The development of the breed began in the late 1950's with the importation of a small number of haired sheep from the Caribbean by Michael Piel of Maine. The Piel Farm had several thousand sheep atthe time and Piel felt that "progress in selection for traits important to the productionof meat would be greatlyenhanced by the elimination of wool as a major factor for selection." His goal wasto combine the hair coat, prolificacy, and hardiness of the Virgin Island sheep with the meat conformation and rate of growth of wooled breeds. He began to experiment with crosses between the hair sheep and various British breeds, especially Suffolk. After almost 20 years of crossing the resulting hybrids "in every conceivable combination" and selecting the individuals with the desired combination of traits, Piel eventually collected a flock of ewes he called KATAHDINS, named after Mt.Katahdin in Maine. During the mid 1970's the Wiltshire Horn, a shedding breed from England, was incorporated into the flock to add size and improve carcass quality.

From this original flock, new breeders have been able to expand the number of Katahdin sheep in North America and many other countries, and select carefully for hair coat, carcass quality, and reproductive efficiency. In 1986, a breeders organization, Katahdin Hair Sheep International (KHSI) was formed.

Lamb for the freezer is available for purchase. Contact us today!