old chatham sheepherding company

The farm is amazing, in a beatiful scenary, and the cheeses are fantastic. We tried the Ewe's Blue and the Kinderhook Creek. The yougurt is great too.

Beautiful farm with open barns and ample opportunity to see sheep farming in process. No guided tour or set hours for activities so made the visit a bit random. That said, we purchases a hefty chunk of prize winning Camembert as the "honor" shop and look forward to sampling their product at our leisure!

If you are in the area a stop in this working farm is a great time. Products are primarily sheep based milk and cheeses(some have cow's milk also) and are outstanding. With consideration to the environment this farm grows the winter feed for the animals and allows them to free range graze during the summer months. When animals come in from pasture they are penned and to someone from the city this could look like overcrowding but it is not. The babies are weened off their mothers as soon as possible in order to increase milk production, after all it is still a business. The cheese production facility is immaculate and rooms are all computer controlled in order to produce great products. The yogurt and Camembert were my 2 favorites on the visit but everything was really good.

We purchased several ram lambs. 75% have died within 25 days. They did not get adequate colostrum from the mothers. The developed pneumonia without the antibodies to fight infection or disease. Very sad...

It was awful. The sheep are kept closely penned. The babies away from their mommas. The "store" consisted of a refrigerator with a slot for money and a supposed "camera" for watching for thievery. No on there on a Saturday afternoon to welcome or show people around. It was desolate and depressing. Don't go if you like their yogurt or cheese.

Self guided tour of sheep creamery and rearing areas.Self service sheep products: yoghurt, cheese, etc.Fabulous tasting products.A brief guided tour would add value to the experience.

Great products freshly locally and organically produced.Return frequently to this great local establishment to be respected!

I expected some sort of tour or at least a store. Nope. You get to walk around by yourself and if you want cheese,nyu get o buy it on the honor system from a self-serve refrigerator. I guess this was an experience. The kids saw a kid just born. 20 minutes worth of an activity, so plan something else too.

Good for young children. Amble through large, clean barns to see sheep from babies to pregnant moms. The cheese making operation is visible through a large glass window and you can buy their products as well as their delicious yogurt on site.

Love Old Chatham cheese. You can find it locally or in NYC...they have it down!

Recently, we took a trip to Columbia County. One of the sights we visited was the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company. Since I saw from their website that they made cheese from sheep milk, I was very excited to see how the cheese was made and to hear more of the farm. Unfortunately, when we got there, all we could do was look in a window at a working stirring something in a pot and wander among the sheep. You can purchase the cheese from the "store" (which is honor system, with video). However, never having eaten sheep cheese, I was remiss to do so without a sampling. I would have preferred to have someone there to take us around, but it may just be that because we visited on April 7, 2012 (the Easter weekend), the farm was unusually quiet. (But, I'm just guessing). Nonetheless, since the farm was very close to the Spruce Ridge Farm (alpaca), although disappointing, did not spoil the day.

The Old Chatham Sheepherding Company is the brainchild of Tom Clark, a semi-retired banker who'd rather be riding his tractor than closing a deal. You can visit the farm on Shaker Museum Road in Old Chatham at most any time of day. Just drive right in and wander among the barns. If you find one of the employees they'd be glad to give you a tour. Otherwise, just enjoy the sheep and the beautiful surroundings. Be sure to find the refrigerator before you leave, however, In it you'll find examples of the Company's products for sale -- camembert, bleu cheese, yogurt, etc. The products are a little expensive by supermarket standards, but they're way above supermarket quality. Payment is in cash on the honor system. All in all, this is a trip worth going out of your way for.

I loved going up to visit the sheep here. ALSO, when they are closed at night? They have a fridge? And you just take what you want and it's an honor system and you pay what you're supposed to? How great is that! (Or not! It's an honor system! Maybe you have no honor!) The sheep look happy, the barns are gorgeous, and this is the best yogurt in the world.Anyway, if you happen to be in this part of the world, DEFINITELY go by. If you come from the south, on the weird one-lane road? You drive through some scary guy's farm and he has A LOT OF CATS, which is really exciting. If you like cats. And if you like sheep, you like cats.