katahdin dorper hair sheep in oregon

This White Dorper fullblood came in 2007, I needed to change my ram selection. Looking at Dorpers I found disease and foot problems. I sold all my rams. I thought buying another ram would not be hard. My herd health restrictions and the time of year proved difficult in finding another ram. The original breeder of my Dorsets, whom I trust, offered me this older ram that was a fullblood White Dorper. I sheared him off and put some weight on him and even though he was older, he was healthy, fit and experienced for my ewes. Botha produced some very nice, fast growing lambs. Poor shedding was the only fault in this ram. Bred to a wool sheep, not an issue. For me, with AA coat Katahdins, it worked against the good coat genetics in my Katahdin ewes. This ram had nice temperament while he displayed a gentle nature. His lambs were well muscled, heavier with faster growth compared to the full Katahdins. So this was a good match, except for his poor shedding factor. The ewes he produced paired with a fast shed AA hair coat ram, produced lambs that all fast shed. Those are the strong dominant coats genetics we select and breed for.

2010-Undoubtly the hardest decision ever...which ram lamb to keep to breed back to the ewe lambs? All the breeding ram lambs show fast growth, good bone and muscle, excellent fast shedding hair coats. Good temperament. Healthy, no foot trims, no shots, no wormers, low maintenance. This ram on the left is our pick. He is also the most unrelated to the ewe lambs and out of Herd Sire 2 and ewe N5. So that was the deciding factor. This ram lamb is extremely calm and solid. Beautiful snow white AA hair coat, all hair, no wool. He is 7 months old and in with same age ewe lambs (half sisters), they should lamb at 1 year of age in May 2011.

June 2011 Update-Lambs arrived right on schedule. Herd Sire III is potent and timely. The ewe lambs cycled at the same time, all 8 yearlings lambed in 5 days. Produced nice quality lambs, all healthy and all proved to be good mothers. 5 sets of twins and 3 singles.

Herd Sire 3 (2010). We are selectively breeding to promote these good genetics in all our lambs while choosing the fastest growing rams that will pass on that same good growth while also selecting for the best hair coats that fast shed in the spring. We are using our best ram lambs on our best ewe lambs while using our two main herd sires on our foundation ewes. Our oldest ewes are 8 now and our youngest 6th and 7th generation are 15 months and 5 months. We are getting enough exceptional rams that it makes the decision hard as to which ones we should keep. We are still producing our beautiful lustrous hair coats from our Honey Gen I and II line. The silky diamond sheen is gorgeous and we will continue to research those lines since this is our cross and came out of our own genetics. Update as of October 2018. I believe our lustrous line is related to the East Friesian genetics. They are proving top milking ewes with perfect bags/teats and producing triplets consecutive years with excellent mothering while feeding all three lambs with fast growth and top weight gains.

Pigee born April (2012) at 7 months in photo-Fast growing heavy ram lamb, 140 pounds at 5 months. ALL grassfed. He has a soft curly winter coat that fast sheds to a fine silky smooth hair that resembles his dam's fiber with same lustre and shedding characteristics. His healthy lambs arrived in April 2013. Most of the ewes had one twin that resembled Pigee with pink skin tones showing through a short smooth coat. The other twin resembled a white hair coat. The Pigee lambs have silky lustrous hair like Pigee. They look like wool lambs sheared off while smooth and compact. We will hold back the Pigee ewe lambs this year to see how their coats do over winter and shed in the spring. Pigee covered all 17 ewes in 2 weeks. All lambs were born healthy. Pigee's dam, Honey Gen 2, had lambs out of Hulk this year since we don't breed mother to son. She produced a lustrous coat ram and ewe lamb. Pigee is low maintenance with hooves needing no trims, they are slow growing compact and short. He has a deep belly and carries his weight well while solid with good muscle and thrives on grass with no shots, wormers or meds. He fast shed in March. He resembles his sire Hulk. He's broad in the chest. Thick over his loin. He has the same black tear drop on his lower eyelid like his dam. Honey Gen II has a dam that is a half sister to Hulk, Honey Gen 1, she and Hulk are half sibblings (on dam's side) same sire Botha. Linebreeding on the White Dorper genetics brought back some of Botha's good characteristics. Our ewe's strong coat genetics keep balance with the heavier White Dorper body characteristics while we are adding good muscle and bone we're keeping our good hair coats that totally shed.

