Katahdin Hair Sheep

We use Katahdin and Katahdin-cross sheep for herding with our Corgis and Border Collies.  Docile Katahdins flock readily, making them ideal beginning and intermediate sheep for herding training.

Katahdins are hair sheep, which means that they have hair coats like goats, rather than wool. Some, particularly the crossbreds, put on woolly winter coats which are shed in the spring. The hair coat is a great advantage when working dogs on sheep in summer, as the sheep are less likely to overheat.  It also saves the headaches and expense of arranging shearing for a small hobby flock.   

This is our six year old Sterling and his friend Cappucino, one of our purebred Katahdin ewes, showing the correct hair coat. Cappucino had a wonderful color as a baby, a rich cafe au lait with silver brown leggings and white face markings. She has changed with maturity to a pale cream and white.

Katahdins are hornless and have a natural tail, about 8" in length, which does not need to be docked.(The woollie crosses in our flock are docked to prevent health problems from manure accumulating under the tail.) They are a middle-sized docile breed, usually producing twins or triplets.  Katahdin lambs come in every color you can think of, including our favorite -- spots!  Although commercial breeders are favoring white Katahdins, we enjoy the fun of having lambs with character.

 
(c) 2007 Elizabeth Amend Trail and Coltsfoot Pembroke Welsh Corgis