Do your hair sheep lambs ever start off wooly?

[CaptainCarhartt]

I bought a lamb from a guy that claimed she was
full blood Katahdin. But her coat grew in very wooly, not like any of my other Katahdins. I'm fairly new to the hair sheep game but is it unusual for a hair sheep's coat to initially start out wooly? Is there a chance she'll shed out and start having a hair coat? Or is it likely she isn't actually Katahdin?

 

[bonbean01]

Yes...some start off wooly and some don't...We have Katahdins and Dorpers and crosses of the two...more of the Katahdin lambs are wooly than the Dorpers, but a few of them also. Have one Katahdin lamb that was born in March and still wooly...a cross that was born wooly, but shed most of it this summer. Each one is different. I expect the wooly Katahdin will shed better by the time she's two years old, as our other wooly babies did on their own.

I have a Katahdin ewe that was one year old in January...she started out very, very wooly...and this spring when we had her in the chute for doing feet, I pulled a little off her that was hanging...came off so easily...just kept going and in half an hour, all the wool was completely gone...I hadn't expected that.

One older Katahdin ewe has stayed more wooly on the top of her back...rest sheds off. I do take scizzors to her before it gets too hot, but don't take it all down for fear of sunburn...so have one that is very sweet, has beautiful lambs...and a nice red colour to her, with a blonde woolie back...adds to her charm

 

[EllieMay]

I have one Katahdin ewe that gets so wooly that you can't feel her skin. It's very thick!
When she was a lamb, I had my doubts that she would ever shed that thick hair.
To my surprise when she was a year old, she shed off so slick that she was very, very nice looking (and she's all black).

 

[CaptainCarhartt]

Thank you guys so much. I was starting to worry that she wasn't Katahdin and I'd have to get rid of her. She's a real sweetheart so we'll see how well she sheds next year.

 

[n8ivetxn]

Yes, I have Barbados Blackbelly sheep and the lambs will sometimes be a little wooly their first year. Sometimes they go through the whole summer without shedding completely, it's just a lamb thing!

 

[eweinHiscare]

That is good to know, that the hair sheep lambs can grow out of that stage. I had one that needed shearing last summer.
I didn't know there was a chance she might have shed the next summer...and I sold her.
Oh well...there will be lots more lambs this Spring!
I will be more patient the next time about any lamb woolliness.

 

[PyrOfTheFlock]

The question is do wool lambs ever start off hairy? lol. I got my first lambs from a lady who rescues and I didn't know a darn thing about them then. I got one wooly and two hair sheep. They grew up to be exactly that. I had to get rid of the hair sheep, mostly because they were one really mean ram and one really bad mother, so even if I did want hair sheep I didn't want these ones, lol. My wooly, Shadow, is a real sweetheart and a great mother though, and I will never regret getting her even if we don't know her breed.

 

[ShariN]

My first Katahdins, was told was pure bred, started out wooly.... however.. he did not shed of he ended up having wool. He was either a result of the breeder, trying to do improvements or? Here is one of the purebred Katahdins... in the center. We ended up eating him.

Bought another Katahdin, with old lines... no improvements, and he just has hair and sheds off fast in spring. Same with the old ewe, she is pure bred Katahdin.
Now the one Katahdin/Dorper/St croix, hair is much softer and needs some help to shed off.

If you want ones that shed off fast... look for the older lines.

 

[SheepGirl]

That is not a Katahdin. Definitely a Suffolk.

 

[SheepGirl]

Or Suffolk cross.