See our sires here!

What are Hair Sheep? We get this question quite often.

Did you know that a wool sheep are crosses that are man-made? In the wild, no hand of God comes down into the mountains and shears the wild sheep. So, hair sheep, closely related to wild sheep, lose their wool at the end of winter.  Katahdins are one of the several breeds of hair sheep available that are bred only for meat. They have short hair during the summer and a nice woolly coat in the winter. This is one point we pay specific attention to, after all, if you are seeking hair sheep so you don’t have to shear, then you want to make sure they shed fully. An interesting fact is the Katahdin breed was also man-made by crossing several breeds together. It was originally developed in Maine, in view of Mt Katahdin, giving them its name.

Breed Characteristics

Our sheep are easy keepers, mainly because we handle them as much as we can. Katahdins are already docile and calm sheep, which makes them easy to handle. They generally lamb freely without assistance and exhibit excellent mothering capability. They are easy-care sheep and very suitable for pasture lambing situations. Katahdins are resilient in all types of weather conditions and more resistant to hoof rot and parasites than many sheep breeds.

We manage our mob for twin births, however it’s not uncommon to produce triplets, or under accelerated breeding programs, produce three births in two years.  We also have registered animals through Katahdin Hair Sheep International if that interests you. We are currently registered with the USDA Scrapie Flock Certification Program (SFCP).  

What we offer

Our two primary sheep sales are breed stock and butcher lambs. We have cultivated 6 genetically separated flocks that are bred separately so we can sell breeding pairs that are not related.

All our sheep are fed on a grass diet; either pasture based or hay. During the last month of pregnancy and the first month of lactation, we do provide alfalfa hay to boost the protein due to the amount of energy going into developing the lambs and lactation requirements. We also provide loose minerals, selenium and Iodine blocks because of the deficient soils in our area.  We only use de-wormers and antibiotics when they are truly warranted (which is rare) and never as a preventive measure.

These sheep produce good flavored, lean carcass that’s milder in flavor than the wool lamb breeds. This is because there is less lanolin in hair sheep than wool breed, which is what most people described as the mutton taste. Grass-fed Katahdin lamb is incredibly tender and flavorful! We like to butcher our lambs when they are nine to twelve months old.