Lambs were selected based on hair coat, meat-type conformation, high fertility, and flocking instinct. Michael Piel imported selected St. Croix sheep, chosen by Dr. Richard Marshall Bond (Director of the Virgin Islands branch of the U.S.D.A), and crossed … The Katahdin sheep is a breed of domestic sheep from United States. The Katahdin is a breed of domestic sheep developed in Maine, United States and named after Mount Katahdin - the state’s highest peak. Katahdin sheep are a breed of hair sheep developed in the United States, a small but growing element of the sheep industry in North America. The Katahdin's popularity in the USA has increased in recent years due to low wool prices and high shearing costs. In October 1975, Piel imported a handful of Wiltshire Horn sheep from Wales via Canada. The first crosses were born in 1976. Piel imported “African Hair Sheep,” as they were called then, to Maine from St. Croix in November 1957. Almost all of our African Hair-cross ewes bred at the first period in April and produced lambs in September and October. His first intentions related to establishing a sheep enterprise were to use sheep to graze power lines instead of … The Katahdin breed has proven to be adaptable, easy to manage and efficient—no wonder it is a “breed whose time has come.”. The Katahdin's hair[further explanation needed] can come in any color, as the emphasis of the breed is on production rather than appearance. Hundreds of Katahdins have been exported to Central and South America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom. 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 selected from his large flock approximately 120 of the best ewes and called them “Katahdin” sheep after Mt. * Assist in promotion and marketing Commercial flocks of Katahdin and Katahdin cross ewes have become more popular for efficient, low input meat lamb production. * Encourage research and development related to the breed. Over roughly twenty years of crossbreeding and careful selection, he … I feel that this possibility of producing lambs throughout the year, as well as providing sheep that would not have to be sheared, which many of our producers consider a disadvantage since shearers are very difficult to obtain here, might encourage some of the local livestock men to obtain a flock of sheep along with their beef cattle operation. Over 20 years later, at the end of 2008, KHSI has registered and recorded over 75000 animals and has had a membership averaging 500 members throughout North America since 2000. All were less than a year of age, born triplets, unrelated for many generations, and wool-less with wool-less siblings. After almost 20 years of crossing the resulting hybrids “in every conceivable combination” and selecting the individuals with the desired combination of traits, Piel eventually collected a flock of ewes he called KATAHDINS, named after Mt. “From the time Michael was in high school and had a small flock of Suffolks, he was fascinated by sheep, their history and management. Other traits being studied at research institutions include out-of-season breeding, prolificacy and fertility factors, carcass quality and meat flavor, and growth performance. He eventually made contact with Richard Bond of the U.S. [citation needed], https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Katahdin_sheep&oldid=928376126, Sheep breeds originating in the United States, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from October 2018, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 28 November 2019, at 18:14. John Glenn wrote to Michael Piel January 17, 1966: “We have never had any difficulty with low fertility from the African Hair rams or the crossbred ewes when breeding in April and May, or in fact, in any of the seasons. His first intentions related to establishing a sheep enterprise were to use sheep to graze power lines instead of spraying or mowing the vegetation. Katahdin, the highest peak in the state of Maine. When Katahdins are crossed with wool sheep, their offspring will usually have a mix of predominantly wool with some hair. The development of the breed began in the late 1950’s with the importation of a small number of haired sheep from the Caribbean by Michael Piel of Maine. Katahdin hair sheep provide a practical option to … Katahdin Sheep work very well in a variety of production situations as a low-maintenance, easy care sheep. What are Katahdin Sheep? One is almost pure hair, with just a patch of wool on top of the shoulders and a little bit on the gaskin area. There are 100 million hair sheep around the world—10% of the world’s sheep population—of which 90% are in Africa and 10% are in Latin America and the Caribbean. Her conformation is really quite good, I think. Michael Piel wrote back in January 22, 1966: “It occurs to me that it would not be completely out of the question for an Agricultural College such as yours to obtain a financial grant from some such outfit as the DuPont people to pursue the development of a wool-less breed of sheep. Then I can cull back the flock drastically and start from scratch.”. The rest were bred to miscellaneous part-African ram lambs in hopes that the law of chance would shake up the genes a little bit. His first intentions related to establish… Dr. Glenn saw a great deal of potential in the crosses and offered a ¼-blood Native ram to Piel to reduce inbreeding pressure (though this did not materialize). 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.
Green Ash Tree Flowers, Journal Of Family Practice Abbreviation, Ramnarain Ruia College Merit List 2020, Stir Fry Cod Fish Chinese Recipe, Mccormick Pure Ground Black Pepper, 16 Oz, Shapton 16000 Uk, Sweet Potato Pudding Cake,
