Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
California Red
In the early 1970s, Dr. Glenn Spurlock of the University of California at Davis
began crossing Tunis (see page 94) and Barbados sheep in order to establish
a new breed with superior qualities of both wool and meat production. The
result is the California Red sheep, which developed rapidly and is quite con-
sistent in maintaining the desirable characteristics of the breeds from which
it was crossed.
California Reds are medium-sized, dual-purpose sheep. Rams weigh from
200 to 250 pounds (90.7 to 113.4 kg) and ewes weigh from 130 to 160 pounds
(59 to 72.5 kg) at maturity. The fl eece yields 7 to 8 pounds (3.2 to 3.6 kg)
annually. The texture of the wool is silky and contains reddish hair, which
makes it desirable to spinners and weavers. It also makes good-quality felt.
Rams are active and aggressive, even in hot weather, and ewes are good
milking mothers that tend to be free of lambing problems. Like the Barbados
and Tunis, from which they are derived, California Reds breed out of season,
and many breeders aim for three lamb crops every 2 years. Lambs are red at
birth, but the wool lightens to an oatmeal color with age, though the legs and
face retain a reddish tinge.
California Variegated Mutant
The California Variegated Mutant breed was developed by Glen Eidman in
the early 1960s when one of his purebred Romeldale (see page 82) ewes gave
birth to a multicolored ewe lamb with a badger-patterned face (dark stripes
along the sides of the face and a lighter-colored center). Several years later a
ram lamb was born with the same coloring. Eidman crossed these two half-
siblings, and the same pattern came through. For the next 15 years, Eidman
continued breeding for the trait, concentrating also on characteristics like
spinability of the fl eece, twinning, and ease of lambing.
These sheep are medium sized. The rams are aggressive and virile breeders
and are reported to be able to breed larger numbers of ewes than other rams
can. The breed is known for longevity and prolifi c lamb production. They
breed out of season. Fleeces are long stapled and fi ne and average 8 pounds
(3.6 kg) per animal per year. Wool colors run from white to gray to black, with
some spotting, and unlike other colored breeds that lighten with age, these
sheep get darker.
A breed registry has formed for the California Variegated Mutant, so the
number of these sheep should begin to increase.
