Our Story
Four Hills Farm
About 4 Hills Farm
Four Hills Farm is located on Troy Pike in Versailles, Kentucky
The Kathadin sheep we raise are hardy and thrifty. They have been refined through years of breeding to produce mild flavored, gourmet quality meat from a pasture based production system. Katahdin sheep are an American Heritage breed. We are call our Katahdin lamb “New American Lamb” because we believe they are a unique and up-coming breed offering many favorable attributes to the American lamb market. These sheep thrive on a forage based diet, lamb outside on their own, and, most importantly, produce an excellent gourmet quality meat.
They are a hair sheep breed which means they do not have to be sheared. They shed their winter coat naturally. This contributes to their mild flavor due to no lanolin production from wool. Katahdin sheep are smaller than traditional American-raised wool sheep.The chops and roasts will be smaller resulting in lower costs for each cut of meat. We are the first sheep farm in the United States to earn a GAP 4 step-rating for our animal welfare practices.
Gourmet Quality New American Lamb is:
• Delicious!!!
• Lean and tender with just the right amount of finish for great flavor and excellent cooking quality
• Raised on pasture for high levels of beneficial CLA and favorable Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acid ratios
• Produced on family farms in Kentucky
We produce our lambs with:
• A farming system is based on excellent pastures, rotational grazing and free range animal production
• All vegetarian feed
• No feedlots, antibiotics, added hormones or steroids used
• Product traceability and quality production assurance systems in place
About Katahdin Sheep
Katahdin sheep are an American Heritage breed that was developed by Michael Piel of Abbot, Maine. The breed is named for Mount Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine. Mr. Piel had a flock of several thousand and spent over twenty years cross breeding sheep to develop the Katahdin breed.
By crossing Caribbean haired sheep that naturally shed their winter coats with English wooled breeds that had good meat qualities, he developed a composite breed that produced excellent quality meat and required no shearing. Katahdins have proven to be a highly adaptable breed that is in demand throughout the Americas. Farmers like them because of their hardiness and easy care qualities. Consumers like them because of the excellent quality, mild flavored gourmet lamb they produce.
Katahdin Sheep
Characteristics of the Katahdin Sheep Breed:
• Single purpose breed (no wool)
• Excellent quality, gourmet, mild flavored meat
• No shearing
• Hardy moderate size sheep that thrive on forages
• Excellent mothers
• Easy lambing (can lamb unassisted, outside on pasture)
• Vigorous lambs (by day two you can’t catch the little rascals!)
• Adaptability
• High Fertility
• Non-seasonal breeding
• Parasite tolerance
• Low-Maintenance
More information about Katahdin sheep can be found at: www.katahdins.org
Staff
Truman Miller
Truman Miller began working at Four Hills Farm in 2021 creating video and other media as well as performing landscaping duties and sheep work. He is an artist and filmmaker based in Lexington. He is also the Director of Community Outreach with Race Street Riders. website: trumanmillerartandfilm.godaddysites.com youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC71keDiG0AbyxWHx28C4ZNg
We call our Katahdin lamb “New American Lamb” because we believe they are a unique and up-coming breed offering many favorable attributes to the American lamb market. These sheep thrive on a forage based diet, lamb outside on their own, and, most importantly, produce an excellent gourmet quality meat. They are a hair sheep breed which means they do not have to be sheared. They shed their winter coat naturally. This contributes to their mild flavor due to no lanolin production from wool. Katahdin sheep are smaller than traditional American-raised wool sheep.The chops and roasts will be smaller resulting in lower costs for each cut of meat.