.jpg) Ram,Canterbury Agricultural College, winner of Best Corriedale Ram Hogget at the 1947Christchurch Show | |
| Conservation status | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | New Zealand |
| Distribution | 25 countries[3] |
| Traits | |
| Weight | |
| Face colour | white |
| Horn status | polled |
| |
TheCorriedale is a New Zealandbreed ofsheep. It was bred from about 1882 in theSouth Island by James Little, whocross-bredMerino andLincoln 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 over5 million.[4]: 789 [3]
The Corriedale was developed in the latter part of the nineteenth century bycross-breedingMerino andLincoln Longwool sheep,[5] with the aim of producing sheep with grazing requirements intermediate between the lush lowlands which suited the British breeds and the sparse dry grazing preferred by the Merino.[4]: 789
The first to attempt this was James Little, who had come to New Zealand from the United Kingdom in 1863, and had previously tried to cross-breed Merinos with BritishRomney stock. At the Corriedale estate inNorth Otago, where he was manager, he then attempted to produce a Lincoln-Merino cross, but the results were unsatisfactory.[6]: 25 [7] At about the same timeWilliam Davidson, manager of The Levels, an estate inSouth Canterbury, began similar work using Lincoln rams on medium-wool Merino ewes; the resulting sheep became the foundation stock for the Corriedale breed.[6]: 25
In the following decade two Australian breeders – Corbett ofVictoria in 1882, and MacKinnon inTasmania in 1888 – also did work with the same aim.[6]: 25 In both Australia and New Zealand there was some admixture of Romney (for better conformation) andBorder Leicester (for better rate of growth). Stock from The Levels was imported to Australia from 1911.[6]: 25
In New Zealand the Corriedale could from 1903 be registered as an "Inbred Half-Bred" in an appendix to theflock-book of theNew Zealand Sheepbreeders' Association. Abreed association was formed in 1910, and in 1911 the name "Corriedale" was officially recognised; the first flock-book for the breed was published in 1924.[4]: 789 In Australia a flock-book was established in 1922.[6]: 25
Within a few years the Corriedale was exported a number of countries, andbreeders' associations were established many of them, including some European and South American countries, South Africa and the United States of America.[4]: 789 It became one of the most numerous sheep breeds worldwide. In Uruguay in 1970 the population was estimated at8.5 million, or about half the national herd.[8]: 80 In 2021 Uruguay reported about2.75 million head, while Chile and Peru each reported well over a million.[3] In 2016 the number in New Zealand was estimated to be over3 million.[4]: 789 Polwarth and Corriedale are the principal sheep breeds reared on theFalkland Islands.[9]
TheBroomfield Corriedale wasselectively bred from the original Corriedale stock for greater resistance tofoot-rot.[4]: 772 Among the breeds that derive in part from the Corriedale are: theBorderdale of New Zealand (Corriedale xBorder Leicester);[4]: 767 theChina Semi-Finewool (Corriedale xMongolian);[4]: 874 theCorino of Argentina (Corriedale x Merino); theCormo of Tasmania (Corriedale x Tasmanian Merino); theCormo Argentino, developed in Argentina from the Cormo;[4]: 789 the AustralianGromark (Corriedale x Border Leicester);[4]: 767 theLinchuan ofJiangxi Province, China (Corriedale/Romney x local finewools);[4]: 848 the AustralianSiromeat;[4]: 789 the AmericanTarghee;[4]: 930 theWarhill of Arizona, USA, and the ArgentinianJunin derived from it.[4]: 944
Corriedale andRyeland were used to transmit thepolled gene in the development of the AustralianPoll Dorset.[4]: 800
A number of breeds have "Corriedale" or "Koridel" in the breed name, but are not directly derived from the original stock; rather, they have been developed using a similar pattern of cross-breeding. Among these are theAskanian Corriedale of Ukraine, cross-bred from British longwool sheep and localAskanian stock; theBond or Commercial Corriedale, bred in Australia from about 1909; theCanadian Corriedale; theKazakh Corriedale, bred in Kazakhstan from theKazakh Finewool and British longwool stock; The ArmenianKoridel; theNorth Caucasus Mutton-Wool, derived from crosses between theStavropol and the Lincoln Longwool; thePolish Corriedale; thePoznań Corriedale; theSoviet Mutton-Wool or Mountain Koridel; and theTyan Shan.[4]: 789 [6]: 26
The Corriedale is of medium to large size; grown ewes weigh some65–75 kg, full-grown rams85–105 kg.[4]: 789 It ispolled, white-woolled and white-faced, with dark hooves and dark skin on the nostrils.[6]: 13 Ewes have good maternal qualities but are not highly prolific – thetwinning rate is in the range5%–25%.[4]: 789
It is a dual-purpose breed, reared both for wool and formutton.[6]: 13
Ewe fleeces weigh some5–7 kg, with a staple length of150–180 mm and a fibre diameter of25–32 μm, equivalent to aBradford count of 56/50s.[6]: 13 The wool is used to make blankets, rugs, military uniforms,knitting wools,tweeds andworsteds.[4]: 789 [6]: 13
