Katahdin sheep are used for meat. She is a 2010 lamb herself. Katahdin Sheep Breed. Several Polypay owners in the area worm all animals 6-8 times during the summer and still lose animals to stomach worms. For registered breeding stock, permanent wooly fibers are a no-no. Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. I found the straight Katahdin to have a taller, meatier build than the Dorper or the Dorp crosses. Katahdin and Dorper cross Ram - $195 (Clark's Branch Rd) I have a 1 year old 1/2 Katahdin 1/2 Dorper Ram for sale .He has already 2 baby girls on the ground .Tame , likes to get his head scratcht .He is locking for a good home only . Since Missouri has more Katahdin sheep than any other state, the majority of export animals come from here. We welcomed our newest outside bred ewe lamb to our farm on December 7th, 2010. A large-framed, late-maturing breed will not have the necessary carcass quality at these weights, whereas Katahdin sheep or Dorpers will. If you have heard a lot about Katahdin sheep and want to know the facts about this breed, visit www.katahdins.org and click on breed standards. Photo by Bradley Bishop [CC BY-SA 4.0], ... A cross between Barbados Blackbelly and Rambouillet and Mouflon sheep, this horned breed is easy to confuse with the Barbados Blackbelly. "Shearing the wool was tough," he recalls, but the … The majority of ewe lambs are sold as registered breeding stock; the majority of ram lambs are sold for slaughter. They like large groups of lambs on each farm, prefer solid colors, registered and must be enrolled in the scrapie program. Many ethnic groups want a much different lamb or goat than has been marketed in the past. High latitudes (up north) have a short growing season with long daylight periods and fast grass growth that is high in protein and low in fiber. (Grabbing a Romanov that’s been walking through cockleburs is like wrestling with a 130-pound cocklebur.). Our experienced ewes averaged 2.1 lambs/ewe born with 1.9 weaned. Fact: Eight or ten years ago you could expect a 5-10 cents/pound discount for hair animals. © COPYRIGHT Katahdin.SheepThings.com, 2020 I added pics of her and the ram she is bred to and her mother on my 2010 purchased lambs page. The covering of the Katahdin does not require shearing and is preferably completely free of permanent wooly fibers. Animals don’t grow as fast but don’t need to with milder winters and longer growing season. Photo by Nancy Richardson, Santa Fe, MO Work with your state’s department of agriculture if you’re interested in export sales. In a third pen feeding trial, conducted in the late summer 2002, the effect of forage (hay) quality on the performance of these same species/breeds was evaluated. We are excited to … Our newest girl is dubbed Hakuna Katahdin :) The Katahdin ram she is bred to for spring was owned by the same man I purchased her from but is unrelated to her. '&utmxhash='+escape(h.substr(1)):'')+'" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">')})(); It’s important to have an animal that’s “pure” or unaltered for sacrifice in observance of many holidays. Flock owners with less than 50 animals have a difficult time getting someone to shear unless they pool their animals with neighbors. | The Dorper Sheep was developed in the 1930s in South Africa. The first generation grows quite well due to the heterosis effect, but nearly always has a wool coat. Hair sheep breeds are growing in popularity as consumers look for economical ways to raise homestead meat animals. We raise katahdin and katahdin cross hair sheep. If there were a hair Hampshire or Suffolk that would do a better job, we’d be raising them. © 2021, Countryside - All Rights Reserved, Extract Natural Dye for Wool from Goldenrod Plants, Why Teach Classes on How to Knit, Spin, Weave or Felt, Countryside Machinery on the Homestead e-edition Flip Book. Dorpers are known for their fast weight gains as lambs. A quality registered lamb will bring triple the fat lamb price. This breeds' registry (Katahdin Hair Sheep International) allows for upgrading (cross-breeding) with other breeds of sheep. If your interests lie in selling breeding stock to other hair sheep producers and potential new shepherds, you should choose to raise a purebred hair sheep breed or a specific cross, such as Katahdin x Dorper, Katahdin x Barbados Blackbelly, or Dorper x St. Croix. Katahdins can have A, B or C coats (graded on how well they shed). Our grass-fed ewes normally go into the fall with a body score of 4-5, which makes flushing difficult: Adult Katahdin sheep can maintain themselves on poor quality forage that had our Romanovs literally skin and bones. The Piel Farm had several thousand