Hampshire sheep

Breed of sheep

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Hampshire

Other names| Hampshire Down
Country of origin| United Kingdom
Traits
Weight|

* Male:

275 lb (120 kg)

* Female:

200 lb (91 kg)

Wool color| White
Horn status| Both sexes are polled (hornless)

* Sheep
* Ovis aries

The Hampshire or Hampshire Down is a breed of sheep which originated around 1829 from a cross of Southdowns with the Old Hampshire breed, the Wiltshire Horn, and the Berkshire Nott, all horned, white-faced sheep — these were native to the open, untilled, hilly stretch of land known as the Hampshire Downs. The Hampshire Down is the worlds leading terminal sire breed.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Characteristics
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## History[edit]

John Twynam, a Hampshire farmer, crossed his then-Hampshire flock with Cotswold rams around 1829. The resultant half-bred rams were compact and blocky animals, and from around 1835 were sold into six or more of what were to become the first recognised pedigree Hampshire Down flocks in the United Kingdom. An important flock was kept at Downton Agricultural College in the late 19th-century.

The Southdowns had long dark brown or black legs, matured early, produced the best of mutton and a fine quality of medium wool. The original Hampshire was larger, coarser, but hardier, slower to mature, with inferior flesh, and a longer but coarser wool. The Southdown had always been remarkable for its power of transmitting its special characteristics to its progeny by other kinds of sheep, and hence it soon impressed its own characteristics on its progeny by the Hampshire. The horns of the original breed have disappeared; the face and legs have become dark, the frame has become more compact, the bones smaller, the back broader and straighter, the legs shorter, and the flesh and wool of better quality, while the superior hardiness and greater size, as well as the large head and Roman nose of the old breed, still remain. Hampshires of the 1890s matured early and fattened readily. They clipped from 6 to 7 pounds of wool, suitable for combing, which was longer than Southdown wool, but less fine.

The resultant mutton had a desirable proportion of fat and lean, and was juicy and fine flavoured; the lambs were large and were usually dropped early and fed for market. Indeed, the Hampshire may be considered a larger and trifle coarser and hardier Southdown. The breed was occasionally crossed with Cotswolds, when it produced a wool more valuable for worsted manufacturers than the pure Cotswold. In addition to Southdown, the Hampshire likely has a dash of Cotswold blood in its composition. Considerable importations of the breed were made to the United States in the 18th century, but it did not become so popular as the Southdown and some other English breeds.

## Characteristics[edit]

Mature rams should weigh 300 pounds or more and mature ewes should weigh 200 pounds or more in breeding condition.[1] Mature ewes yield on average 6 lbs(2.7 kg) to 10 lbs (4.5 kg) fleece that is 25.0 to 33.0 microns[2] and a spinning count of 46 to 58. The fleece staple length is 2.0 to 3.5 in (5-9 cm) with a yield of 50% to 62%.[3]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2009.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. ^ Preparation of Australian Wool Clips, Code of Practice 2010-2012, Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX), 2010
3. ^ "Hampshire". Breeds of Livestock. Oklahoma State University, Dept. of Animal Science. Retrieved 17 April 2009.

* Text was derived from Scientific American Supplement, No. 623, 10 December 1887.

## External links[edit]

* The Domestic Sheep by Henry Stewart (1898), "The Hampshire Down" (with photos).
* American Hampshire Sheep Association
* Ohio Hampshire Sheep Association
* Hampshire, by Susan Schoenian, Sheep & Goat Specialist at the University of Maryland's Western Maryland Research & Education Center.

* v
* t
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Livestock breeds of the British Isles

Cattle

| Beef cattle|

* Aberdeen Angus
* Beef Shorthorn
* Belted Galloway
* Blue Grey
* Devon
* Dexter
* English Longhorn
* Galloway
* Hereford
* Highland
* Lincoln Red
* Luing
* Shorthorn
* South Devon
* Sussex
* Welsh Black

|

Dairy cattle|

* Ayrshire
* Dairy Shorthorn
* Guernsey
* Jersey
* Kerry

Dual purpose|

* Albion
* British White
* Droimeann
* Irish Moiled
* Glamorgan
* Old Gloucester
* Pembroke
* Red Poll
* Shetland
* Whitebred Shorthorn

Primitive|

* Chillingham Wild Cattle
* Tory Island
* Vaynol
* White Park

Extinct|

* Alderney
* Blue Albion

Sheep

| Extant|

* Badger Face Welsh Mountain
* Balwen Welsh Mountain
* Beulah Speckled Face
* Black Welsh Mountain
* Bluefaced Leicester
* Border Cheviot
* Border Leicester
* Brecknock Hill Cheviot
* British Milksheep
* Cambridge
* Cheviot
* Clun Forest
* Cotswold
* Dalesbred
* Derbyshire Gritstone
* Devon Closewool
* Devon and Cornwall Longwool
* Dorset Down
* Dorset Horn
* Easycare
* Exmoor Horn
* Galway
* Greyface Dartmoor
* Hampshire
* Herdwick
* Hill Radnor
* Kerry Hill
* Leicester Longwool
* Lincoln
* Llanwenog
* Lleyn
* Lonk
* Masham
* Norfolk Horn
* North Country Cheviot
* Oxford Down
* Portland
* Romney
* Rough Fell
* Ryeland
* Scottish Blackface
* Shetland
* Shropshire
* Southdown
* Suffolk
* Swaledale
* Teeswater
* Welsh Mountain
* Wensleydale
* Whiteface Dartmoor
* Whitefaced Woodland
* Wiltshire Horn

|

Primitive|

* Boreray
* Castlemilk Moorit
* Hebridean
* Jacob
* Manx Loaghtan
* North Ronaldsay
* Soay

Extinct|

* Devon Longwool
* Scottish Dunface
* South Devon

Pigs

| Extant|

* Berkshire
* British Landrace
* British Lop
* British Saddleback
* Essex
* Gloucestershire Old Spots
* Large Black
* Large White
* Middle White
* Oxford Sandy and Black
* Tamworth
* Welsh
* Wessex Saddleback

|

Extinct|

* Cumberland
* Dorset Gold Tip
* Grice
* Irish Greyhound Pig
* Large White Ulster
* Lincolnshire Curly Coat
* Small Black
* Small White
* Yorkshire Blue and White

Goats

* Anglo-Nubian
* Bagot
* Bilberry
* British Alpine
* British Primitive
* Golden Guernsey
* Irish
* Pygmy

Poultry

| Chickens|

* Croad Langshan
* Derbyshire Redcap
* Dorking
* Ixworth
* Indian Game
* Legbar
* Modern Game
* Modern Langshan
* Nankin Bantam
* Norfolk Grey
* Old English Game
* Old English Pheasant Fowl
* Orpington
* Rosecomb
* Scots Dumpy
* Scots Grey
* Sebright
* Sussex

|

Ducks|

* Abacot Ranger
* Aylesbury
* Orpington
* Khaki Campbell
* Magpie
* Shetland
* Silver Appleyard
* Welsh Harlequin

Geese|

* Brecon Buff
* Shetland

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