Lazy Willow Sheep
When Ben got his first bit of land to play with, he wanted some animals. I think we started with goats (just a mother and her two kids). This didn't work out for us. Then we tried chickens. Lots and lots and lots of chickens. It took maybe three years for us to finally realize that chickens didn't work at Lazy Willow either.
Sheep to the rescue!
Maybe a year into the chickens, Ben wanted to try sheep, too. He's a researcher and found a breed called Katahdin. Here's a bit about them:
The Katahdin is a unique breed of sheep developed to produce meat
efficiently and economically. In the 1950’s, Michael Piel of Maine saw a
need for a hardy meat sheep which would not require shearing. To
achieve this, Mr. Piel imported a small number of Virgin Island sheep to
cross with some of his existing flock of traditional sheep. His goal
was to combine the hardiness, prolificacy and shedding hair coat of the
Virgin Island sheep with the carcass conformation and growth rate of the
British breeds. After 20 years of cross-breeding, Mr. Piel eventually
assembled a flock he called Katahdin, named after Mt. Katahdin in Maine.
Katahdins are a hardy breed
that adapt well to various pasture situations. Two to four sheep may be
raised on an acre of average pasture. The sheep are non-selective
grazers and will readily feed on “nuisance plants”. Therefore, they are
great for keeping weeds to a minimum.
