Guess we're getting some lambs

[Julie_in_PA]

Jasmine (our 4 yr old daughter) has been asking for a lamb for a while now.
We (well actually I - not really my husband, but just me) have been casually considering the idea.

I found a couple of bottle baby Katahdin lambs. I guess I'm going to pick up one or two next Thursday.

I researched them and apparantly the Katahdin sheep are a meat sheep. They seem to be very hardy and easy keepers. I might consider breeding and keeping one ram per year to raise for meat.

Anyone have this breed ? ANy advice ?

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

I don't have the breed but advice on bottle babies.... Lamb replacer is expensive and get them on solid food asap. but keep giveing milk. We had 3 this year

 

[Smoky73]

Don't you have to shear sheep every year?

 

[bluebirdfarm]

i think this breed maybe a what is called a hair sheep and they shed their coats ?

 

[bluebirdfarm]

also , you can get them to eat grain pretty fats , but it expensive also, do you have a freind who has milk cow ?

 

[bluebirdfarm]

i meant fast , not fats.

 

[WrenAli]

I raise Katahdins. They are a very hardy breed. They are a hair breed so no shearing is required.. Ever! They are raised for meat but also make great pets. They can be very tame and friendly. They also are resistant to foot rot, a big issue where I live.
Here is the one bottle baby I had last year.

Ok, about bottle babies..

Make sure they have had colostrum!! Lambs that don't get it don't do well. Also make sure that they are on a bottle. Some people tube feed them and it is harder to get them nursing on a bottle after they have been tubed.


Milk Replacer is expensive but you can't but a baby on grain until they are at least 8 weeks old. Their rumen is not functional until at least then. So they can't process it and it can make them sick.

There are other alternatives to powdered milk replacer. Goats milk works but Cows milk is to low in fat. Make sure if you do get the milk replacer not to get the medicated stuff. I never had any luck with that.

As for feeding I feed mine every 4 hours for the first week and every 6 hours after that. Keep them on a schedule, don't let them over eat, and keep a little hay in front of them and you should do just fine. I start introducing a creep feed, they can be expensive, at about 5 weeks.

Good Luck!

Edit: They make wonderful mothers too! The only reason I had the one as a bottle lamb is because I lost her mother to pneumonia right after she was born. The only ewe I have lost in 4 years of raising them, flock of over 30 at times. And she was the only bottle lamb I have had too.

 

[Julie_in_PA]

Hahaha ... (assuming no one recalls my posts about my bottle baby fawns,etc.) .. I've been raising bottle babies for a while now. I've raised MANY MANY bottle babies ... mostly goat kids, but also a calf, as well as fawns and even bunnies.
Thanks for the bottle feeding info anyway - but I think I got that covered

I mainly would like information/advice about Katahdin sheep. Anything that may be helpful.

I have done some research on them ... so I have learned that they are a hair sheep and (thankfully) do not need sheared (which is one reason why this is the breed I'm getting), and that they are a meat goat, and apparantly a very hardy breed.

What is their meat like ? What age do you butcher the ram/s ? Does this breed grow horns ? If so - do both sexes grow them ? Is it easy/hard to sell lambs (that won't be kept for butcher later) ? What price do unregistered lambs of this breed normally go for ?

 

[WrenAli]

Quote:

I mainly would like information/advice about Katahdin sheep. Anything that may be helpful.
Quote:
Sheep.. not goat..

Quote:
The meat is more lean than your regular lamb and easier to cook. It doesn't have that yellow fat that a lot of wool sheep have, in my experiance.

I butcher all mine at under a year. Though I have some Ethiopians that like them more mature. They almost pickle the meat though.

They can grow horns. Not sure about both sexes as I have only seen rams with horns. Most are polled. I only have had 1 throwback with horns, both parents were polled.

I have had some issues selling lambs as the breeding stock my parents got are on the small side (I didn't choose them) and everyone out here likes 100+ lb lambs, mine only get to 50-75. I am crossing with Suffolk to add some size as all the others in the area are related to mine. Though I get a lot of people who have small amounts of acreage that are interested.

I sell my lambs for the following:
weaned-1 year: $50-$100 Price goes up with age
Yearlings - 2 year olds: $100-$200.
Mature Rams:$175+
Mature Ewes:$125 with out lamb $175 with lamb

You need to be careful with these sheep as they will breed at 4 months old and they will breed twice a year. I usually get lambs in March and then again in November if I don't get the ram out.

 

[Julie_in_PA]

I mainly would like information/advice about Katahdin sheep. Anything that may be helpful.

Yup ... anything helpful about Katahdin Sheep

Didn't mean Katahdin bottle babies. But that's ok ... I apprecaite the willingness to offer your help

Sheep.. not goat..

Yeah ... typo is all. So used to dealing with goats ... it just came out like that.

Thanks for all the great info ! It was really helpful !! Especially the meat stuff. I think we're gonna TRY it ... honestly, we've never even tried any type of lamb/sheep meat ! So this will be new to us. Hubby said perhaps we should go buy some of the meat first and try it - then decide if that's what we want to do. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea.​