How many are currently raising hair breeds of sheep?

[Beekissed]

That's weird about that man's flock and their mothering skills...the place I purchased mine said that the mothers were TOO good and would nurse any lamb in the flock, unlike other breeds of sheep. I stood there and watched them doing just that...this lamb nipping in under that ewe that wasn't his mama and then returning to his own mom and taking a nip there also.

Maybe he didn't have enough time to jug them up together, with that big of a herd? I know my breeder said that, if a ewe has twins that sometimes she will get too far away from the first one during the birth(out on pasture)of the second and only claim the second lamb. I know the Kats are pretty consistent twinners, so this may be his problem?

 

[abbylane35]

I don't know, it could be...he has scaled way down now, so it would be interesting to see how they do with a smaller flock. I hope that my girls are great mommies!

 

[CajunChick]

I believe I've got my hubs talked in to getting some katahdin.. Can't wait. I'll start looking in the spring!!

 

[Hillsvale]

Mine are great mommies... on of them still "tolerated" her 6 month old to nurse for about 3.5 seconds... right to the day we sent him to the butcher.

 

[77Herford]

Do any of you have difficulty finding any publications that feature care and husbandry of hair breeds?

I like the "Story" books on livestock.

 

[Beekissed]

Do they have one on hair breeds? I've not found one book on hair breeds and the others about sheep barely mention them in the breeds section. Usually they are mentioned in a small paragraph...sort of like they don't merit any attention.

I think hair sheep are really catching on in the states and dyed in the wool sheep farmers are starting to realize that hair is where it's at. I'd like to see some books that reflect that...I'm thinking of writing a book, actually, that will feature hair breeds almost exclusively.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

There probably aren't many books featuring hair breeds exclusively, because they are still sheep. They may have slightly different husbandry requirements than wool sheep, but really not that different. After all, husbandry practices vary greatly between flock to flock anyways, and hair sheep aren't different from that.

 

[77Herford]

Yeah, I haven't seen any exclusively Hair sheep book. There are some good books on sheep.

 

[peteyfoozer]

I wanted to get some katahdins this year, but all we could find was some Dorper and DorperX ewes. I have 3 of them bred, and an unrelated ram, as well as a big brockle faced wooly and a little Polypay ewe. I can't do the shearing so I am looking forward to see how these do for us as the whole family loves lamb. I still hope to get some Katahdin ewes in the future.
The little guys sure are tough! My Maremmas went to introduce themselves and got a fateful of sheep! Didn't take them long to adapt though. I think I am going to like them.

 

[Beekissed]

There probably aren't many books featuring hair breeds exclusively, because they are still sheep. They may have slightly different husbandry requirements than wool sheep, but really not that different. After all, husbandry practices vary greatly between flock to flock anyways, and hair sheep aren't different from that.

What I was wanting and never finding in all the books about sheep was any information about the specific hair breeds like they give about the different wool breeds. I usually found one paragraph devoted to hair breeds in general and nothing informative about their individual traits, origins, etc. I would like to compose just such a book about these interesting breeds that are quickly becoming more prominent on the US agricultural scene and discuss just how well they do in the various climates present here and abroad.