The Poll Merino is a subtype of the Australian Merino breed of domestic sheep, without horns, that was developed in Australia.
The Poll Merino is a subtype of the Australian Merino breed of domestic sheep, without horns, that was developed in Australia.
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. [1]
A single gene with three possible alleles controls horn inheritance in Australian Merinos. [2]
| allele | Result | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| P | Poll | Dominant to p and P1 |
| P1 | Horns | Recessive to P, Dominant to p |
| p | Horns in rams, scurs in ewes | Recessive to P1 and P |
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. [3] The wethers do not develop the stag horns that regular Merino wethers grow if they are not castrated early. [4]
In 1825 Alexander Riley was the first Australian breeder to obtain a poll ram with a view to establishing a poll Merino flock. The ram was imported by him from Germany, along with Saxon ewes. Boonoke, Bungaree, Uardry and Wanganella studs made specific mention of poley or poll rams for sale from the early 1880s. During the 1880s the first conscious attempt was made to breed the modern-type Poll Merinos by the Munros at Webollabolla, Moree, New South Wales. This stud is the oldest Poll Merino stud in Australia. [4]
The Kirkby Poll Merino studs (Success and Reno) were started in Moree during 1932, Boonoke Poll in 1934 and Merryville Poll in 1938. The early Western Australian studs (Cranmore Park 1947, Belmore Park 1957) purchased Boonoke poll rams. [3]
Otway Falkiner started the Boonoke Poll Stud using 13 'sports', which had no horns, from the Boonoke 1934 drop of nearly 9,000 rams. From this group of thirteen rams, eight were put over 400 Boonoke ewes the following year. The first offering of Poll Boonoke rams to the public was in 1937. Otway Falkiner’s contribution was acknowledged by registering Boonoke as Poll Flock No. 1, in the first separate section for Poll Merinos in the Australian Stud Merino Flock Register. [5]
Many studs are now breeding Poll Merinos to cater for the increased demand for these easier-to-care-for sheep. [1]
The Merino is a 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 the death penalty. During the eighteenth century, flocks were sent to the courts of a number of European countries, including France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Prussia, Saxony and Sweden. The Merino subsequently spread to many parts of the world, including South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. 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, the Gentile di Puglia, Merinolandschaf and Rambouillet in Europe.
Polwarth is a breed of sheep that was developed in Victoria (Australia) during 1880. They were of one-quarter Lincoln and three-quarters Merino bloodlines. They are large, predominantly polled sheep with long, soft, quite fine wool and produce good meat carcasses. They were developed in an attempt to extend the grazing territory of sheep because the Merino was found lacking in hardiness in this respect. A dual-purpose breed with a major emphasis on wool production. Richard Dennis, of Tarndwarncoort in south west Victoria, bred the Polwarth, first known as Dennis Comebacks. Descendants of Richards Dennis continue to grow Polwarth wool at Tarndwarncoort, maintaining the original bloodlines in a flock referred to as the "Blue Dots".
The Border Leicester is a British breed of sheep. It is a polled, long-wool sheep and is considered a dual-purpose breed as it is reared both for meat and for wool. The sheep are large but docile. They have been exported to other sheep-producing regions, including Australia and the United States.
The Jacob is a British breed of domestic sheep. It combines two characteristics unusual in sheep: it is piebald—dark-coloured with areas of white wool—and it is often polycerate or multi-horned. It most commonly has four horns. The origin of the breed is not known; broken-coloured polycerate sheep were present in England by the middle of the seventeenth century, and were widespread a century later. A breed society was formed in 1969, and a flock book was published from 1972.
The Ryeland is one of the oldest English sheep breeds going back seven centuries when the monks of Leominster in Herefordshire bred sheep and grazed them on the rye pastures, giving them their name. It was introduced into Australia in 1919 and are classified as an endangered breed by the Rare Breeds Trust of Australia and also are one of the nine heritage breeds that were the foundation of the sheep and wool industry in Australia. The Ryeland was one of the breeds used to introduce the poll gene to the Dorset breed in the development of the Poll Dorset. This breed is raised primarily for meat.
