Use : Katahdins make fearless , low - sustainment centre fauna and grow excellent lamb crops throughout their long productive life-time . The Charles Lamb yield a lean , mild - taste carcass that holds appeal for specialization markets . These adaptable sheep are also useful in land direction and cross - breeding program .
History : Although this breed ’s name sounds quite exotic , the Katahdin hair sheep actually originated on a farm in north primal Maine run by Michael and Barbara Piel . An amateur geneticist and avid livestock raiser , Michael Piel had ab initio look into utilizing sheep to graze power lines and for other forms of land direction . However , his focus later shifted to the development of a centre sheep that would n’t require shearing . In 1957 , Piel imported some wool - less sheep known as “ African Hair Sheep ” from St. Croix in the Virgin Islands . Over the eld he crossed these animals with a variety of other stock , including Tunis , Hampshire , Suffolk , and Cheviot . at last , in the other 1970s , Piel picked about 120 of his finest ewe and identify them after the highest mountain in Maine , Mount Katahdin . The stock breeder ’s tie and register for these sheep , Katahdin Hair Sheep International ( KSHI ) , form in 1985 . Today , the American Livestock Breeds Association lean the Katahdin as recover , think it has an estimated global population outdo 10,000 but still needs monitoring .
Conformation : Katahdin sheep own a coarse outer hair’s-breadth coating that can vary in length and grain , and a mulct , woolly primer . Their coat thickens during period of inhuman conditions and naturally sheds as temperature tender and days lengthen . These sheep can sport any color or vividness combination . The strain has an alert look with widely - set eye and horizontal ear carriage , and their quarter length can be variable ( preferably undocked ) . mar let in weak shoulders / back , weak pasterns or splayed hoof , and cryptorchism / monorchidism in ram . Katahdins are a intermediate - sized breed , with mature ewes weighing or so 125 to 180 pounds , while the random access memory weigh around 180 to 250 dog pound . They have a docile nature and the ewes exhibit good mothering skills and milking ability , acquire lively lambs .
Special Considerations / distinction : harmonise to the KSHI , studies in Arkansas have indicate this breed has a significantly high level of parasite opposition than the other wooled breeds studied . Thanks to the absence of thick wool , Katahdin also showed increased heating system tolerance , making them ideal prospect for the warm , humid , parasite - prone South . Unlike the wool strain , hairsbreadth sheep call for no annual shearing – a boon to meddling sheepherder who do n’t design to commercialize or practice the wool from their flocks .
