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Crossing dairy into meat sheep
Posted by Catherine in VA at 2015-07-18 17:01:54
I'm looking to start a flock of meat sheep as my next big project. An acquaintence has Kathadin and sometimes sells lambs to the butcher that they process and sell in their storefront. The meat gets good reviews.

I need to look for a ram elsewhere as the bloodlines are too close. I've toyed with the idea of dairy sheep for a long time. The purebred females are waaaaaay out of my budget. I thought that if I have to buy a ram, maybe I'd buy an East Fresian Ram and breed some milk into the herd that way. Does anyone know if that would have a negative impact on the quality of the meat in the resulting bucklings (ram-lings? Lol)
Response by d siders at 2015-07-18 21:30:43
we have meet sheep wool sheep that is tunis and dorsett, I would not recommend adding any dairy to your ewes, if they are heavy milkers you could be fighting mastitis and other issues from the heavy milk production, also the dairy ewes will take more energy to maintain, just my 2 cents worth.
Response by Dave Frieden iowa at 2015-07-18 22:21:39
I don't know what those dairy sheep look like but normally speaking adairy animal won't help your carcass quality.I have about 50 Katahdin and Katahdin dorper cross ewes. We looked at royal whites but could not find affordable quality animals close enough to us so we found a pair of twin brother Katahdin to go on this year. We eat ours and really like their meat.
Response by Billy Foster at 2015-07-19 18:46:09
Look into the three tiered system used in the UK often called mules.
Billy
Response by Bill Smith at 2015-07-21 08:13:41
If you want to cross on Katahdin then forget the dairy sheep and get a ram with the best meat conformation of whatever breed you can find. Breed for carcass quality. You won't have a milk quantity issue as far as raising lambs. Keep breeding the wool out and the carcass quality in. And don't for a second buy into the idea that hair sheep are somehow "resistant" to worms. It's pure salesmanship.
Response by Catherine In VA at 2015-07-21 12:38:08
The idea with dairy sheep was to do sheep's milk products at some point. Sounds like breeding in the milk is the wrong way to go about it. Hadn't occured to me that it would cause issues with too much milk.

I hadn't heard of Kathadin being more worm resistant. The appeal for me was it's a breed available locally and I can hopefully reduce the amount of shearing necessary. Although, I do acknowledge that cross breeding will mostly negate that advantage.
Response by kevin fort causeway at 2015-07-21 19:05:41
If you want dairy sheep buy East Friesan. If you want to diversify genetics and stay away from wool find a Dorper ram. Katahdin/Dorper cross fleshes out fantastic.
Response by Bill Smith at 2015-07-22 07:15:56
Read any of the breed advertisements and sooner or later you'll run into claims of hair breeds being "more worm resistant". I don't see a bit of difference on our farm. OTOH, even a 1st gen cross with a hair breed sill gives you an animal that sheds it's coat 7 times out of 10, but it may be their 2nd year before they do it. At least that's the way it works out here. By the 3rd and 4th gen they shed out fine.

I agree with Kevin on the Kat/Dorp cross, but with the qualifier that you use a GOOD Dorp ram with GOOD meat conformation. There are skinny Dorpers out there with poor conformation. Always, always, always remember the ram is half your herd.
Response by Catherine in VA at 2015-07-22 16:24:50
The friendliest sheep I ever met was a Dorper wether. I was buying a few individuals of another breed at a farm and arrived to find the sellers hadn't corralled them. While they were chasing those sheep all over creation, the Dorper wether was following me around like a dog. Are they typically a more mellow breed?
Response by Bird at 2015-07-29 13:51:07
I'm a mule sheep breeder. Can't say enough good about them. It's the heart of the UK system and a great option for the small farmer here.

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