About

Us

The Golden Rule of Raising Livestock:

YOU CAN'T MANAGE WHAT YOU CAN'T MEASURE!

OUR SELECTION CRITERIA:

In 2005 we attended a producer-led panel discussion on producing registered breeding stock at the national meeting of the KHSI. We have refined the 20 selection criteria listed by most breeders as being important, into the following three categories for Chigger Ridge:

A) TRAITS ALL ANIMALS MUST POSSESS:

1. Ease of lambing
2. Ewe bonds quickly to multiple lambs
3. Udder soundness
4. Good scrotal size and development
5. Good hoof health
6. Structural soundness
7. No genetic defects

B) TRAITS FOR WHICH WE SELECT IN ADDITION TO ABOVE , AND HOW THAT CHARACTERISTIC IS MEASURED:

8. Prolificacy - high lamb vigor and survival. No matter how good looking a ewe is she will not pay for her upkeep if she does not raise twins consistently after her first year. We keep individual production records on every animal and our goal is a 200% lamb crop from all mature ewes.
9. Parasite Resistance - This breed characteristic we consider absolutely essential to maintain when raising small ruminants in the Southeastern U.S.. We use a combination of fecal egg counts and FAMACHA checks of the eye mucous membrane to gauge anemia caused by worms. If a ewe consistently has lambs showing parasite problems she is placed on the cull list.
10. Growth Potential of Ewe's lambs - 120 day adjusted weight of lambs compared across our flock gives this measurement.
11. Scrapie Resistance -We believe that Scrapie resistance will become more of a consideration under the Federal Plan over the next few years and should not be ignored. See genotyping section of this web site for more details. Our goal is to move toward QR and RR codon 171 (Scrapie resistant) animals without losing important production characteristics.
12. Muscling, Rumen Capacity, Good Feed Conversion - These are combined as one criteria because we use a combination of condition scores, weight, estimate of frame size, and just "sheep judgment" to select for an efficient, well muscled, fast growing animal.
13. Coat Type - We find that many of our buyers of breeding stock prefer the straight all-hair coats as opposed to the fine nap-type hair that some animals display. Production characteristics and rate of gain definitely come first with us, but a ewe with a "C" rated coat is usually moved to our commercial meat production flock unless she is superb in every other respect.

C) TRAITS WE DO NOT CONSIDER IN OUR SELECTION OF BREEDING STOCK DUE TO OUR MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCTION GOALS

14. Milking Ability of Ewe - The pounds of lamb weaned by a ewe each year is a measure of her milk production. Some breeders use 60 day adjusted weight of the lambs as a selection characteristic for this, however it is recognized that this trait is not as "heritable" as the growth potential of the lambs measured by weight at 120 days (see #10 above), so we place emphasis on this latter instead.
15. We Select Against Scurs or Horns - Many breeders do not want this as a characteristic in the Katahdin breed. Injuries to and from them may present health problems. In our experience they are not associated with any other negative production traits however (It affects flavor not in the least!).
16. Early first estrus and conception - With our predominant grass based system there are several reasons why a ewe may not be ideal target weight for her first breeding. If she was a late birth, one of triplets, from a first time mom, or we experienced a bad growing season for pasture - to name a few. Thus, we do not currently cull based on this trait.
17. Off-season breeders - As a grass-based system, we do not require our ewes to breed more than once a year. Thus we do not have any reason to select for off-season breeding. (In fact, it's a pain in the ..)
18. Frame size - We select for efficiency and muscling rather than the largest possible frame size.
19. Disposition - We do not select for or against any particular temperament.
20. Hoof color or coat color - There is no Scientific evidence that either coat or hoof color has any advantage in good production. We do not select for color in any way (I kind of like the brown ones).

LAMBING OUTDOORS

Unlike many sheep breeds, the Katahdin Hair Sheep has very strong maternal instincts, vigorous lambs, and few lambing difficulties. We believe there is simply no reason to lock them indoors to lamb, which increases stress and can lead to an increase in transmissible diseases. We do not "jug" even first time moms and have only had a very few abandoned lambs to date.

WHY WE ARE A FORAGE BASED OPERATION:

There are times when grain may be appropriate to feed. Smaller yearling ewes which are lactating heavily and still growing or mature ewes with triplets may need the extra energy or protein supplied from supplements. Many times our available hay quality is not sufficient for heavily milking ewes. However, graining a flock all the time, can actually be a detriment. Grain fed as sudden large meals may change the pH in the rumen, killing off many beneficial bacteria needed for proper forage utilization and thus actually decreasing an animal's ability to break down forage nutrients. High grain consumption can also lead to foot problems and, in growing animals, may push them too fast for the good bone development needed in long term breeders. At Chigger Ridge we grain only when added energy and protein are needed - usually during lactation. We rely primarily on good forage to maintain our flock's condition. We NEVER dry lot, or feed lot our animals.

MAINTAINING YEAR ROUND FORAGE IN TENNESSEE:

Just because we feed limited grain does not mean we expect the animals to do well on pasture alone year round. Even though the Katahdin is an extremely efficient converter of feed, it is just about impossible to "fatten" any young animal on straight fescue pastures. Fescue is fine for maintenance, but for fast growing lambs they may need some "help" until their growth has slowed slightly, and their rumen has matured. In addition to creep feed when indicated, we plant annuals including rape and turnips for late fall forage, spring wheat for early lactation, buckwheat and chicory for those dry, hot summer months... We constantly experiment with different forage crops. Our permanent cool season perennial pastures are a combination of fescue, orchard grass, and clover with sericea lespedeza and purple top grass for warm season growth. We find the Katahdin breed also does a fair amount of foraging in our woods if given the opportunity. Our goal is to reduce stored hay usage and supplemental feeding to a minimum in favor of mostly year round green forage.