Talk:List of sheep breeds

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Ah - thanks for fixing that up. 'Breeds' alluded me when creating this page. --bquanta 07:30, 21 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Contents 1 sheep list 2 Electric sheep 3 Are breeds the same as species? 4 Actually there are no domestic sheep 5 Missing important sheep

[edit] sheep list

My book "A cabra & a ovelha no Brasil" shows 93 breeds in country. How can I insert some breeds of sheep and goat in Wikipedia list? Rinaldo dos Santos zebus@zebus.com.br

[edit] Electric sheep

I have removed this.

[edit] Are breeds the same as species?

Are all the "sheep breeds used in farming" members of Ovis aries? Are all the others members of different species of Ovis? A few of these links seem to not go to the article about the sheep but rather the article about whatever their name derives from. For the articles that *are* about sheep, however, should a taxobox be used? Donama 05:45, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

A breed is not a species, and not usually even a subspecies, it is simply what it says, a version of a domesticated animal produced by selective breeding to fulfil a particular purpose. All breeds of dog for example are the same subspecies Canis lupis familiaris. AFAIK, all sheep breeds are O. aries, unless there is any evidence that any are derived from a different subspecies, to put a taxobox for each entry would appear to be redundant. jimfbleak 06:03, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

This article suggests, as one would expect, that the domestic sheep is of hybrid origins, which I think would make identification of valid subspecies of O. aries meaningless or impossible. On thinking about it that probaly applies to all domestic animals. jimfbleak 06:16, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

Depending on how much they have been changed from the wild ancestors, domestic forms can be the same species (chicken), a subspecies (dog - although this is contentious), or a new species, like sheep. the latter is only likely where the ancestry involves more than one wild species. jimfbleak 08:03, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

Then this article is a list of "domestic sheep". Note that mouflon is included in the list, apparently an evolutionary ancestor of O. aries, thus not a domestic sheep? I guess this doesn't matter. Just might be a good idea to note that the breeds of sheep include sheep of various species. Donama 08:21, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

Mouflon must have been domesticated in the past to be the ancestral stock, and some of the existing populations are of feral origin. Don't know that it could be described as a sheep breed though, and I doubt if it is still domesticated. Jim

[edit] Actually there are no domestic sheep

Actually there are no domestic sheep. All sheep are of the same species, which means the so-called wild sheep and the so-called domestic sheep can actually breed. Sheep, like horses, then, are actually born wild.

My most recent sheep article: Two Studies in Sheep Production: An Investigative Report

128.95.168.107 --al-masakin00:15, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

If this is so, perhaps request a name change for domestic sheep back to sheep. Is it widely agreed this is the case? I thought Ovis aries had been domesticated since before recorded history. Does O. aries have a common name apart from "domestic sheep"? Donama 03:27, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Missing important sheep

It's odd that important sheep currently used in British farming like the Scottish Blackface are missing from the "current use" list. Is this being written with an American slant? Adam Cuerden 22:28, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

That's a good question. But, I think any article has a "slant" of the person writing it. So, if Brits write an article, it is more liekly to have more information from the UK and the same for Americans, Germans, Irish, etc. Rboesen 13:23, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. Still, sheep breeds in use are highly regionalised - it might be helpful to try and sort by country? Adam Cuerden 13:36, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

I like the idea of organizing the list by region of some sort. Whether the region is a country, hemisphere or other definition could prove to be an interesting debate. How would you solve the problem of the same species within several regions (no matter how they are defined)? If there are more sheep breeds yet to be definied here, please feel free to add them. Rboesen 14:36, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Mainly worked with White-face Woodland, and a collection of the ancient breeds (Soay, Hebridean, Shetland, etc). Suspect there are more out there, but I'd have to dig out my books. Adam Cuerden 15:58, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Anything you can add to the body of knowledge for sheep in general, I'm sure would be greatly appreciated. I have mainly worked with Icelandic sheep and other fine fibered sheep, except Merrino. They're too greasey. Rboesen 16:40, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

I happened upon this story about the increasing commercial use of Olde English Miniature Babydoll Southdown Sheep (colloquially, "Babydolls"). Is this another breed that should be added to the article? JamesMLane t c 04:11, 24 September 2006 (UTC)