link to Are Llamas Dangerous? Sheep will eat woody vegetation but prefer grass and weeds on the ground. I have no way of weighing him. Ewes typically reach sexual maturity by 7 months. A qualityregistered lamb will bring triple the fat lamb price. They can mature to be up to 6 tall, can reach over 400 pounds, and they dont back down Goats vs Sheep: Profit, Care & Behavioral Differences. Black color covers belly, inside legs and thighs and extends up to the neck. I like the Dorper temperament, generally they are a pretty docile breed. The breed is actually very good for meat production, and it produce more meat than Dorper and Katahdin sheep. The Dorper have a black head extending in the neck, with a white body. The St Croix are also quiet, but seem to be next on the ladder. They will stand on their hind feet like goats to strip any low hanging limbs of their leaves. You will want to take into account the mature size of the animal (you can expect to yield 40% of an animals live weight in meat), the quality of meat, and whether it will tolerate your climate. While you can make a great profit selling meat, if you are looking for multiple income streams from your flock then the Dorper may not be the right breed for you. St. Croix Sheep have been used to develop other breeds such as the Royal White. Question is this common? They were significantly more reasonably priced and for practical matters were the same. I forgot to ask for notification via e-mail, so I am reposting my questions. To avoid the coloring and spots that come along with first and second generation cross breeding with Dorper sheep, I decided to go with White Dorper sheep (WD). If you are interested in bringing a herd of small livestock to your homestead, you will want to look into both sheep and goats. In conclusion, based on RT and RR, resilience to high HLI conditions ranked St. Croix > Katahdin > Dorper, with lowest . My customers are also distributors of various sizes who sell mainly at restaurants and their private customers. Plans for the future include a larger lambing/working shed-currently under construction, later lambing to reduce cold weather losses (10percentdeath loss for everything combined, stillborn, drowning in water tank, mashed, runts, etc. ByBasil Bactawar, UF/IFAS Duval County Extension Service. In many cases, farmers are adding hair sheep to pastures with cattle to maximize efficiency and for parasite control. I sell a lot of culled ewes as roasts, ground meat, stew meat and various sausages. Interested in raising sheep for wool? I would never go back to merinos & do not intend having cattle again, My dorper sheep have been lambing only male lambs..i do not know why there are no females being born9males so far..no females. The Katahdin breed was developed in the United States by Michael Piel. (A friend with Polypay and Katahdin sheep has had the same experience. Sure enough, hes been trimming hooves. A unique characteristic about the Dorper is that they do not breed seasonally, instead they are able to breed year-around. Shear force values were greatest, tougher, for Dorset-sired than Dorper-sired or Katahdin lambs. Also, much of the flavor ( good or bad) comes from the fat. The bodybuilder of the sheep world, the Texel sheep is known for its heavily-muscled and sturdy frame. Icelandic Sheep are another popular choice for meat, with ewes weighing an average of 150 pounds at maturity, and rams averaging 200 pounds. It is common to have ewes lambing twice per year. We have eight foot Scotch Pines that look like a girdled palm tree and have seen them strip an old dried Christmas tree of its needles. I dont want him to get unhealthily fat. Unlike meat goats, hair sheep are resistant to many of the parasites shed by cattle. Here is a list of the top 10 sheep breeds for meat:if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'savvyfarmlife_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_0',121,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-savvyfarmlife_com-medrectangle-3-0'); Sheep are one of the most versatile livestock animals you can find when it comes to the number of different products they are able to produce. The Blackhead Persian is a fat-rumped hair breed from the arid lands of the Middle East. Like most of the sheep listed here, Texel lambs reach market size quickly, by 5-6 months.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'savvyfarmlife_com-leader-2','ezslot_10',109,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-savvyfarmlife_com-leader-2-0'); With an extended breeding season of nearly 5 months, Texel sheep are prolific breeders. Demand for Dorper breed, and specifically the black head Dorper, is experiencing an unprecedented surge here in the USA. Grazing animals put on weight quickly in preparation for the long winters. Vet. To appeal to ethnic buyers, it often requires a change in flock management. Being aware of the pros and cons of each breed will help you to make a better-informed decision over which one is right for your setup. Sheep for sale: young grass-fed butcher ram lambs (Dorper & Katahdin) If youre grazing crop-field aftermath, their coat will pick up trash where a Katahdin wont. Though not year-round breeders, Tunis often breed out of season, with the occasional lamb (or two) born in late Summer / Fall. Technical Abstract: Hi Joanne. My Dorper ram is not really large but he is bigger than her. As far as winter hardiness is concerned, I have my sheep out in zero degree weather. Some general information on hair sheep is found on the next page. When the weathers hot and the pastures are dry, their wool animals will be under a tree while the hair animals are out grazing. Photo