Zwartble
Zwartbles sheep were first imported from Holland in the early 1990’s and have since become established in all areas of the UK and Ireland and most recently in the U.S. Zwartbles are an elegant sheep (Zwart-Black, Bles-Blaze) with outstanding maternal properties making them an excellent crossing variety as well as a pure breed. Pedigree Zwartbles…
Read MorePolypay
The Polypay sheep breed is a white, medium-sized (65 kg), polled sheep which was developed in the 1960s at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in Dubois, Idaho. In general, Polypay sheep are noted for being a highly prolific maternal dual-purpose (meat and wool) breed.
Read MoreTexal
The Texel is a breed of domestic sheep originally from the island of Texel in the Netherlands. A heavily muscled sheep, it produces a lean meat carcass and will pass on this quality to crossbred progeny. The wool is around 32 micrometres and is mostly used for hosiery yarns and knitting wools.
Read MoreTunis
The Tunis is one of the oldest sheep breeds, said to have roamed the hills of Tunis and parts of Algeria in North Africa prior to the Christian era. The American Tunis evolved from a number of importations of fat-tailed sheep from Africa and the Middle East that were crossed with established European breeds to improve the breed’s meat characteristics.
Read MoreSuffolk
Suffolks are found throughout the world’s sheep producing countries. In the United States, they are by far the most popular pure breed of sheep, accounting for more than fifty percent of purebred sheep registrations. In the British Isles, they are the leading terminal sire breed.
Read MoreShropshire
Shropshires are a good, middle-of-the-road sheep, medium to large in size, with dark faces and wool on the legs. They originated in central western England in the counties of Shropshire and Stafford from native stock, Southdown, Leicester, and Cotswold crosses.
Read MoreFinnsheep
Finnsheep or Finnish Landrace, as they are known in their native country of Finland are considered to be several hundred years old, descending from the Mouflon that live in the wild on Sardinia and Corsica and also said to be related to other Scandinavian short-tailed sheep.
Read MoreCorriedale
The Corriedale is the oldest of all the crossbred wool breeds, a Merino-Lincoln cross developed in Australia and New Zealand and first brought to the United States in 1914. It is large-framed, polled with good carcass quality. Their dense fleece is medium-fine and high yielding, with good length and softness, somewhat between medium wool and long wool.
Read MoreClun Forest
The Clun Forest originated in the mountainous district of South West Shropshire in England, adjoining the Welsh Border, and are the most numerous sheep of the Marshes of Wales. They take their name from the ancient market town of Clun. Some authors attribute the breed to a combination of Hill Radnor and Shropshire, with Kerry Hill breeding also introduced in about 1865.
Read MoreCalifornia Red
The California Reds was developed in 1970. It is a cross between Barbados and Tunis sheep. They are a medium-sized sheep, the rams weighing from 200 to 250 pounds and the ewes from 110 to 140 pounds. The rams sometimes have manes and both sexes are polled. The breed is non-seasonal and can be bred for three lamb crops in two years.
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