I'll be catching up on your substack for years. It's important to share the failures, too, perhaps it's most important. Thank you for that. We are bringing on Katahdin sheep next year for meat; any tips at the top of your list for managing Katahdins?
Honestly, they have been very easy for us to manage. We don’t dock tails and they don’t require shearing. We don’t even castrate, as the males grow quickly and can be harvested before sexual maturity. Selenium usually needs to be supplemented (a paste squirted in their mouth a few times a year) and a good mineral salt are the only things we do. Worms are not a big issue for us so we don’t treat the lambs for those either. Ten years in and this system has worked well for us. Any specific questions you have re: sheep management?
Just what I was hoping to hear. At what age/weight are you harvesting the lambs? Are you segregating weened lambs from ewes, the ram(s) from the ewes and lambs? I want to make sure that from an infrastructure perspective I'm set up for next year. Any book recommendations on the topic?
Great questions. We harvest the lambs at 9 months. We keep the ram with the ewes year round. They only come into heat in July/August/September so we are just more aware of him during that time, but luckily, our ram has a great temperament. We don't wean lambs either. We find that the mothers tend to kick them off when they get sick of them and haven't noticed a huge impact on their condition in doing so. They can technically be weaned at about 30 days, but I want my ewes to fatten the lambs much more than that. Everyone grazes together April-October when the lambs are harvested. You can easily separate lambs in July if you're worried that some older lambs may get bred in the heat cycle. That will still give them plenty of time to fatten on mom without running the risk of them being bred by the ram. This means we are down to our basic breeding ewes and our one ram in the coldest part of the winter, which is great for hay supply. Lambs start to arrive in January/February/March which gives us plenty of time to get them ready for butcher. You can also add in some COB or all stock feed if you'd like fatten them up a bit more before butchering day. Ooh - here's another thing - we barely separate for lambing. Our ewes are used to just having the lambs in the pen with all the other ewes and lambs. We haven't ever had this be an issues, so long as they've got good bedding, protection from harsh weather, space to lamb safely, etc. Like I said, we keep it very simple.
Great info Shaye, thank you. A couple of followup questions: How many ewes? How big is your pen? And where are you?! January is the coldest month of the year in Michigan, and I would hope they are not dropping lambs until March, which would put harvest in December, here.
We keep 6 breeding ewes year round + 1 ram. Their winter pen (only used in the harshest of weather) is about 40x20. We keep them outdoors as long as possible where they have a small shelter before moving them into the winter pen. We are in North Central Washington - it gets very snowy and very cold here (we're in a high desert climate). January is our coldest month too. The lambs have turned out to be very resilient and not really impacted by winter (granted, they are in a protected, dry pen). If you wanna push lambing back a bit, I would separate your ram and introduce him in September. That should do it. I would still probably try to butcher in November if possible when they're still at more peak condition after summer grazing and before you have to start feeding them hay (which gets very costly, very quickly).
Solid advice Shaye. I've got a 30x70 high tunnel I could put them in during harsh weather. Butcher in Nov; got it. I think that's about right for here, too; not having to over-winter the lambs is a big advantage over raising beeves in my opinion. I'm told by a local, who has been raising Katadins for 20+ years, that he goes to auction when they are 60-70 lbs. I'm going to visit his farm with the express purpose of seeing how he manages all this as well. Thank you for your time and wisdom; much appreciated.
I'll be catching up on your substack for years. It's important to share the failures, too, perhaps it's most important. Thank you for that. We are bringing on Katahdin sheep next year for meat; any tips at the top of your list for managing Katahdins?
Honestly, they have been very easy for us to manage. We don’t dock tails and they don’t require shearing. We don’t even castrate, as the males grow quickly and can be harvested before sexual maturity. Selenium usually needs to be supplemented (a paste squirted in their mouth a few times a year) and a good mineral salt are the only things we do. Worms are not a big issue for us so we don’t treat the lambs for those either. Ten years in and this system has worked well for us. Any specific questions you have re: sheep management?
Just what I was hoping to hear. At what age/weight are you harvesting the lambs? Are you segregating weened lambs from ewes, the ram(s) from the ewes and lambs? I want to make sure that from an infrastructure perspective I'm set up for next year. Any book recommendations on the topic?
Great questions. We harvest the lambs at 9 months. We keep the ram with the ewes year round. They only come into heat in July/August/September so we are just more aware of him during that time, but luckily, our ram has a great temperament. We don't wean lambs either. We find that the mothers tend to kick them off when they get sick of them and haven't noticed a huge impact on their condition in doing so. They can technically be weaned at about 30 days, but I want my ewes to fatten the lambs much more than that. Everyone grazes together April-October when the lambs are harvested. You can easily separate lambs in July if you're worried that some older lambs may get bred in the heat cycle. That will still give them plenty of time to fatten on mom without running the risk of them being bred by the ram. This means we are down to our basic breeding ewes and our one ram in the coldest part of the winter, which is great for hay supply. Lambs start to arrive in January/February/March which gives us plenty of time to get them ready for butcher. You can also add in some COB or all stock feed if you'd like fatten them up a bit more before butchering day. Ooh - here's another thing - we barely separate for lambing. Our ewes are used to just having the lambs in the pen with all the other ewes and lambs. We haven't ever had this be an issues, so long as they've got good bedding, protection from harsh weather, space to lamb safely, etc. Like I said, we keep it very simple.
Great info Shaye, thank you. A couple of followup questions: How many ewes? How big is your pen? And where are you?! January is the coldest month of the year in Michigan, and I would hope they are not dropping lambs until March, which would put harvest in December, here.
We keep 6 breeding ewes year round + 1 ram. Their winter pen (only used in the harshest of weather) is about 40x20. We keep them outdoors as long as possible where they have a small shelter before moving them into the winter pen. We are in North Central Washington - it gets very snowy and very cold here (we're in a high desert climate). January is our coldest month too. The lambs have turned out to be very resilient and not really impacted by winter (granted, they are in a protected, dry pen). If you wanna push lambing back a bit, I would separate your ram and introduce him in September. That should do it. I would still probably try to butcher in November if possible when they're still at more peak condition after summer grazing and before you have to start feeding them hay (which gets very costly, very quickly).
Solid advice Shaye. I've got a 30x70 high tunnel I could put them in during harsh weather. Butcher in Nov; got it. I think that's about right for here, too; not having to over-winter the lambs is a big advantage over raising beeves in my opinion. I'm told by a local, who has been raising Katadins for 20+ years, that he goes to auction when they are 60-70 lbs. I'm going to visit his farm with the express purpose of seeing how he manages all this as well. Thank you for your time and wisdom; much appreciated.