A question we see posed fairly frequently on various forums and Facebook groups we are members of is about milking Katahdins. People often ask if they can milk Katahdins. Of course the answer is yes. However, Katahdins are meat sheep. Saying you can milk them doesn’t tell you much about how to find one suitable…
Tag: breeding sheep
How To Use EBV’s To Improve Your Flock’s Performance
If you’ve been hanging around our website for a while or have been in the process of researching Katahdin sheep to purchase, then you’ve probably run across acronyms like NSIP, or EBV’s. NSIP stands for the National Sheep Improvement Program. EBV’s are estimated breeding values. We have alluded to them being valuable tools for selecting…
Terminal Sires Can Maximize Production and Profit
Recently our blog posts have been focused on topics surrounding adding new breeding stock to your flock. So today we thought we’d touch on the related subject of terminal sires. Terminal sires can be very useful depending on what your breeding goals are. However, they are something that a lot of people may not be…
Quarantine: An Important Protection For Your Sheep
In a previous blog post we discussed selecting breeding stock. Today we are going to discuss the next step. Quarantine. When you bring your new prize ram/ewes home, they should go straight into a quarantine pen far away from all your other animals. It doesn’t matter how healthy you think the new animals are or…
Enhancing Livestock Performance: The Importance of Breeding Stock Selection
If a large percentage of your flock is related to your ram, you might be at the point where you are worried about inbreeding and looking to buy a new ram. Perhaps you’re looking to buy in some new ewes to enlarge your flock. Or maybe you just feel like your sheep aren’t performing as…
Lambing: What To Expect When Your Ewes Start Expecting
Lambing season is in full swing. If you are new to sheep and this is your first lamb crop, you are likely a bit nervous and apprehensive about what to expect. You are probably also curious about what signs you should be watching for. So today we are going to look at pictures of and…
A Quick Look At Sheep Coat Color Genetics: Spotting
Last time we started talking about sheep coat color genetics. We discussed the Agouti or pattern genes which are mainly responsible for your sheep’s coat color and markings. We also discussed the black brown genes and the extension genes that sometimes play a role in coat color. Today we are going to discuss our favorite…
A Quick Look At Sheep Coat Color Genetics
Have you ever wondered about the genetics behind sheep coat color? Or have you wanted to know how to skew your lamb crop towards being more colorful? Maybe you browsed around our website and realized that sheep come in some really flashy patterns not just white? Or perhaps you have an interest in producing naturally…
How To Body Condition Score Your Sheep
Today we are going to discuss body condition scoring in sheep. As someone who is breeding sheep, it is important to be able to know what sort of condition your animals are in at various stages of production—and what condition they should be in. If your sheep is either too fat or too thin this…
How To Get Started Breeding Parasite Resistant Sheep
If you are interested in reading other parts of this series: Barber Pole Worm Series Part 1-The #1 Killer Of Small Ruminants Barber Pole Worm Series Part 2-Controlling Worms Without Dewormer Barber Pole Worm Series Part 3-How To Properly Deworm Barber Pole Worm Series Part 5-How To Do a Fecal Egg Count Looking to breed…
