Interesting Sheep Crosses

Drysdale/Finn – one of the most interesting crosses to date. This cross has resulted in a fast growing lamb with well-modulated, high lustre wool with a fineness of around 30 microns.

Finn/Merino – this cross resulted in a heavier fleece, having higher yield with very little loss in fineness. Fertility was improved as the NZ Finn is the best breed anywhere in the world for obtaining an immediate lift in lambing percentages.

Oxford/Coopworth – crossing a big breed sheep like the Oxford with a traditional long-woolled breed will give advantages of rapid growth and increased wool production. Faster growth will enable earlier kills, with more mature lambs then taken to higher slaughter weights than is possible with existing long wool breeds.

Poll Dorset/Romney – crossing Poll Dorset with Romney produces lambs with carcases that are long, well muscled, and free from excess fat. Dorset/Romney lambs will have a very high lamb weaning weights as well as higher wool weights.

From the above summary, you can see that there are a huge number of options when it comes to selecting a sheep breed that suits your property, climate and sheep-rearing abilities. Hopefully, this article will give some idea of the characteristics of the main breeds, their crosses and the newer breeds. It is now possible ‘design your own sheep’. All you have to do is figure out what sort of sheep you want and go for it!