Anybody had any experience with katahdin sheep?

[TexelBen]

Hear good and bad about dorpers but can't find anything about katahdin's. They seem pretty successful in America, and I was wondering how they would fare over here

 

[GTB]

Terrible feet is what I was told.

@dogjon might know a bit about them?

 

[TexelBen]

Terrible feet is what I was told.

@dogjon might know a bit about them?

That's what I heard about dorpers too tbh

 

[GTB]

Dorpers definitely have poor feet. I fancied trying a black headed Dorper as a terminal sire on my Easycares. I couldn't find one that wasn't lame.

 

[neilo]

@Tim W

 

[dogjon]

My experience with Katahdins was that their feet made Dorpers look good but they do have a wide open upgrade program and I perhaps made a mistake in buying mainly white lambs. I suspect that they had been crossed with Columbia's to increase their frame size. The only remaining Katahdin blood in my flock comes through a brown ewe that had good feet and good production numbers. The others were at the bottom of their age group for weaning weights. Fec's didn't show any increased resistance to parasites either. Though in fairness, they were being compared to sheep that had been culled for lack of parasite resistance for 30 years or so. (Learning to use my " wireless devices" in Wales where the weather is better than back home right now)

 

[Tim W]

Some experience with them in a breeding program, as with all populations there are good and bad. One of the problems is the multitude of hobby small flocks in USA i think ---
But to sweep a broad brush i would say that I have found;
Some with good parasite resistance (some with bad)
Many with good maternal qualities
Poorer than average carcass qualities
Good lamb survival
Feet haven't been good or bad in my experience (Dorpers terrible in comparison)

I have used genetics from large well recorded flocks
There is a decent take up within NSIP in USA

 

[Woolless]

Someone I know had used them a bit and found that they were early maturing and bred out of season so tup lambs tupping their mothers, who would then lamb again very early.

 

[hendrebc]

Someone I know had used them a bit and found that they were early maturing and bred out of season so tup lambs tupping their mothers, who would then lamb again very early.

The americans seem to like lambing out of season at all times of the year from what ive seen on fb groups