Montadale

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Montadale is the name of a breed of sheep developed in the 1930s by E. H. Mattingly. Mattingly was a Midwestern commercial lamb buyer who had a dream of developing the ideal sheep. He had been told that the best start to that goal would be to bring together the best characteristics of Midwestern mutton type sheep and the big Western range sheep.

Mattingly selected the Cheviot and Columbia breeds as the basis for his project. The Cheviot is a small, hardy sheep developed in Scotland. It is known for its style, correctness, and muscling. The Columbia was developed in Wyoming and Idaho in the early 1900s. It is a large, big bodied sheep with heavy, good quality fleeces.

The first cross of Columbia rams on Cheviot ewes proved to Mattingly that his project was on track. However, he also tried breeding Cheviot rams to Columbia ewes. This cross was even more successful, and was chosen as the foundation for the new breed.

For 9 years, the first Montadales were selected and linebred to develop uniformity in breed characteristics and type. Then, the sheep were exhibited in competitions across the country. The breed quickly attracted the attention of progressive sheep producers. The growth and progress of the breed has been remarkably rapid ever since.