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Our Breeding Stock includes Suffolk, North Country Cheviot and Cross-Bred sheep. Visitors are always welcome to tour our farm and view our stock. A limited amount of breeding stock will be available this summer. Please contact us for more information.
HAIR SHEEP vs WOOL SHEEP: We are often asked what the difference is between Hair Sheep (such as Katahdins, or Barbados) and Wool Sheep. Some Hair Sheep producers are promoting their lamb as being better tasting or milder tasting than lamb from the Wool Sheep breeds. In reality, the lamb is not any better (or any worse for that matter) than lamb produced from the wool breeds.
The main buyer of lamb in Western Canada, Sunterra, purchases large numbers of lambs each year to supply a vast retail market. Sunterra purchases lambs from both the Hair AND Wool sheep breeds. The lamb is all processed their plant and sold as one product to the retail market! They do not differentiate between "hair lamb" and "wool lamb" which indicates that there is indeed no difference. We have personally tasted lamb from both types of sheep, and could not tell the difference.
Sunterra actually pays less for lambs from Hair Sheep because there is not a pelt that can be marketed. The quality of lamb carcass produced is related, in part, to breeding. The taste of lamb is based largely on what the lamb is fed, how it is handled prior to processing, and how it is processed.
Some farmers choose Hair sheep due to the fact that they do not require shearing every spring. The Hair breeds shed their hair naturally in the Spring/Summer. Hair breeds originate from southern climates. We chose to go with wool sheep as they are better adapted to our cold Canadian winters.
Of course everyone alway thinks their lamb is the best around, including us! :) It boils down to being an informed consumer. As the saying goes: Buyer Beware!
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