Drysdale (sheep)

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The Drysdale breed of sheep originated in New Zealand. Dr. Francis Dry in 1931 noticed a genetic freak, a Romney ram with a high percentage of very coarse wool. Crossing to Romney and Cheviots resulted in a sheep with a lot of coarse, long-staple wool that had to be shorn twice a year.

Demand from carpet manufacturers in the early 1960s caused an increase in the number of Drysdales in the New Zealand flock. Drysdale wool carpets are used in computing environments where static electricity is a problem.

Drysdales are medium-large sheep, about 55 kg live weight. Their fleece is about 6 kg with a 40 micrometre diameter and a staple of 200 to 300 mm. The coarse wool gene causes both male and female Drysdales to be horned. The male's horn resembles a Wiltshire ram's horn where as the ewes horns are very small- usually only 8 or 9 cm in length.

[edit] References

• Stephens, M (et al), Handbook of Australian Livestock, Australian Meat & Livestock Export Corporation, 2000 (4th ed), ISBN 1 74036 2160