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Poll Merino
The Poll Merino is a subtype of the Australian Merino breed of domestic sheep, without horns, that was developed in Australia. Characteristics These sheep are early maturing, large framed and relatively plain bodied, producing a fleece which is soft handling and of good colour thus retaining the attributes of the Merino. Polled Merinos are now found in the various strains of Merinos.Stephens, M (''et al.''), ''Handbook of Australian Livestock'', Australian Meat & Livestock Export Corporation, 2000 (4th ed.), A single gene with three possible alleles controls horn inheritance in Australian Merinos. Poll Merino rams are not susceptible to poll strike (maggots behind the horns) which results from fighting and which can cause temporary infertility. They are also easier to crutch and shear, are less likely to become caught in fences or bushes and they are generally easier to handle.Cottle, David J., Australian Sheep and Wool Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne, 1991, The wethers d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Merino
The Australian Merino is an Australian breed or group of breeds of sheep, forming a significant part of the Merino group of breeds. Its origins lie in Merino sheep imported to Australia from South Africa in about 1796. By about 1830 there were almost two million Merinos in the country. Using the skills of breeding and selection, the Australian Merino developed inline with Australia’s large variations in climatic conditions, management and husbandry techniques. The Australian Merino produces a wool that is the world’s finest and softest. History In 1790, Charles IV of Spain sent a gift of Merino sheep from the Escorial ''cavana'' to the government of the Dutch Republic. They did not thrive there, but did well in the Dutch Cape Colony, in what is now South Africa. The origins of the Australian Merino lie in some of those sheep imported to Australia by John Macarthur in 1796. By about 1830, there were almost two million Merinos in the country. The original strain bre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 domesticated sheep. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Numbering a little over one billion, domestic sheep are also the most numerous species of sheep. An adult female is referred to as a ''ewe'' ( ), an intact male as a ''ram'', occasionally a ''tup'', a castrated male as a ''wether'', and a young sheep as a ''lamb''. Sheep are most likely descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia, with Iran being a geographic envelope of the domestication center. One of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, sheep are raised for fleeces, meat ( lamb, hogget or mutton), and milk. A sheep's wool is the most widely used animal fiber, and is usually harvested ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horn (anatomy)
A horn is a permanent pointed projection on the head of various animals that consists of a covering of keratin and other proteins surrounding a core of live bone. Horns are distinct from antlers, which are not permanent. In mammals, true horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae ( pronghorn) and Bovidae ( cattle, goats, antelope etc.). Cattle horns arise from subcutaneous connective tissue (under the scalp) and later fuse to the underlying frontal bone. One pair of horns is usual; however, two or more pairs occur in a few wild species and in some domesticated breeds of sheep. Polycerate (multi-horned) sheep breeds include the Hebridean, Icelandic, Jacob, Manx Loaghtan, and the Navajo-Churro. Horns usually have a curved or spiral shape, often with ridges or fluting. In many species, only males have horns. Horns start to grow soon after birth and continue to grow throughout the life of the animal (except in pronghorns, whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 monopoly; exports of the breed were not allowed, and those who tried risked capital punishment. During the eighteenth century, flocks were sent to the courts of a number of European countries, including France (where they developed into the Rambouillet (sheep), Rambouillet), Hungary, the Netherlands, Prussia, Saxony and Sweden. The Merino subsequently spread to many parts of the world, including South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. They are presently common in South Africa. Numerous recognised breeds, strains and variants have developed from the original type; these include, among others, the American Merino and Delaine Merino in the Americas, the Australian Merino, Booroola Merino and Peppin Merino in Oceania, and the Gentile di Puglia, M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protein-coding genes and non-coding genes. During gene expression (the synthesis of Gene product, RNA or protein from a gene), DNA is first transcription (biology), copied into RNA. RNA can be non-coding RNA, directly functional or be the intermediate protein biosynthesis, template for the synthesis of a protein. The transmission of genes to an organism's offspring, is the basis of the inheritance of phenotypic traits from one generation to the next. These genes make up different DNA sequences, together called a genotype, that is specific to every given individual, within the gene pool of the population (biology), population of a given species. The genotype, along with environmental and developmental factors, ultimately determines the phenotype ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allele
