Hair sheep are breeds that have retained a natural hair fibre coat that is suited to their place of origin.
The list of hair breeds includes:
Dorper
Katahdin
Wiltshire
Blackbelly
Royal White
St. Croix
The Dorper and the Katahdin are the two most common breeds in Canada. Often the two breeds are crossed. The Blackbelly is probably the third most common and the remaining three breeds are very uncommon.
Advantages of These Unique Breeds
The obvious advantage is that they do not require shearing. Their hair sheds out on its own annually. During this stage the animals appear unkempt and shaggy but are no worse for wear. Once the hair is completely shed the animals often look like new again with a smooth and sleek coat.
A second advantage of these breeds is parasite resistance. These are breeds that originated in more tropic areas and for whatever reason seem to have a greater resistance to internal parasites. While this does not render them parasite free it can be a useful aid in sheep management.
Common Concerns About These Breeds
While a favorite attribute of the hair sheep is the lack of required shearing a common concern is how they fair in winter climates.
Our experience with hair breeds is limited to a handful of Katahdins that we raised a couple years ago. They received no special treatment and like the rest of the flock were outdoors all winter. They faired well, possibly taking in a bit of extra feed to maintain heat energy in the winter although we had no means of measuring this.
The ewes were great mothers who lambed unassisted and were dedicated to their lambs. They performed well on our grass based set up. The early growth and weight gain of the lambs was on par with our wool lambs, falling behind a little as the lambs matured.
Marketing is another concern, however it does not seem to deter the hair sheep producers. In Canada these sheep receive a price dockage when sold to a feeder market as feeder buyers still prefer wool breed lambs. Many producers work around this by keeping the hair breed lambs until finished weight is reached and selling direct for slaughter.
While a favorite attribute of the hair sheep is the lack of required shearing a common concern is how they fair in winter climates. 
