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Dorset on exhibition at Stampede Park, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Dorset Horn is an endangered British breed of domestic sheep. It is documented from the seventeenth century, and is highly prolific, sometimes producing two lambing seasons per year. Among British sheep, it is the only breed capable of breeding throughout the winter. [5]: 800
The Poll Dorset, a short-wool, meat-producing sheep, was developed in Australia between 1937 and 1954 with the aim of breeding a true Dorset type sheep without horns. The poll gene was introduced into Dorset Horn flocks from two other polled breeds and following a strict back-mating programme achieved close to 100% of Dorset Horn blood.
In the context of sheep, Dorset may refer to: the Dorset Down, a British sheep breed; the Dorset Horn, a British sheep breed; the Polish Modified Dorset, a Polish sheep breed developed at the University of Life Sciences in Poznań; the Poll Dorset, an Australian sheep breed derived from the Dorset Horn
The Polled Dorset is an American breed of domestic sheep. It is a polled (hornless) variant of the British Dorset Horn. It was developed at the North Carolina State University Small Ruminant Unit in the 1950s after a genetic mutation led to the birth of a polled ram. After some years of breeding work, a true-breeding polled strain was established.
Wiltipoll sheep may weigh up to 125 kg (276 lb) under reasonable conditions. Wiltipoll sheep (polled Wiltshire Horn) shed their wool annually in spring to summer and produce lean, heavy lambs. They are a polled breed (no horns) bred for the production of prime lamb. The wool is simply shed and falls to the ground. [2]
The horns are cream-coloured, often having one or more thin black lines running along the horn lengthways. [4] Lambs are born with a foxy-red coat which changes in the first few months to a creamy white. [5] The face is generally free of wool, but some sheep have a top knot of short wool.
As the number of sheep in the region has increased, so the percentage has dropped, and today breeding Exmoor Horn ewes represent only about 10% of the total on Exmoor. The National Park reports that there are about 19,000 registered breeding ewes today, of which around 15,000 are on Exmoor. Small numbers are also found on neighbouring Dartmoor. [2]
It originated in the late eighteenth century in the area of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, as a result of cross-breeding when Norfolk Horn ewes were put to improved Southdown rams. It is a polled, black-faced breed, and is raised primarily for its meat. It has been exported to many countries, and is among the most numerous breeds of sheep worldwide.