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Four breeds of sheep, in the illustrated encyclopedia Meyers Konversationslexikon. This is a list of breeds of domestic sheep. Domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are partially derived from mouflon (Ovis gmelini) stock, and have diverged sufficiently to be considered a different species. Some sheep breeds have a hair coat and are known as haired sheep.
Ryeland sheep. The Ryeland is one of the oldest English sheep breeds going back seven centuries when the monks of Leominster in Herefordshire bred sheep and grazed them on the rye pastures, giving them their name.
This is a list of sheep breeds usually considered to originate in Canada and the United States. [1] [2] Some may have complex or obscure histories, so inclusion here does not necessarily imply that a breed is predominantly or exclusively from those countries.
One chief difference between ancient sheep and modern breeds is the technique by which wool could be collected. Primitive sheep can be shorn, but many can have their wool plucked out by hand in a process called "rooing". Rooing helps to leave behind the coarse fibers called kemps which are still longer than the soft fleece. The fleece may also ...
The Soay Sheep has prehistoric origins, [citation needed] and the Galloway breed of beef cattle dates back several hundred years. New breeds have also been developed more recently in Scotland, such as the Scottish Fold cat, which dates from 1961. [2] The North Ronaldsay Sheep is a most unusual breed, subsisting largely on a diet of seaweed. [3]
The Xalda likely traces its lineage back to the ancient Ovis aries celticus, [4] and is related to other sheep of Celtic origin, including the Ouessant, the Black Wales, the morite, and several German breeds. [3] Most of its related Iberian ancestors are extinct, [1] with one notable exception being the very rare Bordaleira of Northern Portugal ...
The Alpines Steinschaf is one of four breeds in the Steinschaf group, the others being the Krainer Steinschaf, the Montafoner Steinschaf and the Tiroler Steinschaf. [5] They are variously thought to have derived from the medieval Zaupelschaf type, or from the older Torfschaf, and are believed to be the oldest sheep breeds of the eastern Alps.
Suffolks are a medium wool, black-faced breed of meat sheep that make up 60% of the sheep population in the U.S. [24] Depending on breed, sheep show a range of heights and weights. Their rate of growth and mature weight is a heritable trait that is often selected for in breeding. [24]