Hair sheep don’t bring as much on the slaughter market.įact: Eight or ten years ago you could expect a 5-10 cents/pound discount for hair animals. Dorper lambs have amazing growth rates when young. A Katahdin ewe will average between 140-180 pounds, while Dorper ewes will average 160-200 pounds. Katahdin sheep and Dorper are bred as meat sheep breeds. Croix are small animals (ewes 80-110 pounds), few commercial breeders raise them.
They’re too small to be of commercial value.įact: While it’s true that Barbados and St. For registered breeding stock, permanent wooly fibers are a no-no. The thickness of a Katahdin sheep’s winter coat will vary among individuals, but it needs to shed completely for an A or AA coat classification, which is the norm. While I’m sure I’ll rile a lot of Dorper breeders, I’ve seen too many that had been sheared before a sale, which defeats the purpose of a hair animal.
Unfortunately, as the percentage of Dorper increases, more wool is found in their coat and some animals lose some of their shedding ability. Breeders often use less-expensive Katahdin ewes to initiate an upgrading program with registered Dorper as the final goal. Many of the Dorper you see have been crossed with Katahdin sheep for several reasons. While Dorper sheep are considered a hair breed, I’ve found a large number have quite a bit of wool or curly fibers in their coat. Katahdin sheep are one of several hair breeds, the most common of which includes Barbados Black Belly, St.
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