and Steven with help from Rick’s wife Marcie and Daughter in-law Angela adding in the ninth generation Brianna and Logan now helping continue the family’s agricultural tradition through 4-H projects and livestock shows at the Harrison County Fair.

Rick and Marcie also have two daughters, Shelly Howes and Sheri Miller, who grew up helping on the farm and participating in 4-H activities. All of the six grandchildren have been involved with the farm at some point, with Sheri’s son Tyler currently helping.

“There has always been some sheep on the farm,” Rick Moore said.

The operation evolved into a full-time sheep and cattle farm in 1959 when Rick’s father, Stanley Moore, and grandfather Paul Moore sold the family dairy herd and focused on sheep production.

Now 92 years old, Stanley Moore still remains active on the farm.

Rick Moore joined the operation full-time after graduating high school in 1977, helping expand the flock from around 400 ewes to nearly 1,000 over the following decades. Today, the family manages about 600 ewes along with approximately 80 cow-calf pairs.

Over the years, the farm has modernized while maintaining many of the same values and work ethic that sustained previous generations.

“We’re much more mechanized and much more efficient than we were,” Rick Moore said. “It’s been a gradual progression.”

But despite newer equipment and changing farming practices, lambing season still requires long days, overnight shifts and constant attention.

For nearly three months each winter, the Moore family practically lives inside the barn.

During January, February and March, ewes are brought inside before lambing season begins. Pens line the barn walls as newborn lambs arrive, often twins and occasionally triplets or quadruplets.

“Twins are more common than singles,” Marcie Moore said.

Family members rotate overnight shifts to monitor ewes and newborn lambs around the clock. Rick Moore often covers late-night hours before Steven takes over early in the morning.

“You live in the barn,” Steven Moore said.

The work includes feeding, watering, tagging and monitoring hundreds of lambs during the busiest time of year. Because the family raises market lambs indoors to help reduce parasite exposure, the workload remains intense long after lambing season begins.

The farm markets lambs directly to buyers in Pennsylvania and also raises cattle. While the family once handled all sheep shearing themselves, and even custom sheared for other farms, they now hire the work out to a younger shearer.

“We grew up shearing sheep,” Rick Moore said.

Angela Moore said maintaining a largely closed flock is important for animal health and disease prevention. Outside animals are brought in sparingly, primarily for breeding purposes.

The family also handles nearly all veterinary care themselves, only calling veterinarians for unusual or serious situations.

“We’ve done Cesarean sections on sheep ourselves,” Marcie Moore said.

Like many eastern Ohio farms, Cottage Hill Farm also adapted during the oil and gas boom years.

Rick and Steven launched a custom fencing business during the height of local drilling activity, building fencing for oil and gas sites across the region.

“We chased it hard for six years,” Rick Moore said.

The additional work helped the family expand and improve the farm, including purchasing nearby acreage that previously had only been rented.

“It was a blessing,” Rick Moore said of the oil and gas income.

While sheep remain central to the operation, the farm’s connection to the Harrison County Fair and 4-H program is equally important to the family.

Steven and Angela’s children, Brianna, 14, and Logan, 11, both participate in 4-H projects, showing market lambs along with ducks and horses at the Harrison County Fair.

Angela, known jokingly by the family as “the duck lady,” also serves as an adviser for the Harrison County Tri-County Showstoppers 4-H club.

She encourages children of all ages interested in 4-H to consider beginning with either still project or small animal livestock projects such as poultry, rabbits or companion animals.

“It’s an opportunity for everyone,” Angela Moore said.

She said small animal projects can help make 4-H more affordable for families while still teaching responsibility, communication and animal care.

The Moore family also emphasizes the importance of supporting local businesses and building relationships within the fair community.

Before fair season, Brianna and Logan personally deliver buyer letters to area businesses asking for support at the livestock auction.

After the sale, the family prepares personalized buyer gifts to thank supporters.

“A lot of buyers just want that handshake,” Angela Moore said.

The family’s fair philosophy also reflects their practical farming roots.

“We do true market lambs,” Angela Moore said. “We don’t do club lambs.”

Rather than focusing on highly specialized show animals, the family prioritizes raising productive livestock similar to the animals used in their commercial farming operation.

Even after more than two centuries, the Moore family says the heart of the farm remains the same, family members working together to continue a way of life passed down through generations.

“We married up,” Rick Moore said while discussing the role the women in the family play in keeping the operation running smoothly.

At Cottage Hill Farm, eight generations later, the work continues.