Young Group Of Australian White Ewe Lambs

The Australian White is an Australian

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

sheep. It derives from

selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant m ...

of White Dorper, Van Rooy, Poll Dorset and

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...

sheep, with the aim of creating a large white sheep suited to Australian conditions, and with a self-shedding hair coat.

History

Three breeders – Baringa, Highveld and Tattykeel - collaborated to create the breed. In 2011 the Australian White sheep breed was shown at the

Sydney Royal Easter Show The Sydney Royal Easter Show, commonly shortened to The Easter Show or The Show, is an annual show held in Sydney, Australia over two weeks around the Easter period. First held in 1823, it comprises an agricultural show, an amusement park and a ...

for the first time. In 2019 the breed was introduced into the USA. In 2022 an Australian White ram was sold for AU$240,000, thought to be a record price for a meat sheep.

References

Sheep breeds originating in Australia {{sheep-stub