# Which Hair Sheep Is The Best???



## ttamd (Sep 11, 2012)

Just wanted your guys opinion on which hair sheep was the best. some of the things that i mean when i say best are: best foragers (which ones do best on just grass and hay), fastest growing, best mothering abilities, highest amount of lambs per ewe (meaning having twins or triplets often), have the highest meat to bone ration (basically the meatiest lamb). just want your guys opinion.


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

IMO, Katahdin ewes (or even Dorper/Kat ewes) bred to a Dorper ram would be a nice cross. Katahdins have lots of good maternal traits, but IMO they could use a bit of improvement on the meatiness (I'm sure it varies depending on different flocks).


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## ttamd (Sep 11, 2012)

from what i've heard dorpers are the most meaty and do the best on rough forage. i just wanted to hear what other people had to say. thanks for the reply!


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## angelspeeper (Sep 6, 2012)

I have Dorper/Katahdin (sorry about the spelling) crosses and they seem to have a good size to them. Can't tell you about lamb numbers or mothering ability yet as I just got them in the Spring and they are preggo now. The ram used was a pure Dorper and he is broad thru the chest and hind. Much bigger than most sheep I have seen! My husband says his body looks like a small white cow with a sheep's head. But they do have pretty good temperments...very friendly!


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## bknthesdle (Mar 27, 2011)

I have Katahdins. They were great first time mothers. They lambed pretty much on their own, their lambs were up quick and nursing. They foraged on just about anything and they grew pretty good. I think my biggest lamb was 68 lbs at 72 days. That was just on grass/hay. No creep feed. I can't imagine what the lambs would have been with a bit of creep feed.

Having said that...this breeding season, I have a registered Katahdin ram AND a registered Dorper ram. I will give 10 girls to the Kat and 10 to the dorper. I'm excited to see the Kat/Dorper cross.


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## angelspeeper (Sep 6, 2012)

expect the lambs to be bigger. Maybe not a whole lot bigger on the first generation, but certainly by the next.


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## Hairsheep (Aug 13, 2012)

I bought 3 Katahdin rams that were born on May 28th, a few weeks back...They are already over 50 pounds(seems like good meatiness to me)...The previous owner of these said they were first time raisers of these and they had twins on all their ewes, the first time...Just last week, I bought 6 ewes for 2 of those lucky rams. They are Dorper X Katahdin crosses, born on about the same date as my rams and weigh about 60 pounds.
BOTH of the sheep breeds will eat weeds, grasses and leaves(mine has).
I would say the Dorper cross is your best bet for meatiness, thus far.


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## goto10 (Oct 5, 2009)

I'd also like to throw in my hat for Katahdin/dorper cross!


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## spinandslide (Jun 6, 2008)

Kat/Dorpers seem to be the "commercial" producer's choice, from what Ive been told...I like my straight dorpers..no other sheep compares to them, IMO, in meatiness.


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## HaleyBugs (Sep 12, 2012)

We have a small herd of three St. Croix/Painted Desert, one ram and two ewes. We also have a Katahdin ewe. The crosses are all white, except one has a brown spot on her face and they are two years old, the katahdin is brown with white points and is almost one.

They are smaller than the sheep I'm used to, (Suffolk) but they grow quickly and eat anything and everything. We send them out in the pastures to eat the tall grass/weeds that the horses wont eat and they do a great job.

The two white ewes had their first kids last spring,they each had one and were hoping for more this spring. They started on grass and we are finishing them for the last month on grain and hay. They look to be around 70-80 lbs. 

Our katahdin ewe will have her first kid this coming spring, I'm curious to see how the kid will turn out. She is smaller than our crosses but much thicker and has way more muscle. So hopefully we will get the best of both worlds next spring :]


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## Hairsheep (Aug 13, 2012)

An update..its now December, and the Katahdin rams are OVER 100 pounds and the ewes(KatahdinX Dorper) around 100 pounds, MOSTLY on weed consumption!
I highly recommend these hair sheep!


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## AlienChick (Feb 13, 2012)

I have Katahdins and love them for their easy lambing and awesome mothering. I also like that they can be raised on pasture without supplemental feed. For a meaty hair sheep, I would definitely go with a Kat/Dorper cross.


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