Sheep 201: Breed Selection

Selecting a breed of sheep

According to some estimates, there are more than 1,000 breeds of sheep worldwide and more than 50 in the United States. While only a handful of sheep breeds are usually of economic importance to a country's commercial industry, all breeds should be considered important, as they contribute to the genetic diversity of the species and worldwide industry. Pictures and descriptions of more than two hundred sheep breeds can be found at www.sheep101.info/breeds.html.

Deciding which breed (or breeds) to raise is an important decision that each shepherd must make. The reason(s) for raising sheep should be the primary consideration when deciding upon a breed (or breed type). This is because if you're interested in producing wool for the hand spinner's market, your breed choice would be much different than if meat will be your primary product to sell.

Conversely you wouldn't choose "wool" breeds, if the majority of your income is going to come from meat. If your children want to compete in junior market lamb shows, choice of breed(s) will affect success in this segment of the sheep industry. Price and availability will also have a bearing on which breeds or crosses are chosen.

At the same time, it is important to remember that there are no "best" breeds of sheep. All breeds have traits which may be desirable or undesirable, depending upon the production system and marketing objectives. In addition, there is usually as much difference within a breed as between breeds.

Crossbred, Purebred, or Registered?

A crossbred is an animal whose sire (father) and dam (mother) are of different breeds or breed types, while a purebred animal's parents are of the same breed or type. A registered or pedigreed animal has a known ancestry. However, it could be crossbred (percentage purebred) or purebred (fullblood), depending upon the requirements of the respective breed association.

Most sheep breeds have closed flock books, meaning only 100% purebred animals with registered parents can be registered in the flock book. Some breed associations have open flock books (e.g. Katahdin and Dorper) which allow percentage animals to be recorded by the breed association. Percentage sheep are usually recorded as part of an upgrading program.

While purebred sheep usually sell for higher prices than crossbred sheep and registered animals tend to cost more than non-registered animals, breed type (or purity) or registration status is in no way indicative of quality or productivity. In fact, crossbred animals tend to be hardier and more productive than purebreds.

The "superiority" of crossbred animals is due to "heterosis" or "hybrid vigor," a natural phenomenon whereby the performance of the crossbred offspring is superior to the average performance of the parent breeds. Heterosis is maximized when a crossbred ewe is mated to a crossbred ram. Heterosis is expressed in both the crossbred lamb and the crossbred dam. The effects are additive.

Heterosis occurs to a lesser extent in the newer "composite" breeds, such as the Katahdin and Polypay. Another advantage to crossbreeding is breed complementarity. This is when the weakness(es) of one breed are offset by the strength(s) of the other breed(s) and vice versa.

Unless the objective is to raise and market purebred and/or registered sheep, it is better to raise crossbred sheep. This is especially true for beginners. It's better to practice shepherding with hardier, less expensive animals.

Breed Categories

Oftentimes, it is more useful to look at breed "types" rather than individual sheep breeds. Breed types tend to share common characteristics and can usually be substituted for one another in a breeding program. There are several ways in which sheep breeds can be categorized: purpose, use, face color, fiber type, and various physical or performance attributes.

Purpose
The most useful way to categorize sheep breeds is by their primary purpose: meat, wool, or dairy. While most sheep breeds are dual-purpose (i.e. they produce both meat and wool) and some are even triple-purpose (dairy, meat, and wool), most sheep breeds excel in either the production of meat, wool, or dairy -- seldom two or all three.

Thus, if you want to milk sheep, you shouldn't choose a meat breed, even though it produces milk to feed its lambs. Nor should you choose a wool breed, if your primary purpose for raising sheep is meat production, even though wool breeds are harvested for meat.

**Classification of U.S. sheep breeds by their primary purpose**
Wool	Meat	Dual purpose	Minor
Fine wool American Cormo Booroola Merino Delaine-Merino Debouillet Rambouillet Panama	Hair American Blackbelly Barbado California Red Dorper Katahdin Romanov Royal White St. Croix Wiltshire Horn	Wool Columbia Corriedale Finnsheep Polypay Targhee Dairy East Friesian Lacaune	Black Welsh Mountain Blueface Leicester Calif. Variegated Mutant Clun Forest Gulf Coast Native Hog Island Icelandic Jacob Karakul Navajo-Churro Scottish Blackface Shetland Soay
Long wool Border Leicester Coopworth Cotswold Leicester Long wool Lincoln Perendale Romney Wensleydale	Wooled Cheviot Dorset Hampshire Montadale North Country Cheviot Oxford Shropshire Southdown Suffolk Texel Tunis

Use
Sheep breeds are often categorized as to whether they are more suitable as a ram or ewe in the breeding program. Ram or "sire" breeds excel in growth and carcass (meat) characteristics whereas ewe or "dam" breeds excel in fitness (e.g. longevity, parasite resistance) and reproductive traits (early puberty, prolificacy, milk production).

Sire breeds are often called "terminal sires" because the offspring from their matings are all marketed (terminated) whereas lambs sired by a ewe breed ram, such as Finnsheep, are often kept as flock (ewe) replacements.

The most popular terminal sire breed in the United States is the Suffolk. Hampshires are also popular for this purpose. In Europe, the Texel is the most popular sire of market lambs. Some sheep breeds are considered dual-purpose, because they have traits which make them suitable as either a ram or ewe breed. Examples of dual purpose breeds include the Dorper, Dorset, Columbia, and North Country Cheviot.

Face Color
Sheep breeds are often described by their face color. Black or non-whiteface breeds (e.g. Suffolk, Hampshire, Shropshire, Oxford, and Southdown) tend to excel in growth and carcass traits, whereas the white-face breeds (e.g. Rambouillet, Targhee, and Polypay) tend to have superior maternal and wool traits.

