Katahdin Hair Sheep
Katahdin Sheep work very well in a variety of production situations as a low-maintenance, easy care sheep. Katahdins have generated a great deal of interest from all parts of North America. We have members from Mexico to Northern Canada and have exported to Ecuador, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, United Kingdom, Chile, and Central America. Katahdin hair sheep provide a practical option to producers who are primarily interested in raising a meat animal, with great lamb vigor, mothering ability and do not want to shear or are no longer able to find shearers.
In a recent presentation, Dr Dave Notter of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (a top Animal Science Geneticist in the USA), said – the backbone of America’s future commercial flock will be a ewe with parasite resistance, low maintenance costs, high fertility/prolificacy, good mothering ability, and one that produces either no wool at all or the highest quality wool.
Source: Katahdin Hair Sheep International
More:
https://livestockconservancy.org/about/conservation-successes/katahdin-sheep/
https://www.agriculture.com/family/living-the-country-life/katahdin-hair-sheep
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Tunis
The name Tunis describes the breed’s connections to foundation stock from Tunisia in North Africa. North African sheep, variously described as “fat tailed,” “broad tailed,” and “Barbary” sheep, were imported to the United States as a gift by the Bey of Tunis to George Washington in the late 1700s. The pair was placed with Judge Richard Peters of Belmont, Pennsylvania, who made rams available and gave away lambs to help spread this sheep breed to others. References to these sheep appear in letters, journals, and farm records of some of the leading agriculturists and citizens of the day, including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Peters, Charles Roundtree, and George Washington Custis. Gradually, a uniquely American breed was created from this stock. Tunis sheep were a recognizable breed by the late 18th century to early 19th century making them one of the oldest breeds of livestock developed in America.
Tunis sheep spread throughout the mid Atlantic and southeastern United States and were well adapted to the heat and humidity of these regions. The Tunis was the mainstay of sheep production in the upper South and mid Atlantic regions until the Civil War, when nearly all Southern stock was destroyed. Credit for saving the breed from extinction at this time is given to Maynard Spigener of South Carolina. During the war he protected the last flock of Tunis by hiding them on his land along the Congoree River near the city of Columbia. After the war the Great Lakes region and New England became strongholds for the breed. It is only recently that the Tunis has again been seen in the Southeast.
Tunis are striking in appearance, with red faces and legs and ivory colored fleeces. Their clean heads and lop ears are distinctive, and the breed gives the impression of activity and intelligence. The sheep weigh 150–275 pounds and both sexes are polled. Lambs are born with a double coat of red fiber on their bodies to protect them from the elements. They gain a lighter fleece with maturity, but retain red legs, heads, and ears.
The Tunis is a very docile dual-purpose breed that has been selected primarily for meat production. Market lambs are economical to raise and produce high quality carcasses with excellent meat to bone ratios. The fleece is medium-grade wool, which turns white during processing. Fleeces weigh seven to twelve pounds and have a staple length of three to five inches. Ewes are prolific, fertile, and consistently produce twins. They are heavy milkers and make attentive mothers. Tunis sheep are good grazers and easy keepers, allowing them to thrive in forage based production systems.
Read more
More:
https://spinoffmagazine.com/keeping-tunis-sheep/
https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/2011/04/the-tale-of-the-tunis-sheep-once-rare-now-in-demand/
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Icelandic
History and Background
The modern Icelandic Sheep is a direct descendant of the sheep brought to the island by the early Viking settlers, in the ninth and tenth century. It is of the North European Short Tailed type, related to such breeds as the Finnsheep, Romanov, Shetland, Spelsau sheep and the Swedish Landrace, all of which are descendants of this type of sheep which was predominate in Scandinavia and the British Isles during 8th and 9th century. Of these the Icelandic and the Romanov are the largest, classified as medium size.
Very few attempts have been made to “improve” the Icelandic sheep through the centuries with outside crossings. The few attempts that were made, resulted in disasters brought on by diseases brought in by the “new blood”. As a result producers drastically culled all animals which were results of crossbreeding. As a consequence all effect of other breeds was eliminated. It is now illegal to import any sheep into Iceland. As a result of these factors improvements to the breed have been done by selective breeding within the breed itself. Genetically the Icelandic sheep is the same today as it was 1100 years ago. It is possibly the oldest and purest domesticated breed of sheep in the world today.
Physical Characteristics
The Icelandic sheep are of medium size with mature ewes weighing 150-160 lbs. and rams 200-220 lbs. They are fine boned with open face and legs and udders. The breed has both polled and horned individual of both sexes but it is primarily horned. Icelandic sheep are not particularly tall but broad and have an excellent conformation as a meat breed. They are seasonal breeders, the ewes start to come into heat around early November, lasting through April. By early October the mature rams develop a distinct odor which stimulates breeding activity in the ewes. The odor remains with the rams through the breeding season. This smell will also have an adverse effect on meat quality if mature rams are slaughtered during that period. Occasionally the Icelandic sheep will breed out of season but that has not been encouraged in Iceland. The fecundity in the ewes is excellent and the mature rams are very efficient breeders. Lambing rate is a approximately 170-180%, with increases possible through more intensive management. They are early maturing and the ewes can easily lamb at 12 months of age. Ram lambs can start breeding around seven months old. Life expectancy is long, healthy ewes commonly lambing until they are 12 to 14 years old in Iceland. The wool is dual coated and comes in many natural colors, even though the white color is most common.