Misteree born April 2012-Fast growing heavy ram, 137 pounds at 5 months, ALL grassfed. Soft winter coat that fast sheds to a smooth short hair coat that resembles his registered Katahdin dam's AA hair coat. Misteree's lambs will arrive in late September 2013. He was held back to breed his half sisters from April 2012. This ram fast matured at only 4 months, large scrotum, dominant ram disposition. I trained him, teaching him to submit at only 2 months with such a strong bold personality and he became very calm using his dominant stance with me while holding his tail high when greeted. He was rock solid at that point. He is a Hulk son. His sire is 30 inches at the withers and Misteree is 29 inches (as a yearling). Misteree is low maintenance. He has a deep belly and carries his weight well while solid with good muscle and thrives on grass. He fast shed in March. He resembles his Hulk sire being broad and wide with a full chest while thicker in the rear. Extra thick over his loin. He resembles the Dorper and is proportionate in shoulders to hind quarters in width. When put in with the yearling ewes he was confident and mannerly. He has proven to have good manners and nice temperament and has grown into a handsome yearling with excellent breeding character and desireable characteristics to go on for future generations. His dam is 9 yrs old now and produced twins this spring (2014). She has birthed twins every year since a yearling. Mist is the most unrelated ewe to all our ewes. So Misteree is the best ram to pair with his half sisters. Update 2013/2014: Misteree and his half sisters produced beautiful lambs. Healthy, robust with good stamina and desireable breed characterisitics.

This year we sold all our ram lambs for breeding early in the year. We held Peatee back for our lustrous and white coat ewe lambs. He's a half brother. We have done well linebreeding. No issues. We produced even better quality ram lambs this year using all three herd sires. Butchee is a nice thick ram lamb that is going out with some of our lustrous ewes as a natural herd. Those ram lambs will be featured here in October 2014...They are top quality ram lambs that match our herd sire standards.

On Left-Peatee (2014) at 5 1/2 mos. Heavy bone and muscle with perfect AA hair coat. Nice length in cannon bone with a deep belly thick through the loin with good definition at all stops. He is alert and inquisitive around humans and animals while displaying a nice even temperament. Peatee will sire lambs out of our 2014 ewe lambs this year. Lambs will arrive around May, 2015. Peatee's dam is Bertha (BB) and his sire is Herd Sire 5/Misteree. We will repeat our 2013 breedng line-up while adding Peatee in this year so we can cross over to our N4 and Herd Sire III genetics from 2011. On Right-April 2015 photo taken of our three Herd Sires. 24 to 27 inch necks on Misteree and Pigee. Wide chest and rear with heavy bone. Peatee is a yrling this yr and holding his own with his sire Misteree and Misteree's half brother, Pigee.

Pigee is massive (at top). His neck is over 24 inches and his genetics prove good bone with heavy muscling in his fast growing lambs. His lamb's coats are soft and beautiful. Peatee (at top on right) produced solid gorgeous lambs as well in 2014 while bred as a ram lamb. He will breed those same ewes in 2015. Montese (bottom left red collar) is out of Mohawk/Pigee and will be bred back to our N2 line to bring out Botha again. Beu (bottom right) will pass on his exceptionally nice N4 characteristics to our N2 lambs. We hope to go heavy this year on our N4 lines using Beu on our Misteree ewes also. Montese weighed in at 136 pounds at only 4 months 18 days. Beu weighed in at 107.4 pounds at only 4 months 10 days. He is Hulk's last ram lamb, so Mr. Perfecto is of course, very special with Hulk retired this year. Beu's dam N4 is going another 2 yrs before retirement and was Hulk's favorite ewe, while bred first every year. She has produced, since a yrling, all ewe lambs and at 8 yrs, this is her first ram lamb with a ewe twin. We sold ewe lambs this year we would like to have kept back for breeding while we have sold half our ewe base the last 2 years. We sold Honey Gen III-Lime and PW #0190 to Misteree's buyer this year. We held back only 6 ewe lambs which made more room for our heavy ram base this year. Some of those ram lambs will sell as yrlings in 2016 for breeding.

