Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Katahdin
The Katahdin is a hair-sheep breed that originated in Maine. In 1957 Michael
Piel, an amateur geneticist who enjoyed raising livestock, read an article in
National
Geographic
about West African hair sheep. He eventually imported
three African hair sheep from St. Croix and began experimenting with vari-
ous crosses, trying to develop a hair breed with a good conformation for meat
production, high fertility, and good fl ocking instincts. By the 1970s, Piel felt
he had the sheep he was looking for and named the breed Katahdin, after Mt.
Katahdin, the highest peak in Maine.
Katahdins are hardy, adaptable, and low maintenance. Docile and easy to
handle, these medium-sized sheep produce good lamb crops with lean, meaty
carcasses. Ewes have good mothering ability and lamb easily, and the breed is
considered to be ideal for an extensive pasture-lambing system.
Lacaune
The Lacaune is a dairy breed from the south of France; its milk is used to
make that region's famous Roquefort cheese. The sheep were imported (via
embryos) in 1996 for use in the growing sheep dairy sector.
The Lacaunes produce less milk than the East Friesians, but they have
exceptional udder health. They have been selected for machine milking, so
mastitis (an infectious infl ammation of the udder) is very rare. The ewes are
healthy and quite calm.
Leicester Longwool (or English Leicester)
The Leicester Longwool (or English Leicester) was originally bred by Robert
Bakewell in the 1700s for early maturity and improved mutton quality and
quantity. Bakewell was a leader in the development of selective breeding prac-
tices for livestock and is said to have been infl uenced by the work of both
Mendel and Darwin.
Leicester Longwools were imported into the United States early, with ref-
erences made to the breed in some of George Washington's correspondence.
Although it was once very popular in England and in the Americas, by the
1980s the breed was almost extinct in both areas. Although still rare, these
sheep have made a bit of a comeback in the United States, largely through
the work of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Coach and Livestock
Department. In the late 1980s, Colonial Williamsburg imported some pure-
bred Leicester Longwools from Australia, where the breed's numbers hadn't
dipped quite so low.