An allele is a variant of the sequence of nucleotides at a particular location, or Locus (genetics), locus, on a DNA molecule. Alleles can differ at a single position through Single-nucleotide polymorphism, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), but they can also have insertions and deletions of up to several thousand base pairs. Most alleles observed result in little or no change in the function or amount of the gene product(s) they code or regulate for. However, sometimes different alleles can result in different observable phenotypic traits, such as different pigmentation. A notable example of this is Gregor Mendel's discovery that the white and purple flower colors in pea plants were the result of a single gene with two alleles. Nearly all multicellular organisms have two sets of chromosomes at some point in their biological life cycle; that is, they are diploid. For a given locus, if the two chromosomes contain the same allele, they, and the organism, are homozygous with re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crutching
Crutching refers to the removal of wool from around the tail and between the rear legs of a sheep for hygiene purposes. It can also refer to removing wool from the heads of sheep (''wigging'' or ''eye-wooling''). It does not refer to the process of mulesinga controversial procedure that involves removing of strips of wool-bearing skin from around the breech (buttocks) of a sheep. Motivation Through centuries of selective breeding, most recently through artificial insemination, domestic sheep have denser and longer wool than their wild forebears, which may require human intervention to maintain. Sheep with heavy fleeces of wool often develop stains or dags on their rear ends from faeces. In ewes, urine can also stain the wool. To avoid discomfort to the sheep and damage to the fleece, graziers remove the wool (and any dags) from the sheep. Urine and watery faeces from eating spring grass can also lead to myiasis (fly-strike), which occurs when flies lay eggs in warm, damp woo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moree, New South Wales
Moree () is a town in Moree Plains Shire in northern New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Mehi River, in the centre of the rich black-soil plains. Newell and Gwydir highways intersect at the town. It can also be reached from Sydney by daily train and air services. The Weraerai and Kamilaroi peoples are the earliest known inhabitants of the area, and the town's name is said to come from an Aboriginal word for "rising sun", "long spring", or "water hole". The town was established by colonial British in the 1850s. They forced the local Aboriginal residents in missions, and later Aboriginal reserves. The town, and in particular the Moree Baths and Swimming Pool, are known for having been visited by the group of activists on the famous 1965 Freedom Ride. This historic trip through northern NSW was led by Charles Perkins to bring media attention to discrimination against Indigenous Australians. Moree is a major agricultural centre, noted for its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Booroola Merino
The Booroola is a Merino strain that has a high rate of multiple births. Booroola's prolificacy was studied extensively by New Zealand researchers, who provided one of the first examples of the practical application of gene mapping in sheep, by mapping the Booroola gene to chromosome 6 . History The Booroola Merino was started by Jack and Dick Seears of Booroola, Cooma using ewes from their Egelabra flock that gave multiple-births. The Seears gave the CSIRO a quintuplet ram in 1958, another in 1959 and a sextuplet ewe in 1960. In 1958, the CSIRO purchased 12 ewes (triplets or quadruplets) and a ewe who had given birth to triplets. When the Booroola flock was dispersed in 1965, the CSIRO purchased 91 mixed-age multiple-born ewes and moved their Booroola flock from Deniliquin to Armidale. The Egelabra and Mumblebone strains of the Merino can be traced to Gamboola; these were derived from Samuel Marsden's flock, and like Macarther's flock, Marsden's flock was based on South Africa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peppin Merino
The Peppin Merino is a breed of Merino sheep raised for their wool, mostly in Australia. So important is the Peppin Merino that wool producers throughout Australia often classify their sheep simply as being either Peppin, or non-Peppin. Peppin merino wool is in the 20 to 23 micron range. The Peppin is prevalent in the sheep flocks of Queensland, on the slopes and plains of New South Wales, through the north of Victoria and the mixed farming areas of South Australia and Western Australia. It can also be found in significant numbers in the higher rainfall areas of Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales. History In March 1858, the Peppin brothers, who had emigrated from Old Shute Farm, Dulverton, Somerset in England, purchased Wanganella Station, near Wanganella township in the Riverina district of New South Wales. The Peppins then selected 200 station-bred ewes that thrived under local conditions and purchased 100 Rambouillet-sired stud ewes from Nicholas Chadwick of Canall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polled Livestock
Polled livestock are livestock without horns in species which are normally horned. The term refers to both breeds and strains that are naturally polled through selective breeding and also to naturally horned animals that have been disbudded. Natural polling occurs in cattle, yaks, water buffalo, and goats, and in these animals it affects both sexes equally; in sheep, by contrast, both sexes may be horned, both polled, or only the females polled. The history of breeding polled livestock starts about 6000 years BC. Terminology The archaic term or is sometimes used to refer to hornless livestock (especially cattle) in folk songs, folk tales, and poetry, and in the name of the polled Irish Moiled cattle breed. "Muley" derives from Irish and Scottish Gaelic ''maol'', and Welsh ''moel''. Genetics In cattle, the polled allele is genetically dominant to that for horns. The polled trait is far more common in beef breeds than in dairy breeds. CRISPR technology is being develope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
