SIZE:

The spotted Painted Desert, all white Texas Dall, or all black Black Hawaiian, are generally smaller than other hair sheep like the Katahdin Sheep and some of the more known wool breeds.  Texas Dalls, the all white Corsicans, seem to run larger in size than the Painted Desert.  However, some Painted Desert rams can easily top 200 lbs at maturity and some Painted Desert ewes are quite large.  Here at Rafter SB, we have both smaller Painted Deserts and some larger Painted Deserts.  Some ewes will only weigh 60 pounds at maturity while others may top the scales at 120 pounds.

NATURE/BEHAVIOR:

Painted Desert, Black Hawaiian, & Texas Dall Sheep will graze peacefully when in a pasture or paddock.  However, sometimes these sheep can seem to have a wild or untamed side because they can leap, run, and clear a 4 foot high fence when startled. 

Just like any of the more well known breeds of sheep, Corsicans, Painted Deserts, Texas Dalls, & Black Hawaiians, seem to know when you want to catch them and will run from you if chased.  They are more athletic than your wool sheep or larger hair sheep such as the Katahdin sheep so they can and will run faster and leap higher.  There is nothing more awe inspiring sight than to see adult rams running through woods or pasture leaping over creek beds and rocks.

These sheep can become very docile when handled.  Bottle raised ewes can make great pets if cared for properly.  Bottle feeding ram lambs is not recommended unless it is to save the ram lamb's life as at maturity some bottle fed rams could become aggressive.   Most breeders of Painted Desert, Black Hawaiian, or Texas Dall Sheep will tell you that some of their sheep are tame while others are stand offish.  This is true of all sheep but more easily noted in the Corsican family of sheep.

 

Texas Dall Newborn Ewe Lamb Iambe	Bottle Baby Rafter SB Ebony Star visiting Little Kitty	Texas Dall Ram getting a bath before a Show	Painted Desert Ram waiting for Ribbon at Show
Painted Desert Ram getting a bath before a Show	Feeding time for some of our sheep	Sheep working area With 100 + head of sheep, you need a good system to work sheep	Hurry!  Pretend we are not following her!
Painted Desert Ram	Heads down ladies... we'll trick her into setting the feed bucket down this time for sure	Painted Desert Ewe Lamb Carmen's Pixie	Painted Desert Ram

MOTHERING/LAMBING:

These sheep have generally excellent mothering instinct in the ewes with twins, triplets and the occasional quadruplets occurring. Just watch that the ewe has enough for all and that the ewe can care for all!  Sometimes breeders of these sheep will need to step in and assist the ewe with these multiple births.

 

Rafter SB Bunny with her triplets -2007	Texas Dall, Lily of the Valley with her triplets 2007	Making sure that all the lambs (triplets) have found the spigots and have enough - here at Rafter SB	Blackie with her twins 2007
Mom and babies relaxing and chewing cud here at Rafter SB	Enjoying the sunshine with daughter	Enjoying time with baby	Almost weaning time!

Rams and Ewes can breed year round so with proper flock management, a ewe could lamb 3 times every 2 years.  Here at Rafter SB we even had a ewe breed back after only 1 month after lambing with twin lambs still on her.  She had a beautiful spotted ewe lamb.

Ram Lambs can start breeding at 3 months of age so it is extremely important to remove the ram lambs at that age. Ewe lambs start cycling around 5 months of age. Some shepherds will wait to place ewes with a ram until the ewes are 8 - 12 months of age.

HARDINESS:

Corsican Sheep (Corsicans, Black Hawaiians, Texas Dalls & Painted Deserts) are very adaptable to different environments.  They are hardy and display more resistance to illnesses and worms though they are not immune and some breeders provide quality veterinarian care for their sheep.  Because of their shedding ability, they are more immune to problems with external parasites as well.