Recently a major gene effective prolificacy has been identified in the Icelandic breed. The gene is called “Thoka” after the ewe Thoka, born in 1950 at Smyrlobjoerg farm, from which it is thought to originate. This gene exhibits action similar to the gene found in the Booroola Merino. Researchers have observed marked differences in ovulation rate between carrier animals and non-carrier animal. On the average non-carriers were found to have 1.59 – 2.2 ova, with carrier animals showing 2.14 – 3.4 ova, a statistically significant difference. To date (1996) research has only been conducted using heterozygous carriers of the gene.
Temperament
The Icelandic breed is not a docile breed. They are alert and fast on their feet. Most of them are very individualistic and flocking instinct is poor. They tend to spread out which makes them good users of sparse pasture. They are good browsers and seem to enjoy eating brush and wild grasses. The ewes are good mothers and high milk producers which is not surprising considering they were also used as milk animals until the middle of the twentieth century. It has been reported they are aggressive toward other sheep and will usually dominate in those situations. Behavior in Icelandic sheep has been compared to that of feral or early domestic animals. Some are nervous but when they get to know their shepherd they get quite friendly. The dominant ram, usually a horned one, can get possibly dangerous.
Read more
More:
Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America: https://www.isbona.com/index.php/about-icelandic-sheep
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Coopworth
https://www.americancoopworthregistry.org/
Welcome to American Coopworth Registry.
Our purpose is to preserve and protect the Coopworth breed of sheep in North America by developing a breed standard, keeping pedigree information and registering sheep that qualify as purebred Coopworth. We facilitate the exchange of information between members to help them better raise their flocks and promote their products. We also foster interest in the Coopworth breed to attract new members for the conservation and well-being of the breed. You do not need to own Coopworth sheep to become a member. We welcome anyone who is interested in supporting our mission.
The Coopworth is a medium sized, dual-purpose, white faced sheep with an alert but quiet disposition. It is one of the most dominant breeds in New Zealand. It originated in New Zealand in the 1960’s from Border Leicester and Romney crosses, and was first imported into the United States during the late 1970s.
It is a highly productive sheep, intensively selected for easy care lambing, prolificacy, and good mothering ability. Coopworth wool is relativ1ely coarse and long and is popular with hand spinners.
Breed categories: long wool, dual-purpose
Distribution: New Zealand, Australia, North America, Europe
Breed Origins
It was shortly after WWII, in New Zealand, when Professor Ian Coop began to selectively crossbreed Border Leicester rams on Romney ewes. His purpose was to improve lambing percentages. The resulting crossbred sheep were interbred over several generations. Always, the selection and culling of progeny was based on recorded performance. By 1968, it was determined that the successive generations of the interbred sheep had produced a medium sized, highly prolific, dual purpose, adaptable sheep and it was officially recorded as the Coopworth breed.
Several large importations of Coopworths into the United States and Canada occurred in the 1970’s and 1980’s. These sheep were destined for both large, commercial operations and smaller, niche market producers and included white and natural colored animals. Today, due to costly quarantine regulations, artificial insemination is often used to obtain genetic diversity and continued improvement of the breed.
The Breed Standard
The Coopworth is known for its productivity and easy care characteristics. Difficult births rarely occur and ewes have very strong mothering instincts, seldom leaving their lambs after birth. Multiple births are most common and the Coopworth ewe will provide an abundance of milk for her lambs. The lambs grow well on grass making this breed ideal for low-input, pasture-based systems. Rams are virile and settle the ewes quickly.
Coopworth sheep are a medium sized, dual purpose, longwool breed, with an alert but quiet disposition. The long face is usually clean with a small topknot or bare head and a slightly Roman nose. They stand a bit taller than the New Zealand Romney and exhibit heavier muscling than the Border Leicester. The body is long with a good loin and hindquarter, light forequarter and a wide pelvis. The fleece, with pointed locks and bright luster, has a well-defined crimp averaging 3.5 crimps per inch and a fiber diameter of 35 to 39 microns. The staple length is 6 to 8 inches. Both white and natural colored Coopworths are accepted for registration.
It is not unusual to see differences in appearance between individual animals because selection is often based on measured performance, rather than phenotype. For this reason, several wool styles are considered acceptable. These would be similar to Border Leicester and New Zealand Romney wool types.
Appearance of the “Ideal Coopworth”
General- Coopworth sheep are sturdy animals with a strong bone structure and well-balanced, capacious bodies. In addition, the Coopworth has an alert but calm and confident disposition. Several wool styles are acceptable within the breed. However, only one style should be present on the body of a particular animal and it should be uniform throughout. Rams (175-275 lbs) should exhibit masculine characteristics and ewes (140-175 lbs) should exhibit feminine characteristics. Emphasis should be placed on selecting for these breed characteristics.
