Guide to Sheep Breeds
(Page 8 of 11)
September/October 2008
Janet Wallace
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Size: large
Appearance: dark brown face, white fleece, wool on legs
Fleece: heavy coat of fairly fine fleece with a moderately long staple
Breeding: seasonal
Lambing rate: 150 percent
Behavior: docile; good mothering instinct; not a great forager
Use: meat, fleece
Origin: England
Environment: best on good pasture
ALBC rating: watch list
The large, vigorous Oxford lambs grow quickly on lush pasture. The ewes are heavy milkers. The rams are often used as a sire breed to give size, muscling and wool production to lambs.
American Oxford Sheep Association
1960 E. 2100 North Road
Stonington, IL 62567-5338
217-325-3515
Polypay
Size: medium
Appearance: open white face, white legs, white fleece
Fleece: variable, from coarse to moderately fine with a short to moderate staple
Breeding: year-round; can breed twice a year in good conditions
Lambing rate: often above 200 percent, triplets and quadruplets are common
Behavior: docile, easily managed
Use: meat, multiple births, wool
Origin: United States
Environment: best on good pasture
ALBC rating: not listed
Polypays were developed in the 1970s at the U.S. Sheep Experimentation Station in Dubois, Idaho. The name refers to the expectation that the sheep could ‘pay’ the farmer a number of lambs. The goal was to create a sheep that could lamb more than once a year, have rapidly growing lambs, breed at a year of age, and have good carcass quality. The sheep was developed from Finn, Rambouillet, Targhee and Dorset.
American Polypay Sheep Association
15603 173rd Ave.
Milo, IA 50166
641-942-6402
Romanov
Size: medium
Appearance: black lambs fade to grey; rams have long mane of black hair; clear face with black and white markings (often badger-faced) and large eyes
Horns: usually polled
Fleece: double-coated; guard hair is mixed in with fleece
Breeding: out-of-season with ewes fertile at 3 months old; can lamb every 8 months
Lambing rate: 250-300 percent, every eight months
Behavior: lambs quick to their feet; ewes flighty
Use: multiple births
Origin: Russia
Environment: adapted to cold climates
ALBC rating: not rated
It is said that Romanov sheep have “lambs by the litter,” with quadruplets, quintuplets and even sextuplets being relatively common. Lamb survival is high due to the high milk production of the ewe and the vigor of the newborn Romanov lambs. On average, ewes are productive for 7.5 years. With cross-breeding, even ¼-Romanov blood in a flock increases productivity and milk production in ewes.
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