 At theMaryland Sheep and Wool Festival in 2010 | |
| Conservation status | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Distribution |
|
| Standard | Dorset Horn and Poll Dorset Sheep Breeders' Association |
| Traits | |
| Weight | |
| Wool colour | white[6] |
| Face colour | white[6] |
| Horn status | horned in both sexes |
| |
TheDorset Horn is an endangered British breed ofdomestic sheep. It is documented from the seventeenth century, and is highlyprolific, sometimes producing two lambing seasons per year. Among British sheep, it is the only breed capable of breeding throughout the winter.[5]: 800
The Dorset Horn originated inDorset in south-west England. Like the extinctPink-nosed Somerset, to which it is related, it probably derived fromcross-breeding ofMerinos imported from Spain with local tan-faced sheep similar to the modernPortland.[4][5]: 800 Unlike many Britishlowland breeds, Dorset sheep were not influenced by cross-breeding with theLeicester orSouthdown breeds which were much used for this purpose in the latter eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.[5]: 800 Abreeders' society, the Dorset Horn Sheep Breeders' Association, was set up in 1891[7] and the firstflock book was published in the following year.[8][3]
The Dorset Horn was exported to many countries, among them Australia, South Africa and the United States, where the first arrivals were in the 1860s, and where substantial numbers were imported from about 1880.[5]: 800 The Dorset Horn reached Australia in 1895,[9] and New Zealand in 1897.[10] In 2023 it was reported toDAD-IS by twenty countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania; the largest population reported was that of Denmark, where there were1191 head.[11]
Apolled variant of the breed, thePoll Dorset, wasbred in Australia through cross-breeding with the hornlessCorriedale andRyeland breeds. From about 1950, this was introduced to the United Kingdom, where it rapidly supplanted the horned variant;[5]: 800 the breed association changed its name in 1981 to the Dorset Horn and Poll Dorset Sheep Breeder's Association, and registers both breeds.[7] A different polled variant of the breed arose in the United States, derived from a polledsport in a flock kept byNorth Carolina State University. This Polled Dorset was registered with the breed association – the Continental Dorset Club – from 1956; as elsewhere, it soon became more widespread than the original horned type.[12]
The world-wideconservation status of the Dorset Horn was listed by theFAO as "not at risk" in 2007.[1]: 147 At country level, it is listed as "vulnerable" by theRare Breeds Trust of Australia,[9] as "priority" by theRare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand,[10] and as "threatened" by theLivestock Conservancy in the USA.[12] In the United Kingdom, where in the 1980s there were more than100000 breedingewes,[5]: 800 its status is listed by theRare Breeds Survival Trust as "at risk", meaning that the total number is between 900 and 1500 head.[2]
The Dorset Horn has contributed to the development of several other breeds: theDorper andDormer breeds of South Africa, throughcross-breeding with theBlackhead Persian andMerinos respectively; and theBritish Milksheep andCadzow Improver in the United Kingdom.[5]: 800 [13]
The Dorset Horn is white-woolled and white-faced; the nostrils are a characteristic pink. It is horned in both sexes, with heavy spiral horns on rams. Thefleece is thick, with a weight of2.25 to 3 kg, astaple length of80–100 mm, and aBradford count of54s–58s.[4]