Read more
More:
https://www.raisingsheep.net/coopworth-sheep
https://www.roysfarm.com/coopworth-sheep/
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Gulf Coast or Gulf Coast Native Sheep
Gulf Coast sheep, also known as Gulf Coast Native sheep, Woods sheep, and Native sheep, descend from the Spanish flocks brought to the New World by explorers and settlers beginning in the 1500s. Their genetic origins aren’t known, since a wide variety of types and breeds of sheep existed in Spain at that time. Churro sheep, multi-purpose animals used for meat, milk, and coarse wool, were commonly brought to the Americas by the Spaniards, however, and may have contributed to the breed’s foundation. At the same time, the Gulf Coast’s fine wool suggests a contribution from pre-Merino types as well.
Gulf Coast sheep were used across the Southeast by Spanish missionaries, Native Americans, and European settlers as far north as the Carolinas. Spanish sheep in the Southeast were shaped primarily by natural selection, becoming well adapted to the heat and humidity of the environment.
These sheep fit their challenging environment so well that for centuries, they were the only sheep to be found in the deep South, providing wool and meat for home production. The development of anti-parasite medications in the 1900s allowed the introduction of other, larger, more productive sheep breeds to the Southeast. Gulf Coast sheep were slowly discarded by most farmers; the breed was saved only through the action of a few Southern families.
Gulf Coast sheep lack wool on their faces, legs, and bellies, an adaptation to the heat and humidity of the South. Otherwise, they tend to vary somewhat in aspects of physical appearance. Variability has also resulted from the isolation of different strains of the breed. While most sheep are white, blacks and browns also occur, and some individuals may have spotted faces and legs. Most rams and some ewes are horned, although both sexes may also be polled. Gulf Coast sheep vary in size, with rams weighing 125 to 200 pounds and ewes 90 to 160 pounds.
What is consistent among Gulf Coast sheep is their exquisite adaptation to an environment that is generally difficult for sheep. Gulf Coast breed and lamb year-round. The ewes make excellent mothers, pasture lambing without assistance. Ewes usually produce 70 percent single births, 30 percent twins, and rarely triplets. With good forage, the incidence of multiple births increases. The lambs are vigorous and grow rapidly. Gulf Coast sheep have well-documented resistance to gut parasites, foot rot, and other diseases that commonly affect sheep. These valuable performance characteristics recommend the breed for low-input sheep production.
Like other landrace breeds, the Gulf Coast has suffered from a lack of documentation and description. Researchers at the University of Florida and at Louisiana State University have addressed this problem by working to locate breed populations and describe the breed’s characteristics. Additionally, since 1995 private efforts have been underway to inventory and register Gulf Coast sheep across the Southeast.
Source: https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/heritage-breeds-list/gulf-coast-sheep/
More:
Gulf Coast Sheep Breeders Association: https://www.gulfcoastsheep.info/
My Gulf Coast Native Sheep, a Heritage Breed: https://asheeplikefaith.com/about/my-gulf-coast-native-sheep-a-heritage-breed/
https://www.raisingsheep.net/gulf-coast-sheep
Additional information
Sheep Breeding: Localize Your Livestock
It was a happy accident, really, involving a road trip, a mistaken identity, a negotiation and a bunch of Corsican rams.
Five years ago, I decided my sheep flock wasn’t meeting my goals. I had purebred Katahdin sheep, a hair sheep that sheds its coat each spring so you don’t have to shear them. There’s almost no local market for wool where I live, and very few shearers. I can shear one sheep if you give me half a day. The process also may require an emergency blood transfusion for the sheep or me, or both. So hair sheep are right for me.
The Katahdins were hardy, docile, successful mothers, great meat producers and formed a good flock. But I wasn’t quite satisfied, and thus my sheep-breeding program began.
I knew that managing our goats was physically much easier than wrangling the sheep, because the goats had horns. That may seem counterintuitive, but in our operation it’s much easier to sort the animals, move them, load them and ship them if you can reach out and grab an animal by the horns. Given that none of our goats or sheep had ever been aggressive toward humans, I didn’t feel that the horns were a safety hazard. Moving adult sheep can be a physical experience akin to no-pad tackle football. The animals weigh 150 to 250 pounds, and there’s a lot of blocking and tackling involved. I never liked football, so I wanted to add handles to our sheep.
The other minor drawback I saw in our Katahdins was that their lambs were slow starters. Many of them took several hours to stand up after they were born, and some of them had soft, floppy ankles for the first two or three days until they could run efficiently. We don’t help the ewes at all during lambing, so I thought we’d benefit from a lamb that was sturdier at birth.
Read more
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Sheep Festival
NY State Sheep And Wool Festival • Dutchess County Fairgrounds 6550 Spring Brook Ave. • Rhinebeck, NY 12572
https://sheepandwool.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/New-York-State-Sheep-and-Wool-Festival-167241523458751/
