Cotswold sheep
The Cotswold sheep is a breed of domestic sheep that originated in the Cotswolds region of western England and was believed to have been bred in the 13th century. The origin of the breed is said to go back to sheep that were brought to England by the Romans in the 1st century and were valued primarily for their wool, but also for their meat ( dual-purpose breed ). Because of their dense wool, which can grow like a mane, they are also known as the Cotswold Lion . The breed is still kept in Great Britain, continental Europe, Australia and North America today and its wool is very popular. In addition to the pure white Cotswold sheep, there is also the black-colored Black Cotswold sheep.
features
The Cotswold sheep is a dual-purpose sheep with a trunk that is the same width as the back and gives the body an angular appearance. The shoulder that lies back, like the spine, is well covered with muscles. The entire body is densely covered with a white, dense, long and shiny fleece. The hornless head is placed on a strong and broad neck and is covered with wool up to the forehead. A tuft of wool on the forehead is typical of the breed. The widely spaced eyes have large, dark pupils. The dark nose is slightly wider than the rest of the face. Both the face and the cheeks are densely covered with white hair, although the hair on the cheek and around the eyes can also have a blue tint. Occasionally some sheep have faces that are covered with gray hair. The long and upright ears are covered with short, soft hair, with dark spots on the tips of the ears. The straight legs are rather short and well-muscled on the outside.
In addition to the white Cotswold sheep, there are also Black Cotswold sheep, which first appeared in Kentucky in 1858 . They resemble the pure white Cotswold sheep in stature, but differ from them in the darker, black color of wool and hair. It is unclear whether this coloring is due to a natural mutation or an accidental cross with another breed of sheep.
Breeding history
The exact origins of the breed are unknown, but it is believed that these are descendants of the sheep brought to England by the Romans in the 1st century. For the 13th century it is documented that around 6000 sheep were kept in the vicinity of Cirencester and that the wool trade was an important economic factor in the region at that time. During the reign of Edward III. the county of Gloucestershire delivered 30,000 sacks of Cotswold wool to the royal court annually. In the 14th century, traders from Florence traveled to the Cotswolds to trade their wares for wool and clothing made from it. During the 15th century there was a brisk export of Cotswold sheep and their wool, so that King Henry VI. in 1425 passed a law prohibiting exports without royal permission. How popular the Cotswold wool was is also shown by the fact that the Portuguese King Edward Henry VI in 1437. asked for the export of sixty sacks of wool for making clothes.
For the period around 1850 it is documented that around 5000 rams were traded within one year. Around ten years later, around 4,000 bucks were traded, with a large part being exported to America, Australia and continental Europe. In North America, the first Cotswold sheep were raised by Christopher Dunn near Albany in 1832 . They were the most common breed of sheep in North America in 1879 and 760,000 sheep were counted in 1914. In North America, the Cotswold sheep were largely supplanted by merino sheep in the 20th century . A black color variant of the Cotswold sheep was first observed in Kentucky in 1858 and is now treated as a separate breed as Black Cotswold sheep. In 1892 the Cotswold Sheep Society was founded in England , which listed 22 flocks with a total of 12,639 ewes in its first herd book . The oldest listed flocks of sheep go back to 1790. As interest in purebred Cotswold sheep waned at the beginning of the 20th century, the Society was dissolved in the mid-1920s. Until 1966, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust kept records of the sheep herds and the breeders. That year a small group of sheep farmers met to re-establish the Society, which kept the records on its own. The members of the newly founded Society kept their own herd books, which were summarized and published in 1974 by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. This herdbook listed 110 members. In the 1980s, North America and England had fewer than 600 Cotswold sheep, and in 1993 there were fewer than 400 lambs.
The Rare Breeds Survival Trust lists the Cotswold sheep as a "minority" (potentially threatened).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ The Cotswold Sheep Society: The Cotswold Sheep - Breed Standard. (No longer available online.) In: www.cotswoldsheepsociety.co.uk. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016 ; accessed on March 14, 2016 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b c Cotswold Breeder Association: Cotswolds - The Gentle Giants. In: www.cotswoldbreederassociation.org. Retrieved March 14, 2016 .
- ^ A b c The Cotswold Sheep Society: The Cotswold Sheep - Breed History. (No longer available online.) In: www.cotswoldsheepsociety.co.uk. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016 ; accessed on March 14, 2016 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The Cotswold Sheep Society: The Cotswold Sheep Society. (No longer available online.) In: www.cotswoldsheepsociety.co.uk. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016 ; accessed on March 18, 2016 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
