Guide to Sheep Breeds
GRIT helps ewe choose.
September/October 2008
Janet Wallace
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Randall Hyman
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People have been keeping flocks of sheep for as long as history has been written down – longer actually. Experts say sheep were first domesticated about 10,000 years ago in central Asia, but they weren’t favored for their hair. Instead, those early animals provided meat, milk and hides. Around 5,500 years ago, we figured out how to spin wool into long strong fibers, and there’s been plenty of sheep and breed development ever since.
Today, hundreds of sheep breeds exist, and they are good for everything from keeping brush down in the pasture to making delicious meat and milk and providing fiber for the finest cloth. This wealth of diversity could make choosing the right breed difficult, but, fortunately, you don’t have to pick just one. Sheep farmers blend different breeds to get the traits they want in a flock. For example, you might want to use an Oxford ram for muscling, Polypay ewes for multiple births, then cross their lambs with Romney to add length and luster to the fleece. In time, your flock will be perfect for you.
Before you embark on a new sheep project, it’s helpful to identify why you want a flock. Are you interested in raising sheep for meat, breeding stock, fleece, milk, living lawn ornaments, fun or some combination of these? Are you doing it as a serious business or as a hobby? Do you want low-maintenance sheep, or are you willing to invest time and energy into a more demanding (and potentially more productive) flock?
Meat. For best meat production, consider fast-growing breeds with good carcasses. Sheep that breed out of season are best if you want to sell lamb for the Easter market. Generally, medium to large breeds are good for meat.
Productivity. Many of the rat-tailed sheep (Romanov, Finn, Friesian, Icelandic and Shetland) have litters of three to four lambs, rather than just a single or twin lambs like other breeds. As a bonus, these sheep don’t need to have their tails docked.
Fleece. Fleece characteristics vary between breeds (see “Facts about Fiber”). If you don’t want fleece and the associated work and cost of shearing, consider a hair sheep such as Dorper, Katahdin or Barbados Blackbelly.
Behavior. Although sheep have the reputation of lacking individual identities, each sheep has its own character, and breeds differ in general behavioral traits. Most of the primitive breeds are adapted to surviving on marginal land without human intervention. Often, they are alert, good foragers and good mothers. Some breeds tend to flock and can be herded easily by dogs, whereas others (often the best foragers) disperse over the land.
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