About us

Katahdin hair sheep, a sustainable land management solution!

Our story began in 2018 as we brainstormed ideas for sustainable land management options for additional purchased acreage. After researching different livestock options we were drawn to and decided upon Katahdin Hair Sheep for their:

  • Ease of care (no shearing)

  • Great mothering attributes

  • Prolificacy rates

  • Breed versatility

  • Parasite resistance

  • Hardiness

We were captivated!

We then purchased 10 middle-aged bred ewes from a central Kentucky FFA member.  These ewes were experienced at lambing and great mothers which eased our learning curve as we began our Sonlight Ridge farm Katahdin Hair Sheep journey.  In 2019 & 2020, we purchased two smaller groups of ewes as well as continued to keep back the superior lambs from our own lines for strategic genetic improvement.  Katahdins have proven to be everything we desired for our farm and for us as shepherds.

Management Techniques

Ewe Management

We have deliberately grown our flock by keeping superior ewe lambs to meet our breeding and production standards. This growth has been a slow process as we have continued to maintain a primarily closed flock, allowing us to increase quality while ensuring their health and safety.

Ram Management

In an effort to increase our flock quality, while maintaining a high safety standard we have added rams from outside flocks to ours. This allows is to prevent inbreeding, producing sound genetics, and reduces the likelihood of compounding negative traits being added to our future lambs. Additionally, when selecting a ram to add to the flock, we are very thorough in our evaluation for correct structure, height, length, thickness, muscling, parisite resistant, maternal traits, growth rates, and color.

Pasture Management

At this time, we have roughly 12 acres in fenced pasture. These fields are divided into smaller pastures which permit us to use a rotational grazing strategy. This allows us to pasture our flock on a relatively small amount of acres for a majority of the year. Fortunately, we had additional un-fenced pasture fields that we have been able to temporarily fence as a stockpile for when the fenced pasture growth slowed. This stockpiled pasture has reduced the need for supplemental hay leading up to lambing. We are currently working on adding additional pastures that will allow for expansion of our flock and reduction in hay usage during lambing.