sheep at the time and Piel felt that "progress in selection for traits important to the production of meat would be greatly enhanced by the elimination of wool as a major factor for selection." Fact: In central Missouri, raising sheep for wool has been a losing proposition for a number of years. The best genetics won’t keep an animal from starving to death. As mentioned earlier, hair sheep breeds are considerably more heat-tolerant than wool breeds. Jun 21, 2019 - Explore Michelle D.'s board "Dorper Barbados sheep crosses" on Pinterest. Loin muscle areas were largest for Dorper-sired progeny, smallest for St. Croix-sired, with Katahdin intermediate. November/December 2003 and regularly vetted for accuracy. Many Greeks eat lamb for Easter, which is not always the same date as the traditional Easter. Our young Katahdins can be difficult to move. For us, the Katahdin sheep breed fits our operation and our philosophy quite well. In this area, hair sheep often sell higher than wool sheep. Katahdin sheep are one of several hair breeds, the most common of which includes Barbados Black Belly, St. Croix and Dorper sheep.While Dorper sheep are considered a hair breed, I’ve found a large number have quite a bit of wool or curly fibers in their coat. Apparently, Momma Kathadin doesn’t wait around to see what happens when Mr. Coyote shows up for dinner. Generally, hair breeds are more heat tolerant than wool breeds. Hair sheep graded higher than goats, and within hair sheep breeds Katahdin graded higher than Barbados Blackbelly and St. Croix. Weights of mature ewes (in good body condition) range from 125 to 180 pounds. For a number of years, there has been a good export market for ewe lambs going to Mexico. Of the ewe lambs exposed, 95 percent gave birth at the age of 11-13 months. Hair sheep breeds (Katahdin, St. Croix, Barbados) generally have much greater parasite resistance than wooled breeds, especially after one year of age. Several myths still surround hair sheep. A variety of breeds contributed in the superior traits possessed by Katahdin sheep. We prefer using forage to produce lambs rather than wool. University of South Dakota research found it requires 250-300 pounds of dry matter forage to produce each pound of wool. This may be due to the fact that wool can hide a lot of rib bones and other defects, while with a hair sheep what you see is what you get. A common lamb on good pasture will perform better than “Super Lamb” on poor pasture. I used to want a Dorper cross over Katahdin but finally got to see the results of this cross and was not very impressed with the results. These slaughter lambs sell comparable to pure Katahdin sheep per pound unless they’re full of cockleburs and briars. The Katahdin is a hairy sheep breed that was developed during the early 1950s in Maine, United States and named after Mount Katahdin. In our operation, that sheep breed is the Katahdin sheep. function utmx_section(){}function utmx(){} To showcase the commercial qualities of our animals, all breeding stock we sell comes directly from pasture, having received no special treatment. After proper upgrading and recordation, the resulting sheep can be registered Katahdins. After slaughter, all that’s left is hide, manure and stomach contents. The breed was created by Michael Piel who named the breed after Mt. Katahdin sheep will strip the bark from cedars, pines and any deciduous tree that has smooth, immature bark. This is a very good article to read and understand the secrets of Raising Katahdin Sheep, Your email address will not be published. Of all the crosses, I liked the St. Croix/Katahdin mix the best and then bred back to Katahdin rams. They are the most numerous registered breed of sheep in the US. Special Notes. Barbado sheep may not necessarily have black bellies or facial barbs. Rams usually range in weight from 180 to 250 lbs. They can harbor significant worm populations, yet not suffer the same effects a wool animal would. When the pastures are poor, hair animals hold their body condition much better. Her mother is 1/2 American Black Belly 1/2 Katahdin and her father is a full Katahdin. Katahdin sheep were created as a means to have affordable sheep breeds that are still highly productive. We are now down to just 4 rams (2 poly/ABB calico cross and 2 American BlackBelly at this writing). Twice a year my friend with Polypays shows up at work doubled over as he shuffles around in pain. I also have many pairs available. We normally worm our lambs 3-4 times a summer and the ewes not at all. Required fields are marked *. Sure enough, he’s been trimming hooves. Originally published in sheep! 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