Performance and utilization of Northern European short-tailed breeds of sheep and their crosses in North America: a review

Abstract

The five Northern European short-tailed sheep breeds present in North America are the Finnsheep, Romanov, Icelandic, Shetland and Gotland. The Finnsheep and Romanov were first imported in 1966 and 1986, respectively, for their high reproductive performance. The Shetland, Icelandic and Gotland breeds were first imported in 1980, 1985 and 2005, respectively, for the uniqueness of their physical appearance and their unique fleeces desired by fiber craftspeople. There have been no scientific studies conducted on the performance of the Shetland, Icelandic or Gotland breeds relative to other breeds of sheep in North America. However, the Shetland and Icelandic breeds have become very popular in the United States and ranked 9th and 18th, respectively, among 35 breeds of sheep for number of purebred animals registered in 2008. The performance of the Finnsheep breed in North America relative to domestic breeds has been thoroughly investigated. Compared to several domestic purebreds and crosses, sheep with Finnsheep breeding had a younger age at puberty, greater fertility to autumn mating, greater litter size, greater survival to weaning, similar growth rate, similar subcutaneous fat thickness, smaller loin muscle area and greater percentage of kidney and pelvic fat. Each 1% increase in Finnsheep breeding in ewes was associated with approximately 0.01 more lambs born per ewe lambing. In North American studies, Romanov ewes were superior to Finnsheep ewes for reproductive rate and lamb production per ewe under both autumn and spring mating. Lambs of the two breeds were similar for survival, growth and carcass traits. Romanov and Romanov-cross ewes produced fleeces that were heavily contaminated with medulated and colored fibers and were of very low commercial value. Three composite breeds containing 25% to 49% Finnsheep breeding (Polypay, Rideau Arcott and Outaouais Arcott) were developed in North America and are now more popular than the Finnsheep breed.

North European short-tailed breeds of sheep: a review

“…However, since the 1960s, some of the breeds have gained considerable distribution, especially the Finnsheep and the Romanov, and in recent decades breeds such as the Iceland, Gotland and Shetland, especially in North American, as indicated in Table 1 (see also Thomas, 2010). In summary (Table 1), 872 112 breeding sheep were kept in purebred populations in several countries, mainly in Northern Europe and North America.…”

“…Although adapted to certain local/regional conditions in the northern hemisphere, at least some of these breeds have much to offer in the international context and a few have already done so, especially in relation to prolificacy and mothering ability (Thomas, 2010). They can improve the efficiency of production of both quality food and fibre, not least in grassland-based, low-energy input and easy-care systems.…”

“…The best-known breeds of this group outside Northern Europe are the Finnsheep and the Romanov, which have been exported to several countries in the world where their genetic merits, especially prolificacy, have been utilized through crossbreeding with local sheep (Jakubec, 1977;Maijala and Ö sterberg, 1977;Ricordeau et al, 1978;Finnsheep, 1988;Fahmy, 1989;Thomas, 2010). Thus, they have played an important role in the production of some new synthetic/ composite breeds in several countries through hybridization.…”

“…Emphasis was placed on geographic location, distribution and present purebred population size. The economic value and importance, as well as products and role under a range of conditions, are covered but only brief references are made to crossbreeding, which will be dealt with specifically in the companion paper (Thomas, 2010). Although information was obtained on 34 shorttailed breeds originating in Northern Europe, it should be kept in mind that several of them are now rare and endangered and continued efforts are needed to conserve their great genetic diversity (Tapio, 2006).…”

Genetic analysis of longevity and lamb survival from birth to yearling in Moghani sheep

“…In addition, analysis of actual survival time permits for the application of records of lambs which were died or culled over the period considered because of reasons not associated with their survivability (Sawalha et al 2007). It was reported that lamb loss from birth to yearling is generally as 20-40% in various sheep breeding systems and causes a negative effect on genetic progress and economic considerations of sheep breeding (Mukasa-Mugerwa et al 2000;Tibbo 2006;Hatcher et al 2010;Thomas 2010). Estimates of heritability for survival rate obtained by linear animal models are reported to be generally low, ranging from 0.00 to 0.11 (Safari et al 2005), halting or slowing the genetic progress rate.…”