courtesy of: Dr. Stephan A. Wildeus. He farms in the Finger Lakes area in upstate New York. Check out my article Best Sheep for Wool: Top 8 Sheep Breeds for Wool. A type of hair breed, Katahdin sheep originate in the United States. At 90 days, weve had November-December lambs on pasture, hay and whole grain (corn or milo) average 75 pounds. Updated: Monday, February 06, 2023 02:46 PM. Dorset ewes weigh approximately 150-200 pounds, with the rams weighing on average 275 pounds. Hi currently running flock of 600. Ewes will breed back before the lambs are weaned. I really like all three breeds. Docking tails is unnecessary, although you still see some old timers that dock just because they always have. Milk replacers should be fed at 10%-20% of the lamb's body weight, divided into 4-6 feedings/day during the first week of life. I recently purchased 4 ram lambs for meat. After 13 years of medical education and military service they landed in Maine to put down roots. Very tolerant of the humid hot conditions in the Carribean andSomolia, Blackhead Persians have a white body and black head. You can overcome this by making sure your walls are high enough, and that there is nothing in their enclosure that they can climb onto. The Katahdin is another great dual-purpose breed, producing on average 210 liters of milk per 210 day cycle. The breed was created by crossing Dorset and Blackheaded Persian sheep. While Im sure Ill rile a lot of Dorper breeders, Ive seen too many that had been sheared before a sale, which defeats the purpose of a hair animal. Unfortunately, Mr. Piel did not live long enough to see his breed reach having a registry and breed standards. Hair sheep dont bring as much on the slaughter market. After 22 years they are well rooted in South Paris. $300. If you have a disability and are having trouble accessing information on this website or need materials in an alternate format, please contact Cornell University via email at, Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogoh:n. They naturally shed their wool throughout the seasons. Katatdin x Dorper . 2 are Katahdin and 2 are katahdin/dorper crosses. However, they all shed around the belly, legs, head, and all the other places that would otherwise prolong shearing. Today I have 1/2, 3/4, 7/8th, and 15/16th White Dorper sheep. In this area, hair sheep often sell higher than wool sheep. Q. For a number of years, there has been a good export market for ewe lambs going to Mexico. This breed is medium-sized and is hardy with a high-quality carcass. They are hardy and do well in range. Since these breeds are so adaptable, when found in colder climates, the hair sheep adapt by growing a thicker undercoat. I'll be using my Barbados Blackbelly ram on my BB ewes and also a few Kathadin ewes. My Texel sheep had served me well with their ability to finish on pasture, with their excellent meaty carcasses and with their lambing percentage of over 200 percent. There are very few disadvantages of keeping Katahdin sheep. 1999. 7/8th exhibit all the traits of purebreds like out-of-season breeding and even many 3/4 look like purebred and shed as well. Bred sheep/ewes (Dorper and Katahdin), bred to a show ram. However, if thats what you are looking for then this breed might not be for you. . Mature Weight (Lb): Ewe = 100 130, Ram = 120 150. Three ewes needed assistance lambing (one got it, the other two didnt and lost their lambs), one of which was 8 years old. Royal Whites are more recent in the hair sheep scene and development is still ongoing. We have an 18-cell planned grazing system with 10,000 feet of electric fence and 5,000 feet of underground waterline on 35 acres. Considered to be the 2nd most popular breed of sheep in the US, the Dorset sheep is another solid meat-producer. The katahdin//dorper crosses are noticeably bigger than the pure katahdins. Making Natural Clothing Dye From Vegetables. When selecting breeding stock, choose animals with good feet. Weight Gain/Daily: 0.57 lbs under intensive production. Hair sheep have some attributes that make them admirably suited to fill market niches or fit varying production systems in Florida. 109:265-275. The Dorper is a South African breed of domestic sheep developed by crossing Dorset Horn and the Blackhead Persian sheep.The breed was created through the efforts of the South African Department of Agriculture to breed a meat sheep suitable to the more arid regions of the country. In Canada, Katahdin sheep commonly gain well over a pound per day. They do produce wool, and will need to be shorn annually. This spring we had an overall lambing average of 1.9 lambs/ewe born with 1.7 lambs weaned. Katahdin sheep will strip the bark from cedars, pines and any deciduous tree that has smooth, immature bark. Dries Wiese, the owner and Studbreeder, was 9 years old when his father bought him his first . I shear myself and since I wanted to increase the size of my flock I was not looking forward to shearing even more sheep. They require less worming medications as a general rule. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. This is inconvenient since you must pasture ram lambs separately from ewes to prevent unplanned pregnancies. The Cheviot sheep is best suited for northern, colder climates, and does not tolerate heat as well. Dorper sheep do well in warm, arid climates, but can tolerate cold as well. These include: Dorper sheep dont produce much milk or wool, which means raising them for meat is your only option. This information may be used to compare breeds of hair sheep. Flock owners with less than 50 animals have a difficult time getting someone to shear unless they pool their animals with neighbors.
