# More Katahdin Sheep questions



## prairiegirl (Nov 2, 2004)

I've done much reading on this breed, as well as other breeds, and I am fairly certain Katahdin sheep would be a good addition to our little farm.

I have a few questions, please........

There are 2 ewe lambs for sale. They were born Jan. 2012. What questions should I ask the owner?

Can sheep and cattle (Dexters) run together? We have a friend that does this and it works for him, but I'd like other opinions. I can't remember the breed of sheep.

From what I read, these 9 mon. old ewe could be bred. This seems young in comparison to other animals we've had. Do you wait? How long? What month do you prefer the lambs to be born?

If we chose not to keep a ram, is it difficult finding one to purchase for breeding and then selling/butchering?

Any problems selling for meat? What age/weight for butchering?

Thanks so much for any help


----------



## wendle (Feb 22, 2006)

Have they had any footrot in their flock? watch for limpers while you are there. Any other diseases? Have they been vaccinated? When was the last worming and what did they use? Yes you can run sheep and cattle together on pasture. If your cattle have horns you might have trouble when feeding hay and grain as some cows will toss the sheep around, that's not a good thing. Yes you can breed some sheep at 9 months. It's not hard to find a ram lamb and use it for breeding, then sell it. No. 
You might also ask the person you're buying from what he would charge to bring the ewes back for breeding.


----------



## Looking4ewes (Apr 30, 2006)

Or have them bred by the seller before you take delivery.


----------



## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

Ewe lambs in many breeds (including Katahdin) can have lambs themselves before they are 12 months old, after about a 145-day preganancy. Ideal? No, just possible if they are with a ram when they start to cycle. 

We try to lamb in April because it works best for us in the upper midwest. You don't give a general location which might be helpful. Katahdins are popular all over North America.

Buying a ram lamb for them and then selling or butchering him would make life easier for you the first year or two with sheep if you only have few.

My advice would be to buy from a reputable breeder and not to wait too long. Get on someone's waiting list for next year if you can't find any good ones this fall. Rams are easier to come by than ewes.

Enjoy your sheep, whatever you get. They almost all taste good. This is a good time to be in the sheep business.

Peg


----------



## plowjockey (Aug 18, 2008)

I sell our kat lambs at the salebarn, but I could probably have just as good luck with Craigslist.

We keps our first ram for several years, but it was a pain to keep him separated and fed. I might just start buying one per year and selling after breeding season. They have been registered, but no one really seemed interested in an older ram. He went to the salebarn.

If you sell for the Easter/Jewish/Muslim spring holiday season, you get great prices (per pound) for small lambs (which is what the market wants), which is good, but small lambs don't weigh a lot, so you have the trade-off, in price/pounds.

Apparently, some breeders have problems with worms, so ask about that.

I don't have cattle, but I'd think they do just fine with sheep.

Just pick some healthy looking lambs.


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> We keps our first ram for several years, but it was a pain to keep him separated and fed. I might just start buying one per year and selling after breeding season.


It's inconvenient to keep a ram, but at least you know he's not bringing in any diseases


----------



## LibertyWool (Oct 23, 2008)

PNP Katahdins said:


> Ewe lambs in many breeds (including Katahdin) can have lambs themselves before they are 12 months old, after about a 145-day preganancy. Ideal? No, just possible if they are with a ram when they start to cycle.


This is where I disagree, ewe lambs that successfully breed and lamb will have a higher productive lifespan than ewe lambs that don't. You do have to manage them better, so that may be why a lot of people prefer not to do it. This link gives some pros and cons:

http://www.livestocktrail.uiuc.edu/sheepnet/paperDisplay.cfm?ContentID=454

I do what I would call moderate supervision during lambing (check 2-3 times a day unless someone is showing signs of laybor, then more often) and have a 95% or better survival rate lambing in March in Maine. Last year is the first year that none of the ewe lambs took, normally they all settle. All three were small. One was a triplet I kept over because I could not sell due to size, and two were purchased from another flock. I really feel that ewe lambs need to be in better condition to settle than older ewes.

Just a different perspective.


----------



## prairiegirl (Nov 2, 2004)

Thanks so much for all the help. You bring up things that I hadn't considered.
I'm even more excited to get sheep.

If any of you know of someone in northern IN that has any for sale, please let me know.


----------



## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

LibertyWool, I was thinking about ewe lambs that get bred way sooner than 7 months so they lamb at about 9 or 10 months or so. 95% of our Katahdins typically have a single at around 12 or 13 months of age; about 20% have twins then. In contrast, only 55-60% of our wool ewe lambs will lamb at around 12-13 months and very few twin then.

Sorry if I wasn't clear on this. We had one escape artist ewe lamb who lambed at 10 1/2 months old last spring. She not only squirmed her way out of the dry lot where we keep weaned lambs but also got through the pipe gate into the ram pen. She takes after her dam Bandit who should have been named Houdini.

Peg


----------



## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

Prairiegirl, you can check out the Katahdin Hair Sheep International web site at http://www.katahdins.org/ and go to the "KHSI Directory" link on the left menu. Select Indiana on the map and that will bring up a list of members. I don't know any Indiana breeders or where they are located around your state. We are pretty well sold out except for the ones an Illinois family is coming to pick from.

Also be sure to check the "Classified Ads" link on the left menu. Anyone can place a free "Wanted" listing so you might do that when you are ready.

Peg


----------



## houndlover (Feb 20, 2009)

It depends on the breed (breeding early). Breeding a shetland at 9 months might be a different outcome than breeding a suffolk at 9 months. I look at my individual animals and see how they are maturing. Some lines of livestock simply mature faster (or slower) within the same breed. As for running cattle and sheep together, you can do it - I do it with goats, but nutritionally, they have different needs. My species are separated at night so they have access to their own minerals.


----------



## Carol K (May 10, 2002)

Hi, I'm a new sheep owner this year and love my Katahdins, I just have 3 ewe lambs and a ram lamb, I know I will increase my flock.
I also have Dexters, and this week I let them all together, they had been seperated by 1 electric polywire for for several weeks so were used to eachother. There were no problems but was funny to see the sheep run at top speed toward the cows and scatter them! The bull walked over to try and sniff and was promptly stopped by the ram, who thought he was close enough! I saw the ram take a few steps backward then run, lol the bull took off he was so surprised that this little white thing would run at him, wish I'd had a video of it.
My one concern is how to manage the mineral situation, I need my cows to have selenium and copper, right now I just have salt out for the cows and the lambs have their mineral in their moveable lamb shed that the cows can't get in.
So that is my experience so far, good luck I think you will enjoy sheep.

Carol K


----------



## houndlover (Feb 20, 2009)

Carol, you can copper bolus your cattle, and selenium is okay for both sheep and cattle.


----------



## kit (Apr 15, 2004)

Here is another good site with information. www.saskkatahdinsheep.com


----------



## Countrygent51 (Jul 30, 2011)

"There are 2 ewe lambs for sale. They were born Jan. 2012. What questions should I ask the owner?"


You could ask where he got his hands on a time machine? 

Just kidding, I've already made that same mistake a few times in the past couple months. Actually, sheep breeders might want to borrow this marketing strategy from the car dealers..."the 2012 models are already here and ready for you!"


----------

