Katahadin Sheep Questions

[anthonyjames]

I am interested in purchasing a few sheep to see how it they are to raise for meat. I would like to keep them with a few beef cows in 1/4 acre paddocks and move them through the paddocks about every 3 to 4 days.

Can anyone tell me who or where in WI I may find some or a farm that raises them?

I do NOT want to purchase at an auction and would prefer directly from a farm.

When purchasing them for pasture do I need to get them after they are weaned? And if so what age would they be and approximately how much would they cost at this age?

And is the best processing time around 8 - 9 months old? Say November/December time frame?

I am in Port Washington and willing to drive a couple of hours to see them up close.

 

[goodhors]

With newly weaned lambs, you will want a place to contain them for a while, before leaving them out on free choice grazing. Their previous diet will not have been full grass, and drastic changes can make them sick. In many cases they won't have enough wool to shed weather related rain or snow. Chilled lambs, again you will have problems.

We allow our lambs out for an hour or so, AFTER feeding them hay in the barn. They will nibble and pick thru the sprouting grasses, helps the stomach get used to the other food and develop the correct flora to digest grasses instead of only hay or grains. Usually takes at least two weeks, three is better, in changing diets so strongly.

Spring grasses contain a lot of water, not so much fiber when the grass starts growing. Takes an awful lot of grazing to get sufficient feed in those early weeks. You may need to continue feeding some hay and grain, to keep the lambs growing well, get them filled up.

If possible, mow the grazed area at a higher setting, 5", after animals are removed. This evens the growth, keeps the weeds down, and makes for better roots on the grass plants. Energy goes into root growth instead of all shaggy leaves. Grasses will continue growing well, trying to get tall enough to set seed. Letting the pasture go to seed is the LAST thing you want. Once grass sets seed, it goes dormant, his job of reproducing this year is done! Your pastures will be poor, not very productive with intensive grazing, if you don't add in the mowing step.

Kind of like lawns, the more you mow, the better it grows and looks. Just don't cut it shorter tahan the 5" to expose roots to erosion and sunburn. Keeping the tops shorter makes those roots VERY strong and deep, spreading plants, so hooves and a dry spell don't bother the grass. I also spread my bedding on the pastures, creating a mulching effect that protects the roots even more.

I find it easier to reseed, with better growth rates than allowing grass to reseed itself. I don't lose the grazing of fields, stemmy tall grass is not much feed value and does not regrow after setting the seeds.

 

[anthonyjames]

goodhors,

Thanks for all that great info. Are you in WI? If so where?

Can you point me to a farm in WI that may sell Kahtadin sheep? What the cost may be? And I will really need weaned sheep as I will not be able to bottle feed every few hours.

Again, thanks

 

[theawesomefowl]

I was thinking of getting one or two ewe lambs next spring, for lamb production, and fun.

We have a barn for them. Can you train sheep to be led?

 

[goodhors]

Sorry I am in Michigan, can't help you with breeders. Maybe a search for Wisconsin sheep breeders or Katahdin sheep Association, would pull up some names for you. I did that when searching for meat lambs and got a lot of good results.

The Katahdins are nice in not needing shearing, seem to be sturdy, not need a lot of extra attention. Otherwise they are rather small sheep if you plan to eat them. You should call them lambs until about a year old, when they get mature sheep teeth. Otherwise it gets confusing in "Farm language". Like female cattle, cows are older, have had calves. Heifer is young, has not been a mother. Calling old and young females both "cows", will confuse the farmers you are talking to.

I would not want lambs still on the bottle either! Lots of work to keep them going. We get our lambs weaned, eating well. All the iffy part has been worked thru, these lambs are healthy, alert, ready for their next stage of life. I do keep them on mostly hay for a few days after moving them, seems to be easier on their stomachs with all the changes in their life. Lamb pellets are for getting them friendly, come and I will feed you from my hand!

Good time to start to teach them to come when called. Sheep are trainable, they LOVE routine. Once they get the reward of food, things get lots easier, you are a GOOD guy.

We halter and lead ours from the beginning. May take a while to get them easy being led, some fall down, some refuse, must be pushed or dragged a bit. Coaxing with the feed nibbles can help a lot. Once they "get a clue" they are easily led out and haltered to come back in. Having feed in the stall or pen for return, makes them EAGER to come in, they run to put themselves away! By Fair time, they lead and heel as well as a good dog on a leash!

Make sure your fencing is tight, will protect the lambs from roaming dogs, keep the lambs inside, not tangled in wire. We bell our lambs, so if the bell starts ringing wildly, we know there is a problem and check immediately. Normal activity makes bell sound like a wind chime, just gentle ringing off and on. I have nice brass bells from a sleighing string with a good sound. Sound carries pretty well with those.

Lambs are fun to watch, they are just silly and do funny things all the time!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Katahdins are wonderful for meat. They were bred for meat production. Nice big carcasses with lots of mild flavored meat.

 

[goodhors]

What would be market weight on a Katahdin lamb? What age do they reach that weight on good grazing with a little grain?

Could be my memories are incorrect about sizing of the breed.

With all other costs the same, kill fee, cut and wrap price per pound, I want a big lamb with plenty of meat for the expense of getting him done. The smaller breeds who don't get much weight by a year old, will cost me money to process, raising the cost of that meat. Bigger lamb spreads the cost out with more poundage.

Sure was fun last week walking by the meat counter, seeing little legs of lamb at $4 the pound! I have a COUPLE legs in my freezer. Didn't cost that much and I bet it will taste a lot better too!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Katahdins aren't as "framey" as other lambs, but they really pack on the meat. Market weight for them is around 100-120. They easily reach that weight by 5-6 mos.

 

[goodhors]

Thanks for that information. I am presuming they are gaining on grazing grasses. If you continue feeding them after the 6 months, do they continue to gain MEAT? We had some Dorset lamb crosses once and they were topped out about 110, any more gain after was just fat. Breeder had warned us not to keep them longer, waste of time. However those smaller lambs were perfect size for small kid to show at the Fair.

Just asking, because to me 120 is a smaller lamb to be sending in for processing, not as much return in meat. We sold both our little ones at the Fair Auction!

Again, thanks. Always interesting to learn stuff on other breeds.

 

[Bossroo]

I know of a Katahdin flock owner that raises about 90 lambs a year. Two years ago they added a Dorper ram (a fleece shedding sheep developed in South Africa using a Dorset ram on a Persian fat rumped ewe) to their breeding program. They told me that the x bred lambs finish with more muscle meat over the shoulder,, loin and hind quarters several weeks earlier and average almost 15 pounds heavier. My neighbor has Suffolk and Ramboulett ewes and he started using a Dorper ram on them 3 years ago with similar results.