Beekissed
Mountain Sage
OK @Beekissed and @baymule what is the parasite/deworming deal with sheep? Similar to goats? And no grain necessary for Katahdins?
My husband goes wow... You seriously really want these darn sheep don't you? Haha! He's getting his bees in the spring, and I downsized my goat herd to 6 so I consider this a fair deal!
plus he is the one who insists on breeding pigs and heritage turkeys!
Now, here's where it gets subjective. I like to use natural means for deworming and I don't do it on a frequent schedule...I feel like that just breeds resistant worms but not resistant sheep.
Here's a good place to learn about sheep of all kinds: http://www.sheep101.info/201/parasite.html
And the info there describes the best way to combat parasites in sheep. though I don't agree with all of it~I never agree with aggressive deworming...it's a multidirectional approach if one is to have long term success.
From what I've read from most of the goat owners on BYH, they favor short term solutions such as meds and worming schedules over the long term solutions such as culling for resistance, rotational grazing, etc, so not sure where your mind goes when you are thinking of a comparison between sheep and goats.
Here's a few excerpts from the articles to be found on that link..and a few mention Katahdins specifically in the entire article.
Genetics is probably the best long term strategy for controlling internal parasites in sheep. Some sheep breeds are naturally more resistant and resilient to internal parasites. They include the Florida (or Gulf Coast) Native and hair sheep breeds with tropical origins: St. Croix, Barbados Blackbelly (and its derivatives), and Katahdin. Grazing resistant breeds of sheep with susceptible breeds, may act to “sweep” pastures and reduce contamination to susceptible animals.
Regardless of the breed raised, producers can breed sheep which are more resistant to parasites by culling ewes that are persistently affected by parasites and favoring parasite resistant ewes and rams in their selection programs. Both fecal egg counts and FAMACHA© scores can be used to identify sheep with resistant and susceptible genetics.
In the past, sheep producers relied heavily on anti-parasitic drugs called "anthelmintics" to control internal parasites in their flocks. But the long-time use and in some cases misuse of these drugs has resulted in parasites that have become increasingly resistant to anthelmintics. Drug resistance has been documented in all three drug families and is most commonly reported with ivermectin and the benzimidazoles. Some farms are experiencing complete anthelmintic failure.
In the U.S., few anthelmintics are FDA-approved for use in sheep and lambs, and no new drugs are likely to be developed. As a result, producers must develop more integrated programs for controlling parasites, which do not rely exclusively on drug therapy. They must also learn to use drugs more judiciously.
As to the grains...that's subjective too. Some only give grains to hair sheep during periods of flushing, some don't even do it then if they are breeding and lambing when forage is optimal. The farmer I got my hair sheep from said he used to raise woollies and always supplemented with grain feeds but when he tried to do it with his hair sheep, they quickly lost condition and started having health problems, hoof problems, parasite increase, etc. He stopped supplementing grains except for periods of flushing at that point and his sheep started to recover their natural hardiness.
I gave very minimal grain feed to mine and only for a very short time each time, for flushing, but soon discovered that the pure Katahdin sheep did better on just grass and hay, while the St. Croix/Kat cross ewes didn't maintain as fat and sleek a body on the same simple grass based feed as the pure Kats during breeding/lambing/nursing.
To deworm or not to deworm, what to use to do it, to feed grain supplement or not during flushing...all these things are something one decides on their own after much study on the matter and even experimenting with their own stock on which way is best.
Here's a place that raises Kats that describe a little of how they manage their health and feeding: http://www.mistyoakskatahdins.com/management.htm