The Corriedale is a New Zealand
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 ...
of
sheep
Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
. It was bred from about 1882 in the
South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
by James Little, who
cross-bred Merino
The Merino is a list of sheep breeds, breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monop ...
and
Lincoln Longwool sheep. The breed was officially recognised in 1911. It has been exported to Australia and to many countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America. In 2021 it was reported from twenty-five countries, and the total population was estimated at just over .
History

The Corriedale was developed in the latter part of the nineteenth century by
cross-breeding
A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...
Merino
The Merino is a list of sheep breeds, breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monop ...
and
Lincoln Longwool sheep, with the aim of producing sheep with grazing requirements intermediate between the lush lowlands which suited the British breeds and the sparse dry grazing preferred by the Merino.
The first to attempt this was James Little, who had come to New Zealand from the United Kingdom in 1863, and had previously tried to cross-breed Merinos with British
Romney stock. At the Corriedale estate in
North Otago
North Otago is an area in New Zealand that covers the area of the Otago region between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre f ...
, where he was manager, he then attempted to produce a Lincoln-Merino cross, but the results were unsatisfactory. At about the same time
William Davidson, manager of The Levels, an estate in
South Canterbury
South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the S ...
, began similar work using Lincoln rams on medium-wool Merino ewes; the resulting sheep became the foundation stock for the Corriedale breed.
In the following decade two Australian breeders – Corbett of
Victoria in 1882, and MacKinnon in
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
in 1888 – also did work with the same aim. In both Australia and New Zealand there was some admixture of Romney (for better conformation) and
Border Leicester (for better rate of growth). Stock from The Levels was imported to Australia from 1911.
In New Zealand the Corriedale could from 1903 be registered as an "Inbred Half-Bred" in an appendix to the
flock-book of the
New Zealand Sheepbreeders' Association. A
breed association
Breed clubs are associations or clubs with activities centered on a single, specific breed of a particular species of domesticated animal. The purpose of the association will vary with the species of animal and the goals and needs of the members ...
was formed in 1910, and in 1911 the name "Corriedale" was officially recognised; the first flock-book for the breed was published in 1924. In Australia a flock-book was established in 1922.
Within a few years the Corriedale was exported a number of countries, and
breeders' association
Breed clubs are associations or clubs with activities centered on a single, specific breed of a particular species of domesticated animal. The purpose of the association will vary with the species of animal and the goals and needs of the members ...
s were established many of them, including some European and South American countries, South Africa and the United States of America. It became one of the most numerous sheep breeds worldwide. In Uruguay in 1970 the population was estimated at , or about half the national herd. In 2021 Uruguay reported about head, while Chile and Peru each reported well over a million. In 2016 the number in New Zealand was estimated to be over .
Polwarth and Corriedale are the principal sheep breeds reared on the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
.
The Broomfield Corriedale was
selectively bred
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 ma ...
from the original Corriedale stock for greater resistance to
foot-rot. Among the breeds that derive in part from the Corriedale are: the
Borderdale of New Zealand (Corriedale x
Border Leicester); the
China Semi-Finewool (Corriedale x
Mongolian); the
Corino of Argentina (Corriedale x Merino); the
Cormo of Tasmania (Corriedale x Tasmanian Merino); the
Cormo Argentino, developed in Argentina from the Cormo; the Australian
Gromark
Gromark sheep are a large-framed, plain bodied dual-purpose (Lamb and mutton, meat and wool) breed of sheep that were under development in 1965 by Arthur C. Godlee at "Marengo", Tamworth, New South Wales. They were selected for a high growth rate, ...
(Corriedale x Border Leicester); the
Linchuan of
Jiangxi Province
; Gan: )
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, China (Corriedale/Romney x local finewools); the Australian
Siromeat; the American
Targhee; the
Warhill of Arizona, USA, and the Argentinian
Junin derived from it.
Corriedale and
Ryeland were used to transmit the
polled gene in the development of the Australian
Poll Dorset.
A number of breeds have "Corriedale" or "Koridel" in the breed name, but are not directly derived from the original stock; rather, they have been developed using a similar pattern of cross-breeding. Among these are the
Askanian Corriedale of Ukraine, cross-bred from British longwool sheep and local
Askanian stock; the
Bond or Commercial Corriedale, bred in Australia from about 1909; the
Canadian Corriedale; the
Kazakh Corriedale, bred in Kazakhstan from the
Kazakh Finewool and British longwool stock; The Armenian
Koridel; the
North Caucasus Mutton-Wool, derived from crosses between the
Stavropol
Stavropol (, ), known as Voroshilovsk from 1935 until 1943, is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, in southern Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities.
E ...
and the Lincoln Longwool; the
Polish Corriedale; the
Poznań Corriedale; the
Soviet Mutton-Wool or Mountain Koridel; and the
Tyan Shan.
Characteristics
The Corriedale is of medium to large size; grown ewes weigh some , full-grown rams . It is
polled, white-woolled and white-faced, with dark hooves and dark skin on the nostrils.
Ewes have good maternal qualities but are not highly prolific – the
twinning rate is in the range .
Use
It is a dual-purpose breed, reared both for wool and for
mutton
Lamb and mutton, collectively sheep meat (or sheepmeat) is one of the most common meats around the world, taken from the domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries'', and generally divided into lamb, from sheep in their first year, hogget, from sheep in thei ...
.
Ewe fleeces weigh some , with a staple length of and a fibre diameter of , equivalent to a
Bradford count of 56/50s. The wool is used to make blankets, rugs, military uniforms,
knitting wools,
tweed
Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...
s and
worsted
Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead (from Old English ''Wurðestede'', "enclosure place"), a village in the English county of Norfolk. T ...
s.
References
Sheep breeds originating in Australia
Sheep breeds originating in New Zealand
Sheep breeds
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