The Drysdale is a New Zealand

breed A breed is a specific group of 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 several slig ...

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals 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 s ...

. It was developed from 1931 by Francis Dry, and derives from sheep of the

New Zealand Romney The New Zealand Romney is a New Zealand list of sheep breeds, breed of domestic sheep, sheep. It derives from British Romney Marsh (sheep), Romney Marsh stock imported to New Zealand in the nineteenth century, and was established as a separa ...

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, mi ...

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 attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester hav ...

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

History

Francis Dry 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 ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...

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