The Suffolk is a British

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 ...

domestic 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 ...

. It originated in the late eighteenth century in the area of Bury St. Edmunds in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, as a result of cross-breeding when Norfolk Horn ewes were put to improved Southdown rams. It is a polled, black-faced breed, and is raised primarily for its

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, ...

. It has been exported to many countries, and is among the most numerous breeds of sheep worldwide.

History

The Suffolk originated in the area surrounding Bury St. Edmunds in

in the late eighteenth century, as a result of cross-breeding when Norfolk Horn ewes were put to improved Southdown rams. They were at first known as Blackfaces or Southdown-Norfolks; the first use of the name "Suffolk" for these sheep dates to 1797. In 1810 it was recognised as distinct breed, but was not known by the present name until 1859. A breed society, the English Suffolk Society, was formed in 1886; a flock-book published in the following year recorded some ewes. By the end of the nineteenth century the Suffolk had displaced the Oxford Down as the principal terminal sire used on cross-bred ewes in Scotland. By the 1980s breed numbers in the United Kingdom had risen to some head, but later fell; in 2020 a total population of was reported. The Suffolk has been exported to many countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Italy, Kenya, the Netherlands,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and the United States, and has become one of the most numerous sheep breeds in the world. It was introduced to the United States in 1888 by one G.B. Streeter of Chazy, New York. A large and long-legged sub-type has developed there; it is fast-growing, but the carcase is of lower quality.

Characteristics

The Suffolk is a large sheep, white-woolled and polled, with a black face and black legs free of wool. Spider lamb syndrome may occur in the Suffolk breed.

Use

Suffolk rams are commonly used as a terminal sire on cross-bred ewes to produce fast-growing lambs for slaughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suffolk Sheep Sheep breeds Sheep breeds originating in England