Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The Gulf Coast breed is small and has clean legs and an open face. Though
usually white, sheep are also brown, black, or spotted. They grow slowly and
have a low lambing percentage, but in subtropical conditions the percentage
of lambs fi nished per ewe mated is higher than other breeds because of excel-
lent lamb survivability. The lambs mature early, and the ewes can lamb out of
season.
Hampshire
The Hampshire is one of the largest of the medium-wool meat sheep. While
they don't do well on rough or scanty pasture because of their size and weight,
they do nicely on good pastures, and the lambs can usually be marketed
directly from the grass of high-quality pasture.
Hampshires are another British breed, from Southdowns (see page 88)
crossed with a Wiltshire Horn (see page 98)-Berkshire Knot cross. They were
fi rst imported in the early 1800s.
The ewes are good milkers and are fairly prolifi c, but they do not lamb eas-
ily, probably because of the large head and shoulders of the lambs and their
heavy weight at birth. The lambs grow rapidly and are known for good carcass
cutability.
The Hampshires have large heads and ears and are polled. The face and
legs are a rich, dark chocolate brown. Their fl eece is lightweight, and they
have fairly short, medium wool.
Hog Island
Two hundred years ago Hog Island, a barrier island off the coast of Virginia
near the mouth of the James River, became home to a fl ock of sheep that was
established from locally available British breeds. These animals have since
evolved into a unique breed of feral sheep.
Feral sheep are rare worldwide because sheep do not easily adapt to
unmanaged habitats. Feral sheep are most often found on islands, where
predators don't exist. Under those conditions, natural selection yields a hardy
sheep with excellent foraging ability (they are often able to utilize feeds that
other sheep couldn't hope to survive on) and reproductive effi ciency.
Hog Island was purchased by The Nature Conservancy during the 1970s,
and the entire fl ock of sheep was removed from the island to improve sur-
vival of native vegetation. The breed is now kept primarily at historic sites
in Virginia, such as Gunston Hall Plantation and Mt. Vernon, to portray
eighteenth-century sheep raising.
