Welcome to and thank you for visiting Kast Iron Ranch website and giving us the opportunity to show case our sheep.After Hurricane Katrina we decided we wanted to leave the suburbs and enjoy a country life.  We bought a few acres and wanted to try and raise some of our own food. After going through some of the obvious...Chicken for eggs and meat, a small vegetable garden. We wanted some animals that would graze and would supplement our growing food cost. We love beef so we thought cows would be great. We were fresh from living on a 70ft x 110ft lot 20 miles South West of New Orleans we knew little about our choices. After doing some research we found cattle were going to be too big and dangerous. We were going to have to buy special handling equipment and the cost soon became out of reach. Then we considered goat, the large Latino influence in South Louisiana  had us thinking goat would be great. We could raise them, they would help with the grass and what we didn't eat and put in the freezer maybe we could sell and make some money off of our land.  Again with the research well on its way. It became obvious that goats came with there own set of expensive problems. They are very susceptible to parasites. They have a high death rate as much as 30% of the herd are expected to die due to parasites. 30 percent! We knew that goats were going to be too expensive to maintain.  We are huge fans of the reality cooking shows. Most of the great Chefs love lamb. We ask ourselves lamb? Could we raise lamb? Not knowing anything about sheep, once again we found ourselves on the internet doing research.  After a couple of weeks of research one choice stood out above the rest. KATAHDINS!!! A hair sheep which meant no shearing. They are excellent mothers providing enough milk to raise triplets on just two teats. Easy disposition, very low maintenance, and twins and triplets are common. Multiple births means more meat. We knew we had found the red meat for our small family farm.

Going on 2 years now raising Katahdin sheep and visiting other Sheherds. Some raising registered stock and some raising commercial stock(no papers). We have came to our biggest and most important conclusion  GENETICS, GENETICS GENETICS.  We first bought some commercial sheep, we were not interested in papers or selling breeding stock. Once we saw the difference in size and the difference in hair coats, we sold our commercial flock of about 12 ewes and purchased five QR registered ewes one RR ram all of top quality  breeding stock. We have spared no expense in obtaining some of the best Genetics in North America . We treat our sheep like pets. They have access to green grass all year round. Free choice hay and minerals, and we feed some grain in the evenings. This gives us a chance to give everybody a look-over. We check their eyelids using the Famacha eye check method with great success. We only worm as needed and we rarely worm. All lambs are pasture born and raised.  We maintain health records with 30-60-90 day weights as well as weaning weights. We use Genotype testing, we only raise QR and RR stock. Our stock is certified Scrapie Free, A & AA coats, we are applying for enrollment in the NSIP. We are members of the Southcentral Katahdin Hair Sheep Association and the Katahdin Hair Sheep International.

Our Goal is to breed the best Katahdin Sheep possible. By working to improve our flock through breeding genetically superior stock with a diverse bloodline. Provide some basic needs the animals do the rest. We hope our enthusiasm and passion for the Katahdin Sheep rubs off and spreads. The Katahdin will be the meat sheep of the future. Call us and get hooked, we love talking sheep.

Thank Ewe

Kast Iron Ranch