Montese left-94 pounds 74 days 136 # 4 mo 18 days. Beu-right-
66 pounds 66 days early weaned reaching 104 pounds 4 mo...both rams fast growing, over a pound a day. Mohawk (2009) is half Botha aging well & producing heavy fastest growing lambs, all triplets and twins since first lambing at 1 year of age. She is herd matriarch following her mother Boss, who was a 10 yr old Mist sister. N4 is aging well while producing all top quality breeding ewes over her 8 years of twins. With her first ram twin this yr, we hope to pass on those excellent genetics. His twin sister has the same beautiful AA hair coat and desireable breed characteristics we strive for.

Butch Cassidy (2018) (Left) Weighed 97 pounds at 96 days, 125 pounds at 4 1/2 months, he just hit 137 pounds close to six months. He has a perfect AA hair coat, mild temperament while holding his own with Tuco, Peatee and Montese, he's a thick heavy solid ram lamb that has been fast growing from birth. His dam Butcha is 9 years old and still breeding with a good bag. She is out of our N1 ewe and Hulk Herd Sire II.

Peatee, Tuco and Montese (Right)
grazing over the hot summer after 4Stack sold. Beautiful coats and they maintained well on all grass.

Tuco (Left) as a yearling was held back as a fast growing ram lamb with Montese, 4Stack and Chunga. 105.6 pounds at 4 months. He is out of Meeka (N2 grand dam) and Peatee. Nice wide, thick chest and rear he has filled out nicely at maturity. Strong solid ram with a calm nice temperament that keeps a good balance for Herd Sires Montese and Peatee who are both very dominant. 4Stack is also proving dominant and will sell in 2018 going to a new home with his own ewes to run with year round. We will hold back another ram lamb in 2018 for our 2018 ewe lambs.

Circle of Rain (2019) Thick heavy ram lamb from birth on. Solid, large, built like his larger dam, Rainbow #0196 (N4 x Pigee). She is up in age now still breeding, good bag as of 2020. Excellent mother and we held back one of her daughters in 2015, #0262 to take her place when she has to retire. Rainbow II daughter is thick and heavy with top breed characteristics while more of a Pigee lustrous coat she has produced beautiful white lustrous coats in her heavy lambs so far. We are holding her triplet ewe twin daughters back this year. We will keep Circle of Rain for breeding even though he has two triplet full sisters in the breeding lineup this year. While closed about 14 yrs now, we have chosen breeding sires that have no full sisters breeding in our herd. With Rainbow foundation ewe retiring soon in the future due to old age, it's important to keep her offspring now. As well as N4 lines, which N4 foundation ewe passed at 10 yrs, we have her daughter at 9 yrs now, who will be retiring along with Rainbow in the next year or two. N4-Foursome has a ram lamb that was fast growing and heavy at weaning. White Cloud has the bright white coat with short tight soft hair fibers that lay smoothe and slick across his body. Exceptional coat genetics while he was 103 pounds at weaning, 3 months 10 days. He will stay this year also. Circle of Rain weighed in at 92 pounds at 88 days. 164 pounds at 6 months. Put him on bland grass in the small fruit orchard through winter 2020 while so massive still growing and gaining. The smaller fruit orchard graze depleted over winter and he was taken off all alfalfa hay to lean him out. He still maintained good mass with heavy muscle. He is impressive in that regard. He doesn't require much feed for his heavy mass and muscle maintenance. Characteristic of his dam and sire. Which proves again, these valuable genetics are inherent. He has the same temperament as Misteree. Very proud and regal, while he stands quiet and reserved when I interact with him. He will stop eating or moving the minute I touch him. He is not tolerant of other sires dominating him. He reacts instantly. He never picks a fight, independent and on his way unless challenged. He's the total ram package. Named from the small black circle on his left elbow.

This registered Katahdin ram produced well muscled lambs with all white AA fast shedding hair coats that first shed at only 4 months of age. We wanted good coats so we looked for a long time to find this ram. The fast shedding quality is desirable if you want clean shorter hair over the body without longer hair left over the top line or other parts of the body. Some sheep may shed out completely at a later age but we like to keep sheep that will totally shed off within the first year. Our sheep with the best coats, all hair and no wool mix, they shed fairly quickly. You cannot pull hair out that is still attached. While other parts of the sheep are clean shed, there can be areas where the hair or hair/wool blend is still attached. Some breeders shear off their sheep so they are uniform looking without tuffs of hair hanging or sticking up. As a breeder, I strive to get the clean shedding sheep so no shearing or maintenance is required. These are genetic traits that I select for to get the best coats in my hair sheep, all hair and fast shedding within the first year.

