Question about breeding weight for Katahdins.

[neener92]

I have a single Katahdin (I think she's mixed with Dorper) ewe lamb. She was born in February, when I got her they guessed her weight at 70lbs. She doesn't look like shes grown at all, her poo looks normal shes been dewormed and she's eating great. Should I wait til she's a year old to breed her and how much should she weigh?

 

[boykin2010]

How much does she weigh now? Remember that she will lamb in 5 months so she will be significantly older when she delivers. I would breed her as long as she is over 80-90 pounds. Katahdins and dorpers are both very productive and is actually beneficial to breed them early. They are capable of handling it, and if people with100s of sheep will tell you that it would be a waste to wait until she was a year old. Ewe lambs born in January and February are generally old enough.
If she is over 80 pounds then i would say breed her. If she is bred now she will deliver in march. Increase her feed and get her to growing and gaining weight.

 

[neener92]

I'd say she weighs 80. I'm not 100% sure though. She just seems small compared to my Dorset and Suffolk ewe lambs born around the same time. Are they a little more petite than the Dorsets and Suffolks? I would also be breeding her to a Suffolk ram that weighs about 200+lbs, would that cause problems? I'll get a picture of her next to my other sheep.

 

[SheepGirl]

Suffolks are pretty much the largest sheep breeds So I would say breeding a ewe lamb to a full grown ram of a large breed wouldn't be the best idea. Try to breed her to a pure Katahdin ram or one of another breed that is a similar size or smaller.

But as long as she's 2/3 to 3/4 her mature weight, it will be safe to breed her, I would think.

 

[neener92]

Suffolks are pretty much the largest sheep breeds So I would say breeding a ewe lamb to a full grown ram of a large breed wouldn't be the best idea. Try to breed her to a pure Katahdin ram or one of another breed that is a similar size or smaller.

But as long as she's 2/3 to 3/4 her mature weight, it will be safe to breed her, I would think.

The problem I have is there aren't very many hair sheep near where I live, if they are close they are asking like $300 for a ram lamb and cheaper ones are like 4 hours away. I'd like to find one I could borrow for about 2 months or take my ewe to their farm for 2 months. I guess I'll just have to look around and see what I can find. Could she be bred to the Suffolk the second time, when she is full sized?

Could I breed her to a smaller younger dorset/suffolk ram lamb that is about her size, or does that not have anything to do with the size of her lambs?

 

[Beekissed]

I'd say she weighs 80. I'm not 100% sure though. She just seems small compared to my Dorset and Suffolk ewe lambs born around the same time. Are they a little more petite than the Dorsets and Suffolks? I would also be breeding her to a Suffolk ram that weighs about 200+lbs, would that cause problems? I'll get a picture of her next to my other sheep.

Hair sheep grow more slowly than do the woolly breeds, IME. They say that breeding at 7 mo. is pretty standard and they grow very well during their pregnancies. My Kat, Little Mo, was bred at 7 mo. and lambed at just under a year and she was still growing and filling out all along the way. She actually did better in her lambing and mothering than the ewe that I held over a year in fear of her being too small for breeding.

 

[neener92]

I'd say she weighs 80. I'm not 100% sure though. She just seems small compared to my Dorset and Suffolk ewe lambs born around the same time. Are they a little more petite than the Dorsets and Suffolks? I would also be breeding her to a Suffolk ram that weighs about 200+lbs, would that cause problems? I'll get a picture of her next to my other sheep.

Hair sheep grow more slowly than do the woolly breeds, IME. They say that breeding at 7 mo. is pretty standard and they grow very well during their pregnancies. My Kat, Little Mo, was bred at 7 mo. and lambed at just under a year and she was still growing and filling out all along the way. She actually did better in her lambing and mothering than the ewe that I held over a year in fear of her being too small for breeding.

Do you know anything about breeding her to a young Dorset/Suffolk? I'm kinda in a knot on this.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

The age of the ram doesn't matter, it's his "eventual" size that will matter. An 8 month old Suffolk ram will not make smaller lambs than a 5 year old Suffolk ram. Sperm is sperm, no matter the age of the donor. If you know for sure the ram in question usually throws smaller lambs, that would make a difference. If you're worried, wait to breed her for a few more months.

 

[Beekissed]

The ram my younger Kat was bred to was a pure Kat ram and he was just as large as any Suffolk ram I've seen. I don't know that I've ever spoken to a sheep farmer that used the size of the ram as a factor in whether to breed to his ewes or not in standard meat breeds like Suffolk or Katahdins. Now, I wouldn't breed a Suffolk to one of the baby doll breeds, but that's another kettle of fish.

She'll either be able to bear lambs from a big ram or she won't, no matter how big she gets herself as a Katahdin ewe. The same ram that bred my younger ewe was used to cover many of the ewes in his flock, some smaller, some average and some bigger ewes.