Friday, March 27, 2015

To Find Good Katahdin Sheep Kentucky Should Be The Place To Visit

By Lelia Hall


The 20th century especially in its mid-years in United States featured engineering of new breeds in the agricultural sector. This saw the introduction of domestic sheep called katahdins. The animal was first reared in Maine regions close to Katahdin mountain, hence the naming. The crossbreeding and research was under an amateur geneticist named Micheal Piel. His major objective was to develop a type of sheep with high fertility, meat type conformation, better flocking instinct and good hair coat.

His research was focused on producing animals with hair and not wool. A breed that does not produce wool was needed because of low prices of wool and high shearing costs. The resultant breed had good mothering abilities in comparison to the parents. To get docile yet hardy Katahdin sheep Kentucky is the place to go. They show higher resistance to both external and internal parasites. They are easy to handle because they are docile.

Healthy and mature females weigh between 160 to 120 pounds. A mature male has its weight varying between 250 to180 pounds. Most twins have a mean weight of eight pounds at the time of birth. Ewes give bear twins, although they might give birth to triplets or quadruplets sometimes. The protective instinct among females is better.

A year is the earliest period an ewe can be mate on condition that it has attained the necessary weight and size. Focus should be placed on weight and not size. When lambs are two-thirds the size of a mature ewe they may be bred. A first-time mother must be fed and held separately from continuing mothers until its lambs is weaned. This is an important on teaching them to be better mothers.

Early maturity and long productive lives is observed in both males and females. Males are reliable breeders with the capacity of searing the entire year. A single ram has the ability of serving many females when mixed. Both sexes can be used in interbreeding. First time generation young ones between this breed and other types of wool sheep have fleeces.

It takes about three generations or more depending on the breed of interbred wool animal to develop offspring with purebred characteristics such as shedding hair coats. The texture and length of hair coats differs on every sheep. Katahdins appear in several pure or a combination of different colors. Red, brown, white and black are some of the common colors. Some have unique patterns or spots.

Lambs provide healthy quality lean meat. Fatty acid quantity of their meat is determined by diet. Their meat has both important omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. They obtain fatty acids from the grass, though diets with particular oils and fats may achieve the same purpose. Details on the kind of oils or fats to give them must be prescribed by a licensed veterinary. This is crucial for health reasons.

Katahdins are hardy animals with feeding behaviors similar to that of goats. They feed on anything ranging from soft tree barks of deciduous plants to weeds. They support themselves on hind legs to access leaves and remove tree barks. They may be destructive when not controlled. Young ones of katahdin sheep are in the habit of climbing on plants and hay. To avoid this, bale rings must be placed round plants and trees to be protected.




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