Should I?

[herdsman]

speaking for the suffolk, I believe you have alot of good breeders in your area, You want to buy suffolk from
a good farm. They are more prone to hoof problems and parasite problems. But they are Awesome fast growing
meat breed, Good lambers but require a small area to lamb in as they will or have the habit of having one lamb
and then walking off and having another, and forgetting about the first one and leaving it. So lamb in small area
is important. In barn or small lot. But there are good breeders still left out there that have keep their stock closed
and don't bring in outside sheep and kept the orignal blood lines true to the breed. I just remembered their name
try to find Slack suffolks, I think they have a web site. If I remember right they are in your area. Good Luck.

Thanks yea I have a barn in the pasture im putting them in I pen her up in the when shes lambing.
But what do ya'll think is better for making money breeding Suffolk or Jacob?

 

[BrownSheep]

I would say Suffolk just because there is more of a demand.

 

[herdsman]

Are katahdins in demand at all?

 

[boykin2010]

Are katahdins in demand at all?

Katahdins are in HUGE demand. Like I said earlier, most breeders sell out before their lambs are already born. Ewe lambs sell for $350-400 in my area.
They are pretty profitable and that is part of the reason why I raise them. Plus they are easy maintenance free sheep.

 

[herdsman]

Are katahdins in demand at all?

Katahdins are in HUGE demand. Like I said earlier, most breeders sell out before their lambs are already born. Ewe lambs sell for $350-400 in my area.
They are pretty profitable and that is part of the reason why I raise them. Plus they are easy maintenance free sheep.

Thanks a bunch That is my breed I have settled on then! Also I have 2 more questions 1 I will feed grain before lambing&breeding could I just use Alfalfa pellets for weight instead of grain? 2 If I was just going to feed hay through the winter Should I just use Alfalfa hay since the pasture will be all snowed over? Also do you let your ewes naturally wean or do you wean?
Thanks
Sorry I have raised market cattle and hogs all my life, breeding sheep are way different

 

[boykin2010]

Here is a good resource for anything Katahdin. There should be plenty of information here and on google

http://www.katahdins.org/


Here is a list of breeders in your state. Check and see if there is a breeder near you

http://www.countrylovin.com/KHSI/map/oh.html

 

[Shelly May]

Alalfa pellets can be used, But they are not as good as Alalfa hay because when they process any pellets, it looses some
of the proteins during the heat cycle of the formation of the pellets, So you can flush your ewes at breeding with alalfa hay
or a good grain mix, As far as when they are ready to lamb yes 1 month before their due date give them grain and some good
hay, For the balance of the time during winter, just a good quality hay is all they need, timothy,orchardgrass,alalfa mix. make sure
it is not moldy. If we were to feed grain and good hay all threw the pregnacy they will get to fat, Yes there is such a thing as to
fat, this can kill the lambs inside the ewe because there is no room for them to grow, also can cause lambing problems. So there
is a balance you are looking for on the condition of the ewe. If you feed just plain grass hay with no high protien level, then I would
say to feed a supplement of grain every day, but if you feed a good protien level of hay then no grain needed until the last month.
does this make any sense? Hope this helps.