Month: April 2022

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 slicker summer coats.

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.

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.

Shearing Katahdin Sheep

Katahdin Sheep are shorn by trained sheep shearers who usually work as a team and go from farm to farm contracting out their services. A good sheep shearer will be able to shear a Katahdin Sheep in less than 2 minutes and can shear up to 200 sheep a day. Katahdin Sheep are generally shorn once a year in springtime before the lambing season to help moderate their temperature in the warmer months and to keep a cleaner environment for baby lambs.

Sheep are one of the oldest animals to become domesticated by humankind and have been reared and bred for the use of meat, milk, wool, hides, or a combination for centuries. There are now more than 200 breeds in existence and each breed is classified depending on its best-suited use. Some breeds do not require shearing because they will either shed their coats naturally or lack sufficient wool fibers to start with.

For those breeds that do require their coats to be shorn, it is because their wool grows continuously, and if they do not get to be shorn at least once a year then the sheep can get very stressed and uncomfortable especially when it gets warmer. If the wool is not shorn then it will become matted and much more difficult to remove which is why farmers stick to a very strict annual calendar when it comes to shearing.

There are two types of modern-day shearing devices. Blade shears and machine shears. With blade sheers, the device is arranged similarly to scissors except that the hinge, which is normally in the middle, is at the end farthest to the point. The cutting edges shift past each other whilst the shearer squeezes them together close to the Katahdin sheep’s skin to shear the wool. The beauty of blade shears is that they leave some of the wool on a sheep which helps in cooler climates where the sheep will still need some protection. Blades are commonly used to shear stud rams although they are not used as much as they used to. Machine shears are far more common these days and work in the same way as human hair clippers. A power-driven tooth blade is driven back and forth over the surface of a comb and the wool is cut from the sheep.

Different breeds of sheep have different needs. The Katahdin breed will tend to need more food than Highlands breeds.

What to feed your Ewes to prepare them for tupping

Barley, corn, and wheat are all good feed for Ewes and provide an optimum amount of energy. Millet, oats rye, and Speltz are good alternatives but do not provide as much energy for you Ewes. Feed compounds are a great option since they provide many or all of the essential nutrients or micronutrients and take out the guesswork when it comes to assuring your animals are getting what they need for optimal conditioning. There are many different feed compounds to suit different needs. Ewes in poor condition should be given Ewe nuts or Sheep mix to prepare them for tupping, gradually increase the amount over a few weeks to help get them ready.

Getting ewes ready for breading by flushing

The process of feeding a ewe to gain weight for a two-week period before breeding may increase the size of the Katahdin lamb by as much as 10-20 percent. This process is known as flushing. Ewes in slightly poorer condition are easier to flush than higher conditioned ewes. If at all possible save your best pasture for flushing. If any ewes are over fat, they should be put on a strict grazing program, until they are fit for tupping.

Feeding ewes during pregnancy

During the last four weeks of pregnancy, a Katahdin ewe needs more energy to support the needs of her lambs. To prepare the ewe for lambing, a feeding compound should be added to the diet about six weeks before lambing occurs. The ewe’s diet should be adjusted to provide all the essential proteins, vitamins, minerals, and digestible energy that is necessary for the Katahdin ewe to have healthy lambs. Be careful not to overfeed the ewes. Katahdin lambs gain most of their birth weight in the last month of pregnancy so it is very important that the ewe be given enough feed to support its growth.

Feeding young Katahdin lambs

Young Katahdin lambs should be put on a starter feed from about a week of age. The feed should provide nutrients that promote optimal growth of the lamb. The feed must be easily digestible. Proteins are a source of energy for young lambs and a good feed will provide them with much of the protein they need. When feeding young lambs carefully monitor their food intake, if they are not getting enough milk from the ewe, they may need additional feed. Be careful not to overfeed or leave old feed out for consumption. The feed should always be fresh for young lambs.

Katahdin sheep’s wool is used for making clothes such as jumpers and other garments and many bespoke men’s suits are made out of the fine wool of some breeds of these animals. In Great Britain, many sheep are consumed each year as their meat is delicious and perfectly teamed with mint sauce.

Katahdin sheep also keep fields perfectly grazed as they are less fussy than beef cattle in what they eat. This way the farmer can manage their fields and stop them from being overgrown with some wild plants. Katahdin sheep will even thrive on very poor soil. These days when fields need to be managed to stop rare plants and other wildlife from extinction, sheep come in very handy for grazing.

In the winter these hardy animals can be left in the fields as their fleeces are so thick that they are completely insulated against the harsh weather conditions.

If you are thinking of starting a sheep farm much consideration should be given to what kind of sheep you wish to raise. They need much space as they tend to frolic and gambol about in the fields. Another consideration is why you want to start raising sheep. If it is for wool, then Katahdin sheep might be the preferred choice. This breed has the finest wool of all the breeds as it is very soft. Wool is much used in the production of sports clothing as it is very warm.

This kind of sheep is very adaptable to any kind of ground as they originated in Spain where the soil is often very poor.

A sheep farmer will have many sheep in his fields to keep his farm viable and some manufacturers have come up with an ingenious way of feeding a great many animals at the same time by inventing sheep snackers.

These machines can be attached to a quad bike to be pulled into the fields where the sheep are. They have a hopper in which the food can be stored and the feeder will drop certain amounts of feed into the tray below for the sheep to eat. This farm aid can also feed other animals such as cattle and deer.

These contraptions will prevent sheep from picking up nasty infections from the ground, as they urinate while they eat and infections can easily be spread this way. This is especially useful if a great many animals are grazing the same pasture.

This gadget will save the busy farmer a great deal of time. The trailer can be unhooked from the bike and the bike can then be used for other farm work. This is particularly useful if farming is not your main job, but have some Katahdin sheep in the field.