# How much should a katahdin ram cost?



## DaziAcres (Jul 10, 2013)

We have the opportunity to buy a young katahdin ram, about 80-90 pounds, from a man who's raising him as a hobby but needs to sell him by the end of January.

The man doesn't know the first thing about selling sheep, nor do we about buying them.

He asked us to do some research to find out what a reasonable price would be and will sell the ram to us when we present the price to him.

He noted he bought the ram for $1.75 a pound when it was first weaned. Is it reasonable to assume that would be the right sale price to bring back to him? Should his need to move the ram quickly dictate a lower price?

We don't want to take advantage of him, but we don't want to pay too much.

Thanks in advance for your help.


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## gimpy (Sep 18, 2007)

$50-$100 depending upon how many excess rams he has and how desperately you want it. Has he hand raised it? If so it will probably be rammy, but if you are buying it to butcher that won't matter.


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## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

Is it for breeding or eating? Does it have papers? Does it have family history that gives you an idea of the kinds of lambs he might throw?

Per pound price is usually meat lamb price, not pedigreed or prize genetics. Check local sale barn records for going meat lamb prices. My local barn has that stuff posted weekly on the web.


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## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

Also look in Craig's list for rams in your area. You might not find the same breed, but you should get a decent range.


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## DaziAcres (Jul 10, 2013)

He'd be used to breed with three katahdin ewes we're looking at. We'll have to ask about papers, but I doubt he has any.

Katahdins are in short supply in our area. We like the breed because we're a MiG pasture operation and they will fit our mission of raising organic pastured meats and because they'll follow behind the cattle to clean up what the steers don't eat before the layer chickens come in to scratch up all the manure and eat the bug larvae.


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## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

Craig's list will help you even if you don't find the same breed. Just look at the top end of other breeds listed that don't have papers. I'm sure there is more than one breed that is rare but available in your area.


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## DaziAcres (Jul 10, 2013)

We want katahdin because of their ability to lamb on pasture in late spring, their ability to ward off parasites, their hair rather than wool (not interested in dorper), their relative low hoof care, their being a breed known for low maintenance in general, etc.

We have cattle, pigs, layers, broilers, rabbits, ducks, geese, and sundry other polycultures here all being moved daily or every other day in an intricate ballet and require animals that can do their pasture work with minimal drama.

High-maintenance critters don't work here. 

And, unfortunately, craigslist has little that interests us in this area.


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## blair_w (Jan 8, 2014)

In southwest VA, if they come from one of those "ram tests" and do well they can fetch upwards of $500...for you average farm ram that looks good but has no known history in terms of genetics I would say no more than $150. Katahdins are a breed that's quite popular up at Virginia Tech so you see quite a bit around, relatively speaking.


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## Michelle98 (May 29, 2012)

We paid 250 for each of our registered Katahdin rams. They were 6 months old when we purchased them.


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## Maxpowers (Apr 4, 2012)

Non registered unproven rams go for $120-150 here.


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## 95bravo (Mar 22, 2010)

There are two Kat rams for sale in liberty Ky. One for $110 and $150.


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## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

We paid $150.00 for our full Katahdin ram (unregistered) and we paid $400.00 for our full Dorper ram (unregistered). I LOVE the Dorper build. I especially like the crosses between the two.


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## DaziAcres (Jul 10, 2013)

The owner accepted an offer of $140, which is fair. Thanks for your advice, folks.


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