In some countries, black-face sheep are strongly discriminated against because the dark fibers and hairs in their fleeces can contaminate a wool clip. In Australia, they developed the White Suffolk breed to prevent this problem. There is some effort in the United States to develop a whiteface terminal sire breed.

Fiber or Coat Type

The most common way to categorize sheep is according to the type of fibers they grow or the type of coat they have. All sheep grow both hair and wool fibers. Hair breeds have more hair fibers than woolly fibers and shed their coats annually. Some hair breeds have few if any wool fibers in their coats. Hair sheep usually do not require shearing, crutching, or docking.

In contrast, wooled breeds have more woolly fibers and need to be sheared, usually at least once per year. Ideally, wooled sheep should be crutched, if they are not sheared prior to lambing. Crutching is the removal of wool around the vulva area and udder. Originally, all sheep were hair sheep. The soft, short undercoat ("down") of hair sheep was favored in selection programs and led to the development of the wooled breeds of today.

Ideally, hair sheep and wool sheep should not be raised together in the same pasture or pens, especially if high quality wool is the production objective. This is because hair fibers from the hair sheep may contaminate the fleeces of wool sheep. The risk of contamination may be low, but because it is possible, some wool mills will not purchase wool from flocks that comingle hair and wool sheep. The fleeces from hair x wool sheep should be discarded to prevent contamination of wool clips.

Fine wool sheep
Fine-wool sheep grow wool fibers with the smallest fiber diameter (usually less than 22 microns). Their fleeces tend to be the shortest in length and contain the most lanolin (wool wax or grease). Fine wool fleeces usually yield a lower percentage of clean fiber than longer, coarser fleeces. However, fine wool is the most valuable wool in the commercial market place because it is used to make the highest quality wool garments and has the most versatility of use. Fine-wool is less likely to itch when it is used in garments that are close to the skin.

Fine-wool sheep tend to be hardy and long-lived. Most trace their ancestry to the Spanish Merino. Fine-wool sheep have a strong flocking instinct and are well-adapted to arid climates, such as South Africa, Australia, and the western United States and Canada. Fine wool sheep and their crosses are the most numerous sheep in the U.S. sheep industry. Worldwide, they comprise approximately 50 percent of the sheep population.

Long wool sheep
At the other end of the spectrum are long wool sheep. They grow wool fibers that have a large fiber diameter (usually more than 30 microns) and long staple length. Their fleeces yield more clean fiber because they contain less lanolin. Carpet wool is even longer and coarser than long wool. Long wool sheep do best where feed resources are abundant.

Long wool are commonly raised in cool, wet climates such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the Falkland Islands. Many of the long wooled breeds in the U.S. can trace their ancestry to the British Isles. The fleeces from the long wooled breeds tend to be favored by hand spinners and weavers.

Medium wool sheep
The length and fiber diameter of medium wool fibers is intermediate between fine and long. Most of the meat-type breeds grow medium wool. Medium-wool sheep comprise about 15 percent of the world sheep population.

Hair Sheep
It is estimated that hair sheep comprise about 10 percent of the world's sheep population, and their popularity is increasing in temperate climates such as North American and Europe. In the United States, there are two general types of hair sheep: "improved" and "unimproved" (or landrace) breeds. The unimproved breeds tend to be indigenous sheep breeds that have adapted well to the local environment in which they evolved. Examples include the Barbados Blackbelly and St. Croix.

The American Blackbelly or "Barbado" is believed to be a cross between the Barbados Blackbelly, Mouflon, and Rambouillet. The Wiltshire Horn is a shedding sheep native to the British Isles. The improved hair breeds are crosses between hair sheep breeds and meat-type, wooled breeds. Examples include the Dorper, Katahdin, Royal White, and Meatmaster.

Hair sheep can also be differentiated by the their place of origin. Some hair breeds originate from tropical climates (e.g. Barbados Blackbelly and St. Croix). These breeds tend to be more resistant to internal parasites. Other breeds originate from arid regions and are best-adapted to similar conditions (e.g. Dorper and Damara). The desert breeds tend to be heavier muscled than the tropical breeds, whereas the tropical breeds tend to have superior maternal characteristics.

Specialty wools
There are several breeds which produce specialty wools. Carpet wool is the coarsest wool produced by sheep. As the name implies, carpet wool is used to make carpets. Double-coated breeds grow a longer outer coat and a short fine undercoat. Primitive breeds have similar types of fleeces (inner and outer) that naturally shed. There are a few breeds whose fleeces are a specific color or color pattern. The Shetland breed produces wool in the widest range of colors of any breed.

**Classification of U.S. sheep breeds by wool or coat type**
Fine	Medium (meat)	Long	Specialty
American Cormo Booroola Merino Debouillet Delaine-Merino Rambouillet	Border Cheviot Clun Forest Dorset Gulf Coast Native Hampshire Hog Island Ile-de-France Montadale North Country Cheviot Oxford Shropshire Southdown Suffolk Texel Tunis	Blueface Leicester Border Leicester Coopworth Cotswold Leicester Longwool Lincoln Perendale Romney Wensleydale	Carpet Karakul Scottish Blackface Colored Calif. Variegated Mutant Black Welsh Mountain Double-coated or primitive Navajo-Churro Icelandic Jacob Shetland Soay
Medium (dual purpose)		Hair
Columbia Corriedale East Friesian Finnsheep Panama Polypay Targhee		American Blackbelly Barbados Blackbelly California Red Dorper Katahdin Romanov Royal White St. Croix Wiltshire Horn

Selecting a breed of sheep

Selecting a breed of sheep <== SHEEP 201 INDEX

Selecting a breed of sheep

<== SHEEP 201 INDEX