We raise what we believe is the perfect animal for any farm.
SIZE: Katahdin
ewes weigh between 120 lbs - 180 lbs. and rams weigh between 180 - 250
lbs.
COAT: Hair coats differ in texture and color. Katahdin sheep shed their winter coat naturally to a slicker summer coat.
FERTILITY: Katahdin rams are aggressive breeders and generally handle the heat far better than most wool breeds. Katahdin Hair Sheep are out of season breeders; the ewes are fertile year round
FEED: These sheep forage and make use of the lesser types of grasses.
LAMBING: Ewes typically have twins, sometimes triplets or even quadruplets. Yearling ewes reach puberty early; they will breed at about 8 - 10 months and will typically, for their first lambing have a single lamb. Mature ewes typically give twins or triplets. This spring I had 19 ewes, 5 of which gave birth to triplets. Katahdins are very good mothers and have very few lambing problems.
PARASITES: Hair sheep are more tolerant to internal and external parasites than most wool breeds. Worming schedules depend a lot on how the sheep are pastured and maintained.
CROSSBREEDING: Katahdins are being used by many people in crossbreeding programs. When crossing with wool sheep, the first generation lambs will usually maintain their wool fleeces with hair interspersed. It usually takes at least 3 generations to obtain offspring with a shedding hair coat. Katadin ewes are also well-suited as a base in a terminal-sire crossbreeding program to producemarket lambs.
MEAT: Lamb from hair sheep has a wonderful, mild taste. A 100 lb lamb dresses out at about 52%. After packaging, we usually get between 35 and 40 lbs of packaged meat.