The Drysdale 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 ...

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 developed from 1931 by

Francis Dry Francis William Dry (23 October 1891 – 14 July 1979) was a New Zealand geneticist, biologist, university lecturer and wool researcher. He was born in Driffield, Yorkshire, England, on 23 October 1891. In the 1973 New Year Honours (New Zea ...

, and derives from sheep of the

New Zealand Romney The New Zealand Romney is a New Zealand breed of sheep. It derives from British Romney Marsh stock imported to New Zealand in the nineteenth century, and was established as a separate breed in 1904. It is the most numerous sheep breed in New ...

breed in which a

mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...

caused the coat to be particularly hairy, and thus suitable for

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of Pile (textile), pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fiber, synthetic fibres such as polyprop ...

-making. It is a specialised carpet wool breed, but also a useful meat breed.

History

in 1931 noticed a genetic freak, a Romney ram with a high percentage of very coarse wool. Crossing two Romneys and Cheviots resulted in a sheep with a lot of coarse fleece which is about with a 40

microns The micrometre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a uni ...

Preparation of Australian Wool Clips, Code of Practice 2010-2012, Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX), 2010 fibre diameter''Sheep breed compendium'', Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX), 2010 and a staple of . The coarse wool gene causes both male and female Drysdales to be horned. The male's horn resembles a Wiltshire ram's horn whereas the ewe's horns are very small - usually only in length. Live weight is 60–70 kg.

History

Characteristics

Use

References

Further reading