The Romney, formerly called the Romney Marsh sheep but generally referred to by the local farmers as the Kent, is a breed of sheep originating in England. The Romney is a "long-wool" breed recognized in England by 1800. Exported to other continents, the Romney is an economically important sheep breed, especially to the sheep-meat and wool export trades of New Zealand.
The Corriedale is a New Zealand breed of sheep. It was bred from about 1882 in the South Island by James Little, who cross-bred Merino and Lincoln Longwool sheep. The breed was officially recognised in 1911. It has been exported to Australia and to many countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America. In 2021 it was reported from twenty-five countries, and the total population was estimated at just over 5 million.
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.
The Rambouillet is a breed of sheep classified of the genus Ovis. It is also known as the Rambouillet Merino or the French Merino. The development of the Rambouillet breed started in 1786, when Louis XVI purchased over 300 Spanish Merinos from his cousin, Charles III of Spain. The flock was subsequently developed on an experimental royal farm, the Bergerie royale built during the reign of Louis XVI, at his request, on his domain of Rambouillet, 50 km southwest of Paris, which Louis XVI had purchased in December 1783 from his cousin, Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre. The flock was raised exclusively at the Bergerie, with no sheep being sold for several years, well into the 19th century.
The Dorset Horn is an endangered British breed of domestic sheep. It is documented from the seventeenth century, and is highly prolific, sometimes producing two lambing seasons per year. Among British sheep, it is the only breed capable of breeding throughout the winter.
The Wiltshire Horn is a breed of domestic sheep originally from Wiltshire in southern England raised for meat. The breed is unusual among native British breeds, for it has the unusual feature of moulting its short wool and hair coat naturally in spring, obviating the need for shearing. They are good mothers and have high fertility.
The St Croix is a breed of domestic sheep native to the U.S. Virgin Islands and named for the island of Saint Croix. They are often also called Virgin Island White because those that were imported into North America were selected for white coloration. On the Island of St. Croix, they come in shades of brown, white and black.
Bond sheep are an Australian sheep breed that was developed around 1909 near Lockhart, New South Wales by Thomas Bond when he mated Saxon-Peppin Merino ewes to stud Lincoln rams for primarily wool production. The resulting progeny was selected on the basis that they would be more suited to the Riverina environment. Initially these sheep were known as ‘the Commercial Corriedale’.
The raising of domestic sheep has occurred in nearly every inhabited part of the globe, and the variations in cultures and languages which have kept sheep has produced a vast lexicon of unique terminology used to describe sheep husbandry.
The Poll Dorset, a short-wool, meat-producing sheep, was developed in Australia between 1937 and 1954 with the aim of breeding a true Dorset type sheep without horns. The poll gene was introduced into Dorset Horn flocks from two other polled breeds and following a strict back-mating programme achieved close to 100% of Dorset Horn blood. Its main distinguishing features are its hornless appearance, long, lean square body set on short legs, pink skin and 'spongy' short-stapled wool. The Poll Dorset produces a fleece of white, dense downs type wool of 30 microns fibre diameter and it has a white wool-free face. The breed was developed at a property called Valmore in Whitemore, Tasmania, a noted centre for pedigree livestock stud farms. The Poll Dorset resulted from the introduction of Corriedale and Ryeland blood into the Dorset Horn.
The South African Meat Merino or SAMM is a wool and meat sheep originating in South Africa, but now found throughout the world.
The British Milksheep is a robust, dual-purpose sheep commonly known for its milking characteristics.
The Wiltipoll is a breed of polled domestic sheep that was developed in Australia from Wiltshire Horn sheep with the infusion of Border Leicester, Perendale, Poll Dorset, and Poll Merino genetics, that are raised for meat.
The Eliottdale is a breed of domestic sheep originating from Tasmania. It is a carpet wool breed raised primarily for its wool. Due to the amount of wool grown by the Eliottdale, it needs to be shorn twice per year.
The Polled Dorset is an American breed of domestic sheep. It is a polled (hornless) variant of the British Dorset Horn. It was developed at the North Carolina State University Small Ruminant Unit in the 1950s after a genetic mutation led to the birth of a polled ram. After some years of breeding work, a true-breeding polled strain was established.