Sheep breed identification PDF

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Sheep breed identification There are more than 600 sheep breeds worldwide. You are asked to remember only a very few of these. Refer to the alphabetical list below, of sheep breeds found in Australia and be able to identify/recognize the breeds of sheep that are in CAPITALS bold type and know what their origin and main purpose is (viz wool, meat, dualpurpose). If you intend to work in a country other than Australia, look up the relevant breeds for that country. Some hints to make it easier to remember which breed is which 1. Which breeds have horns? 2. Do both ewes and rams of these breeds have horns? 3. Are horns a dominant or recessive trait? 4. Which breeds have coloured fleeces? 5. Which breeds have coloured faces/legs? 6. Which breeds have lop ears/prick ears? 7. Which breeds have bare (ie no wool) legs? 8. Which breeds don’t require shearing (shed their fleece)? 9. Which breeds don’t require mulesing? 10. Which breeds don’t require tail-docking? 11. Which breeds are dairy breeds? 12. Which breeds are meat breeds?

Domestication of sheep is thought to have taken place in the area of the borders of present day Iran–Iraq about 9000 years BC. Sheep and goats were the next animals to be domesticated after dogs. They then spread to Asia, Europe and Africa and 200 years ago to South America, Australia and New Zealand. Domestication i.e. breeding controlled by man has resulted in breeds which serve the needs of human populations for food and clothing. Few of the more than 600 different breeds of domesticated sheep (Ovis aries). are present in Australia. Accurate national statistics on sheep breed numbers are no longer kept in Australia. The Merino The Merino is still the most important sheep breed in Australia making up approximately 80% of the sheep population and many sheep are part merino, for example:

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The Corriedale is ½ Merino The Polwarth is ¾ Merino

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Merino Crossbreds are ½ Merino or less Comebacks are ¾ Merino or less

 The Australian Merino is primarily raised for its heavy fleece of fine quality wool. There are four basic strains of merino; Peppin, Saxon, South Australian and Spanish. Many other breeds are represented in Australia and although their total numbers are small by comparison with the Merino and its derivatives, they do play a part in the Sheep Industry. The origin of many of the present day breeds is obscure. This is because the breeders who were responsible for producing the more or less uniform flocks of these breeds divulged little. They were usually concerned with selling the end product rather than documenting the means to the end. It is important to remember that present day breeds are the end result of one or more of three methods of selection and breeding. 1. Some breeds are the result of selection within an existing type of sheep and without the addition of genetic material from other types, for example:  Merino  Southdown  English Leicester 

Drysdale

2. A second method of producing a new breed is by using rams of an already improved breed over a local type of ewe, for example:  Southdown rams mated to Norfolk Horn ewes produced the Suffolk. 3. A third method of producing a new breed is by crossing two, or more, of the already improved breeds. Examples of this are;  The crossing of Suffolk ewes with Southdown rams to produce the South Suffolk.  The crossing of Suffolk rams with Poll Dorset ewes and vice versa. Rams and ewes from this half-bred group were then inter-mated. The white rams were then selected and used to build up a white Suffolk flock. Sheep breeds can be divided into four main groups:

1. wool breeds 2. dual purpose breeds 3. milk breeds 4. meat breeds 1. Breeds primarily kept for wool production Breeds primarily kept for producing:  Fine wool eg the Merino  Coarse wool eg the Lincoln  Carpet wool eg the Drysdale, Tukidale, Carpetmaster & the Elliotdale 2. Dual purpose breeds By this are meant breeds which produce both wool and meat (lamb/mutton) and where the carcass is often as important as the fleece. Examples of dual-purpose breeds are: Corriedale, Dohne Merino, Merino Half-bred, Border Leicester, Romney, Cheviot, Cormo, Gromark, Meridale, South African Meat Merino (SAMM). 3. Milk Breeds Examples are Awassi, East Friesian, Poll Dorset. 4. Meat sheep Breeds Examples are Dorset down, Dorset Horn, Hampshire down, Dorper. Meat sheep breeds Prime Lamb Sire Breeds These are the breeds that supply rams for use on farms producing Prime lambs. The ewes are important only in that they produce rams, and these ewes are not used for ordinary commercial sheep farming. Poll Dorset (most commonly used sire for producing prime lambs in Australia), Suffolk, Dorset Horn, Border Leicester, Cheviot, Texel, Dorset Down and Shropshire New Breeds Include the: Afrikaner, American Suffolk, Awassi, Damara, Dorper, East Friesian, Australian Finn, Karakul, South African Meat Merino, Texel, White Suffolk, Dohne Merino, Namaqua. Most of these breeds were imported into Australia as embryos.

Value adding;  Skins of hair sheep  Organic production in pastoral areas  Genetics export market  Milk & cheese production

Awassi Fat-tail

Origin = Arabian peninsula. An extremely hardy breed with a very calm temperament. Fat tail, coloured. Milk, meat and wool. Well-adapted to the poor Mediterranean pasture and can compensate for under-nutrition during the dry season by using the stored energy reserves in their fat tail. They have a natural resistance diseases and parasites; the ability to walk long distances over pastures for grazing; the ability to tolerate extreme temperatures; and able to endure adverse feeding conditions.

Border Leicester (BL)

Origin = England. Large sheep, bare face and legs, roman nose, long coarse wool. Large but docile. Cross with Merino ewes to produce 1st cross prime lamb. It is a polled, long-wool sheep and is considered a dual-purpose breed as it is reared both for meat and for wool.

