Katahdin sheep
The Katahdin, is a breed of domestic sheep developed by breeder Michael Piel in Maine, United States. He named this new breed after Mount Katahdin - the state’s highest peak. The breed was developed during the second half of the 20th century by crossing selected St. Croix sheep from the Virgin Islands with various other breeds including the Suffolk. Lambs were selected based on hair coat, meat-type conformation, high fertility and flocking instinct. During the 1970s, the Wiltshire Horn, a hair sheep from England, was also incorporated to a limited degree in order to increase size and improve carcass quality.
History of the Katadin
The Katahdin breed originated at the Piel Farm in north central Maine where Michael Piel was an innovator and amateur geneticist who enjoyed raising livestock. His first intentions related to establishing a sheep enterprise were to use sheep to graze power lines instead of spraying or mowing the vegetation. He then developed other ideas on how to employ sheep for land management.
In 1956 and 1957, Piel began making inquiries about hair sheep after seeing pictures in a National Geographic magazine of West African hair sheep. He eventually made contact with Richard Bond of the U.S. Agricultural Research Service in St. Croix, Virgin Islands who was working with hair sheep flocks on the island.
Three "African Hair Sheep," as they were called then, were imported to Maine from St. Croix on November 21, 1957, All were less than a year of age, born triplets, unrelated for many generations, and woolless with woolless siblings. One female was tan in color, the male and another female were white. The cost was $10 plus $75 shipping for each lamb.
The ram lamb, "King Tut," was used for breeding a handful of ewes in December 1957, including Tunis, Southdown, Hampshire, Suffolk, and the "African" ewe lambs. From this point on, crosses of many breed combinations (including Cheviots and other "Down" breeds), were made as Piel tried to determine what would create the type of ewe he was looking for. He was particularly selecting for hair coat, meat-type conformation, high fertility, and flocking instinct.
In the early 1970s, Piel felt he had come close to his goal of a "meat sheep that did not require shearing." He selected from his large flock approximately 120 of the best ewes and called them "Katahdin" sheep after Mt. Katahdin, the highest peak in the state of Maine.
In October 1975, Piel imported a handful of Wiltshire Horn sheep from Wales via Canada. He intended to improve size and bone by incorporating the Wiltshire into the Katahdins. The first crosses were born in 1976.
Paul and Margaret Jepson of Vermont had become acquainted with Piel while trying to locate Wiltshire Horn stock and decided the newly developed Katahdins would suit them better. They purchased some sheep from Piel in the mid-1970s and established the first satellite flock of Katahdins. The Jepsons then experimented with incorporating St. Croix blood (another hair sheep breed akin to the original "African Hair" type) into their flock in the early 1980s.
Michael Piel died suddenly of a heart attack in December of 1976. The Wiltshire Horn influence in the Piel Farm flock increased in the late 1970s as scale and bone improved somewhat. However, the undesirable presence of horns, decreased prolificacy and flocking instinct, and a flightier disposition resulted from incorporating the Wiltshire Horn. During the early 1980s, under the leadership of Barbara Piel and farm manager Charles Brown, flock selection was against horns.
The average Katahdin ewe live weight is 120 to 160 pounds (54 kg to 72 kg) and the ram's weight is 180 to 250 pounds (81 kg to 113 kg). Most Katahdin ewes will have a 200% lamb crop. The Katahdin, being a hair sheep breed [[1]], sheds its winter coat and does not have to be sheared. The Katahdin's hair comes in a variety of colors as the emphasis of the breed is on production rather than appearance. When Katahdins are crossed with wool sheep, their offspring usually have a predominantly wool coat with some hair mixed in.
Heifer International, an international livestock development charity, took an interest in Piel's work and his "improved" hair sheep. HPI realized that Katahdins were well suited to the southern U.S. and built a sizable flock at their center in Arkansas through the 1980s based on stock from Piel Farm and Jepsons.
The Katahdin's popularity in the USA has increased in recent years due to low wool prices and high shearing costs. This, combined with the fact that the Katahdin sheep breed is also resistant to parasites - a trait inherited from its St. Croix ancestors - makes the breed a highly productive, low-cost option for commercial shepherds.[citation needed] In 1986, Katahdin Hair Sheep International was formed to register sheep, record performance information, and promote the breed. The following year 23 breeders agreed to join KHSI and register their Katahdin stock. In 2011, the breed association saw more than 6,500 new registrations and Katahdins graduated from The Livestock Conservancy[[2]] priority list in 2013.
References
[edit]1.https://breeds.okstate.edu/sheep/breeds-of-hair-sheep.html
2.https://livestockconservancy.org/about-us/conservation-successes/katahdin-sheep/