Sunday, September 11, 2016

For Katahdin Sheep For Sale Kentucky Is The Way To Go

By Joseph Davis


The start of the development process of Katahdin sheep was in 1950s. Michael Piel of Maine receives the credit for developing the breed. The initial development occurred on the Piel Farm, which had many thousands of sheep at the moment. Other breeders adopted the breed from Piel Farm, and today, its population in the United States keeps growing. Therefore, when in search for Katahdin sheep for sale Kentucky offers a good place to prioritize. Breeders in Kentucky are careful with their breeding practices so that they produce high-quality animals for sale. The breeders offer reasonable prices.

The development of the new breed was motivated by the realization of the fact that to develop the best animals for meat, some changes were needed. The change related with how selection was done so that instead of depending on wool as the main factor for selection, other factors should instead be prioritized. In his endeavor, Piel intended to combine the good characteristics in Virgin Island sheep and those in wool breeds.

Virgin Island sheep possessed hardiness, prolificacy, and hair coat that Piel wanted. So, Piel set out to combine the characteristics in Virgin Island animals with the rate of growth and meat conformation of wool breeds. The experimentation began with crossing hair breeds and other British breeds, particularly Suffolk.

The experimentation would go on for almost the next twenty years, involving breeding and selection of animals with the desired combination of traits. After these years, Piel was able to come up with a flock of ewes he named katahdins. The naming was done after Mount Katahdin in the state of Maine. To improve carcass quality and size of the animal, the Wiltshire Horn was introduced into the flock in the 1970s.

The population of katahdins countrywide and worldwide has been increased a lot from the original flock developed at the Piel Farm. The expansion is performed with careful selection for carcass quality, hair coat, and reproductive efficiency. The formation of KHSI was done in 1986. The purpose of KNSI was to register individual Katahdins, assist with marketing and promotion, encourage research and development towards betterment of the breed, and to record performance.

Registration of animals is only done after an inspection has been conducted to prove conformance with breed standards. Also, the animal must be one year of age and the breeder must also be a KNSI member. Only members of KNSI can request for inspection to have their animals registered. Animals lambed by 100 percent purebred parents usually do not need to be inspected if the parents were not born before 1/1/1998.

There are several qualities in katahdins that are way superior over those in other breeds. Compared to other breeds, this breed has been proven to be more resistant to parasitic attacks. Individual maintain good health and growth even in the face of parasitic attack. Similarly, the breed is more heat resistant.

Other qualities that researchers compare among breeds include fertility factors, prolificacy, meat flavor, growth performance, carcass quality, and out-of-season breeding. The breed is particularly known for its superior meat flavor, which is favored by people around the world. The breed produces one of the best meats ever.




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