Shropshire (sheep)

The Shropshire sheep is an old domestic sheep breed that originated from the area of Shropshire (England) and was bred in the first half of the 19th century from local sheep breeds. 1859, the breed was first exhibited at the exhibition of the Royal Agricultural Society and has been the breed recognized.

Features

The Shrophshire Sheep is a medium sized, productive species meat sheep with a long, deep body and wide back. The pure white fleece has a dense crossbred wool. Hairless body parts are dark brown. The bewollte often to the forehead and the cheeks head, mounted on short, strong neck is set with black Stichelhaaren and hornless. The powerful legs have tight bonds and fixed claws.

Goats reach up to 80 inches at the withers and then weigh about 120 kilograms. Ewes are at least 75 inches tall and can reach a weight of 85 kg and above. The sheep seem to be good meat breed. They deliver about 2.5 to 3.5 kg wool per year. In the landscaping the Shropshire sheep is primarily used for the care of conifer cultures that are not biting it.

Because of their robust constitution and great adaptability Shropshire sheep are increasingly in demand. Even with very meager food supply, they can still provide high performance due to their very good reason for feed conversion.

The Shropshire Sheep has good fertility, as evidenced by constant high Ablammquoten by 160%. The pronounced mothering and good milk production are responsible for vigorous lambs. In response it is calm, making herd management is facilitated. At long Brunstsaison the initial field is possible from 8 to 10 months.

Shropshire lambs are fast-growing. You can already reach maturity at slaughter a slaughter weight of 18 to 22 kg 90 to 120 days. They have good carcasses on with pronounced muscles.

Entertainment history

The popularity of the Shropshire breed took place in Great Britain in the 19th century quickly. As early as 1884, more Shropshire shown at the annual exhibition of the Royal Agricultural Society as other animals together. 1855 also the first animals of this breed were exported to the United States. The first flock that specifically imported as breeding animals and consisted of a buck and 20 ewes, was brought by Samuel Sutton in 1960 to Maryland.

In the late 19th century it became the predominant meat breed of sheep in England.

In the U.S., this breed was popular because it was able to adapt to different climatic conditions. As a dual-purpose breed with a good wool and meat production performance they also met the requirements imposed by agriculture on races at that time. At the turn of the 20th century, this breed was the most numerous breed of sheep in the United States.

While the breed still referred to as pawn favorite in the 1930s, the population numbers declined in the following decades. Breeders selected increasingly on woolen performance; thereby decreased the body size of the animals. The dense Wollbehang including the face curtailed the field of view of the animals. It therefore had to be laboriously sheared regularly. The popularity of the breed declined accordingly.

Breeders in the United States began in the 1950s back to the old features zurückzuzüchten. Today, there are large stocks in the USA again. Animals are kept, especially in the Midwest again, corresponding to the old ideal of Zweinutzigkeit.

In England and other European countries, the stock numbers of the breed remained until the 1990s, at a very low level. From the " Rare Breeds Survival Trust", was until recently placed in the endangered category "at risk".

A turnaround began in the early 1990s. They discovered a unique property of Shropshire sheep. You bite no conifers shoots in contrast to all other known breeds of sheep. A success story began and continues to this day: In Christmas tree plantations Shropshire sheep are used for culture maintenance. Pure-bred Shropshire sheep have proven that they graze on both conifer plantations and fruit trees reliably without having to bite the shoots of conifers or to peel the bark of fruit trees. This is supported valuable property through a specially tuned pasture management. They keep the grass between the firs short and thus ensure sufficient growth conditions for the small fir trees.

The farmer can dispense with this environmentally friendly weed control method on the use of herbicides. Christmas tree farms with direct marketing use of the Shropshire Ewe as a popular figure and showcase for environmentally-friendly production. A stable sward increases the navigability. The dung of sheep improves soil life, continuously delivers nutrients and thus leads to uniform growth and an improved needle color of the trees.

The interest group Shropshireschafe Germany eV ( IGSD ) has the support and dissemination of this race goal.