Southdown sheep

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Southdown
FAO (2007): not at risk[1]: 148 
  • DAD-IS (2021): at risk[2]
  • RBST (2021): not at risk[3]
    • Other namesSouth Down
    Country of originUnited Kingdom
    Distributioninternational
    Traits
    Weight
    Height
    • Male:
      67 cm[2]
    • Female:
      60 cm[2]
    Wool colourwhite
    Face colourmouse-grey[5]: 482 
    Horn statuspolled[5]: 482 
  • Ovis aries

    • The Southdown is a British

    domestic sheep,[6]: 918 [2] the smallest of the British breeds.[7]: 23  It is a shortwool breed, and the basis of the whole Down group of breeds. It was originally bred by John Ellman of Glynde, near Lewes in East Sussex, in about 1800.[7]: 23  It has been exported to many countries; it has been of particular importance in New Zealand, where it was used in the breeding of Canterbury lamb. In the twenty-first century it is kept principally as a terminal sire.[8]
    : 282 

    It is listed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust among the UK native breeds; it was formerly listed as "priority" or "at risk".[3]

    History

    Encyclopædia Britannica, eleventh edition
    , 1911

    From

    Dishley Leicester bred by Robert Bakewell.[9]: 125  In the nineteenth century further selective breeding was carried out by Jonas Webb, of Babraham in Cambridgeshire, with such success that the breed was at times known as the Cambridgeshire.[5]
    : 492 

    This sheep was involved with crossbreeding to develop other breeds:

    Characteristics

    Two Southdowns at the 2007 Great Yorkshire Show

    Use

    The Southdown was traditionally reared for meat and wool. During the day the sheep pastured freely on the downs, and at night they were close-folded in the arable fields of the farmers, where they helped to increase soil fertility.[10]

    Fleece weights (greasy) are about 2–3.5 kg for ewes, 3.5–5.5 kg for rams. Staple length is some 50–60 mm, and fibre diameter about 23–25 μm (equivalent to a

    Bradford count of 58/60s).[7]
    : 15 

    In California and New Zealand, they are placed in vineyards to graze weeds because they are too short to reach the grapes on the vines.[11]

    References

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Southdown.
    1. ISBN 9789251057629
      . Archived 23 June 2020.
    2. ^ a b c d e Breed data sheet: Southdown / United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2021.
    3. ^ a b Watchlist 2021–22. Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Archived 12 April 2021.
    4. ^ a b Description & breed characteristics. The Southdown Sheep Society. Archived 22 September 2010.
    5. ^
      ISBN 9780715616550
      .
    6. ISBN 9781780647944
      .
    7. ^
      ISBN 9781904761860
      .
    8. ISBN 9780408106337
      .
    9. ISBN 0300088809
      .
    10. ^ Paul Wakeham-Dawson (2002). The Remoulding and Revival of the Southdown Sheep. The Ark. 30 (Summer 2002): 68–70. Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Archived 23 September 2006.
    11. ^ Fimrite, P. Napa sheep slaughter solved: Culprits were cougars. San Francisco Chronicle 1 April 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
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