I just got off the phone from talking to a fellow Katahdin sheep breeder in the Smiths Falls area of Ontario. He tells me he sells the fresh lamb at a local farmers market for $7.50 a lb and that is not for the best cuts even! Apparantly, someone else is at the same market selling "regular" lamb, which has a lot more fat. Customers are simply crossing the street to buy the Katahdin lamb which is obviously so much leaner.
Another Katahdin breeder I talked to recently, tells me that Muslims prefer Katahdins as during the "Halal" kill, (which is similar to the Jewish "Kosher") the meat is less likely to be contaminated by the wool.
As prices at the livestock markets are low right now, it might make sense for us to sell the meat directly to the public. We generally sell the live lambs, rather than having them butchered first.
Did you also know that Katahdin sheep are the only breed where not a single case of scrapie has been recorded? They seem to be resistant, and it does not appear to have anything to do with the scrapie resistant gene types, as even those Katahdins who do not possess the scrapie resistant gene are not getting scrapie after being exposed to it in a provincial study.
I have a sheep farm in Eastern Ontario. We raise Katahdin sheep which are a hair type and do not need shearing. They are for meat- not fibre. We also have a herd of about 14 llamas. All our animals are raised in as natural a way as possible. We do not use pesticides or artificial fertilizers and feed our own hay. We cannot use the term "organic: as there is no "organically" approved lamb slaughter facility in Eastern Ontario.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Baby llamas
Four new baby llamas were born last week. Two males and two females-all fit and healthy and growing well. One was from a first time mother, but she did not have any problems wtih birthing or feeding. Young llamas are called "crias".
Pictures coming as soon as I get round to taking some!
One is all black, two are black with white socks and "tuxedo" fronts and one is a red brown with a white star.
Pictures coming as soon as I get round to taking some!
One is all black, two are black with white socks and "tuxedo" fronts and one is a red brown with a white star.
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