This registered Katahdin ram was a heavy thick ram with a perfect disposition. His idea of a good time was to play with Niki, our German shepherd. He produced gorgeous lambs with fast shedding white hair coats at only 4 months of age. Gentle with the ewes and new born lambs and loved people. The market started turning around with Katahdins in 2007. Registered stock selling for $300 and up started going down in price or not selling at all. With so many hobby breeders raising this breed for pets the market became flooded with hair sheep. They cost very little while many of those breeders didn't want to pay for registration or work to improve the breed by keeping track of lineage and finding desirable breeding prospects for bettering the breed. Commercial breeders didn't see them as the new sheep of the future, but small sheep, with poor weight gains which resulted in poor profit. Most of the large sheep producers in my area have gone out of sheep, with feed costs soaring and the U.S. sheep market squeezed by imports from New Zealand, they moved on with no regrets.

This 1/4 White Dorper- 3/4 Katahdin is only 19 months in this picture as of November 2009. He has everything we like in a ram, he is the total package. He was used on full Katahdin ewes while Herd Sire II has been used on unrelated White Dorper cross ewes. Attractive all white hair coat that fast sheds early spring. Proportionate body, short tail, thicker leg that is medium length which supports his heavier upper body while still proving agile. Good muscle and nice definition. Clean head, neck, stomach, tail underside and clean legs while still sporting a clean all hair winter coat. Sturdy feet with hooves that don't require trims that maintain well on their own. Excellent health, he has required no shots, medications or wormers. Browses well and eats a variety of feeds while maintaining a thick build. Sound temperament with humans, dogs and other sheep, displays good habits. Excellent breeding ram, very attentive and dependable. Always displays a nice calm nature with the ewes. Potent and timely. Ewes lamb close together with multiple healthy lambs. Consistenly produces nice quality lambs and his lambs show his dominant good characteristics. .

This 1/2 White Dorper 1/2 registered Katahdin ram lamb was born on our farm 2009, a Triplet Mohawk brother. HULK grew to become our Herd Sire II. Botha is his fullblood White Dorper sire. Mist is his full Katahdin dam and just turned 8 yrs old in spring 2012. He was our fastest growing ram lamb in 2009. He is muscular with a nice top, has wide hind legs with good volume with a nice chest floor and good belly capacity. With a strong structure complimented with heavy mass and muscular definition, he displays good agility with a nice even brisk gate. Sire II has thick bone nice forearm, is level from hip to pin bone. Good cannon bone. When he walks he stops wide which depicts good muscle on the inside of his legs. He maintains well on pasture year round while keeping a nice fat cover. He has excellent temperament, he is calm and confident with humans, sheep and dogs. His coat is exceptional. With a short soft wool undercoat mixed with hair top coat, he sheds early February/March every spring. His white summer coat is all hair. With cooler nights he will grow a nice soft down undercoat. It makes an excellent winter coat that endures freezing temperatures and heavy rains. Sire II along with our ewes have produced some of the fastest growing ram lambs over the last two years in all our lambing history.

Our rams are an intricate part of our breeding program. They receive good care year round, same as our ewes. A closed herd demands healthy, quality breeding stock since outside ram/ewe replacements are not an option. Bringing in one new sheep doesn't qualify as a closed herd and opens up a flock and your property to unwanted diseases. If you quarantine infected sheep, you still may not have an outbreak of the disease during quarantine since OPP, CL and Johne's wasting diseases can be latent in coming out. Even with a 6 mo to 12 mo quarantine. Some diseases, like footrot and scald, they also may be hard to detect in sale sheep. An outbreak may be dependent on the right weather conditions, stress or other factors not present at time of sale. Carrier sheep that don't show signs of any disease at sale can infect whole herds and property when they have a disease outbreak after purchase. Ask the breeder for a flock health report when you inquire about their sheep. We use selective breeding to get the best breeding stock we can. We look for desirable dominant characteristics that are being passed on for generations. A handsome big meaty ram prancing about the property doesn't impress me as much as his handsome big meaty lambs he has produced showing his dominant desirable traits. Good genetics that present themselves, not only in the parents, but the lambs as well, that's the dominant genes we select for. In the hidden gene pool, you can have undesirable traits as well. That's why we selectively breed using our best rams and best ewes that consistently reproduce themselves.

Katahdin/White Dorper Rams