Cheviot

Origin = cheviot hills in england and scotland. Short, erect ear, long wooled and hornless. Black eye and nose. White face. Moderate growth but thick. Good in tough environments. A dual-purpose breed, being raised primarily for its wool and meat.

Corriedale

Origin = Australia and New Zealand. Lincoln x Merino (½ Merino) The oldest of all the crossbred breeds, a Merino-Lincoln cross developed almost simultaneously in Australia and New Zealand. Black feet. Dual purpose.

Damara

Origin = Eastern Asia and Egypt moved down to Namibia and Angola, South Africa. Coloured, fat tail. Short, coarse hair. Can be uni-colored (black, brown or white) or multi-colored (black and white pied).

Can survive in a harsh environment and under poor nutritional conditions. Meat.

Dohne Merino Origin = South Afirca. German Mutton Merino x Merino Dual purpose.

Dorper

Origin = South Africa. Blackhead Persian rams x Dorset Horn Black faced. Hair sheep, no wool. Mutton sheep and nonseasonally polyestrous.

A fast-growing meat-producing sheep.

Dorset Horn

Origin = Wales or England. Thick white faced. Short wool. Large sized with both horns. Meat breed and can breed more easily out of season than some breeds.

Drysdale

Origin = New Zealand. Crossing two Romneys and Cheviots. Horns, coarse wool. Carpet wool. It is noticed a genetic freak, a Romney ram with a high percentage of very coarse wool. Primarily for wool.

East Friesian

Origin = Frisian Island of northern Germany. Polled, all white with clean legs. Has a small tail with no wool covering. Red tail. Milk. Largest milk production sheep in the world.

Finn sheep

Origin = Finland.

(Finnish Landrace)

Slack framed and all white breed. Can have multiple births. It is notable for its high incidence of multiple births – it is common for a ewe to have three, four, or even five lambs at once. The Finnsheep is often used in crossbreeding programs to increase lambing percentage, and Finnsheep blood is found in

many of the newer breeds. In the fine end of the medium wool category. Although not a large sheep, Finns produce a lean, succulent meat with a delicate and mild flavor, even as adults.

Hampshire

Origin = England. Thick muscled, large framed and black faced with straight ear. Known for their muscle and carcass yield. Moderate wool quality. A cross of Southdowns with the Old Hampshire breed, the Wiltshire Horn, and the Berkshire Nott, all horned, white-faced sheep — these were native to the open, untilled, hilly stretch of land known as the Hampshire Downs.

Lincoln

Origin = England.

Large sheep. The heaviest, longest and most lustrous fleece of any breed in the world. Wool, meat. It is now one of Britain's rarer breeds.

Merino

Origin = Extremadura, southwestern Spain. It was further refined in New Zealand and Australia, giving rise to the modern Merino. One of the most historically relevant and economically influential breeds of sheep, much prized for its wool. Regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep. Poll Merinos have no horns (or very small stubs, known as scurs), and horned Merino rams have long, spiral horns which grow close to the head

Navajo Churro

Origin = Spain brought to the New World by Spanish Explorers. First breed in the new world. Is long wooled with color and horns. Adapted by the Navajo for long staped fleece useful in textile. Has also gained popularity for its low-maintenance reputation, resistance to disease, and lean meat. Ewes often birth twins. This breed is raised primarily for wool.

Poll Dorset

Origin = Australia. Dorset Horn x Ryeland A short-wool, meat producing sheep. Most commonly used as a terminal sire, the Poll Dorset contributes high quality carcase traits to the prime lamb industry.

Poll Merino (PM)

Polypay

Origin = Australia. Wool.

Origin = U.S. Name means multiple-pay. A white, medium-sized, polled sheep White faced. Forehead wool, hair on face. It is noted for being a highly prolific maternal dual-purpose (meat and wool) breed.

Rambouillet

Origin = Bred in France from Merino lines. Long-wool breed. All white and mostly horned. Not heavy muscled. Heavy clip of fine wool. The breed is well known for its wool, but also for its meat, both lamb and mutton. It has been described as a dual-purpose breed, with superior wool and near-mutton breed characteristics.

Romanov

Origin = volga valley of Russia. Mixture of gray wool and black guard hair gives natural distinct

color. Has white star on the forehead. They are litter bearing 2 to 5 lambs per lambing. Wool is natural colored a mixture of wool and guard hairs. This breed is raised primarily for meat.

Southdown

Origin = Sussex England. Normally short and early maturing with full wool cap and filled in channels of the face. Gray to mouse brown face. Farm flock oriented with adaptability to wet and confined spaces. Medium woolen. A small, dual-purpose English sheep, raised primarily for meat.

South African

Previously called SA Mutton Merino.

Meat Merino (SAMM)

Origin = Germany and South Africa. Polled, wool av 21microns, 4 to 5kg wool, rams 107kg, ewes 77 kg. Dual purpose.

Suffolk

Origin = England. Black face with no wool on head or legs. Has bell shaped long ear with flared tip. Definite large framed high growth sized breed. A black-faced, open-faced breed of domestic sheep raised primarily for meat.

Texel

Origin = Isle of Texel off the coast of Holland. White and clean on head and leg. With heavy muscle. Thick plump leg. Has a great amount of muscle. Lean meat.

Targhee

Origin = US in Idaho from Rambouillet, Lincoln and Corriedale. All white, moderate size with heavy wool clip. Ranging ability with moderate wool production too. With heavy, medium quality wool and good meat production. This breed is raised primarily for wool.

White Dorper

Origin = South Africa Meat.

White Suffolk

Origin = Australia. Suffolk x Poll Dorset Meat.

Wiltshire Horn Origin = southern England. Horns, sheds fleece. Meat....