Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
lambs, and ewes are also capable of producing a high volume of milk. As a
result, Cluns are garnering interest among sheep-dairy operators.
Clun Forest sheep are adaptable to all kinds of climates and all kinds of
grazing conditions. Another quality that makes them valuable is their longev-
ity and that they have good fl eeces until they are 10 or 12 years of age. Their
medium wool is 58s count. (The s has to do with spinning count and means
the number of hanks, or 560 yards [511.8 m], that the wool can spin. See
chapter 11 for more on spinning counts.)
Columbia
The Columbia is the fi rst breed to come out of U.S. government and university
research. Developed by the USDA in 1912, it was intended as an improved,
true breeding type for the western range. It is the result of a Lincoln (see
page 72) ram and Rambouillet (see page 78) ewe cross, with interbreeding
of the resulting lambs and their descendants without backcrossing to either
parent stock. The object of the cross was to produce more pounds of wool and
lamb under range conditions, but this breed has also adapted well to the lush
grasses of small farms in other parts of the country. Heavy wool clips; hardy,
fast-growing lambs; open faces; and ease of handling are characteristics for
which the breed is known.
Columbias have medium wool in the 50s to 60s range that is predomi-
nantly about 56s. It has light shrinkage and makes excellent, all-white fl eece
for handspinning.
Coopworth
Coopworths were developed in the 1950s at Lincoln College in New Zealand
by crossing Border Leicesters with Romneys (see page 82), and the breed has
unusually strict registration requirements. Performance recording is manda-
tory, with emphasis placed on multiple births and high weaning weights. The
breed is very docile, but this makes them more susceptible to predators, so
they are best raised under farm conditions, rather than on range operations.
They are able to adapt to a wide variety of climatic conditions.
Coopworths were fi rst imported to North America in the 1970s and have
proved to be excellent foragers on lush pastures. The wool is lustrous, very
strong, soft, curly, and thick like carpet wool. It is well suited to felting.
 
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