Rambouillet sheep
{{Short description|Breed of sheep}}
Image:Jielbeaumadier belier merinos bn rambouillet 2011.jpeg
The Rambouillet is a breed of sheep (Ovis aries). It is also known as the Rambouillet Merino or the French Merino.
History
The development of the Rambouillet breed started in 1786,{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/domesticsheepit01stewgoog|chapter=The Varieties and Breeds of Sheep|year=1898|publisher=American Sheep Breeder Press|author=Henry Stewart|title=The Domestic Sheep: Its Culture and General Management|access-date=2024-06-25|pages=22-102|location=Chicago|oclc=613100659|edition=First|via=Internet Archive}}{{rp|44-46}} when Louis XVI purchased over 300 Spanish Merinos (318 ewes, 41 rams, seven wethers{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}) from his cousin Charles III of Spain.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} The flock was subsequently developed on an experimental royal farm, the Bergerie royale (now Bergerie nationale) 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.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} The flock was raised exclusively at the Bergerie, with no sheep being sold for years,{{rp|44-46}} well into the 19th century.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
Outcrossing with English long-wool breeds and selection produced a well-defined breed,{{cite book
| last = Paterson
| first = Mark
| title = National Merino Review
| publisher = Farmgate Press
| year = 1990
| location = West Perth, Australia
| pages = 12–17
| issn = 1033-5811 }} differing in several important points from the original Spanish Merino. The size was greater, with full-grown ewes weighing up to 200 lb and rams up to 300 lb. The wool clips were larger and the wool length had increased to greater than 3 in (80 mm).
In 1889, a Rambouillet Association was formed in the United States by Larmon Bronson Townsend & Larmon George Townsend in Ionia, Michigan, with the aim of preserving the breed.{{cite web|url=http://www.countrylovin.com/ARSBA/facts.htm|title=Breed History, Standards, Facts|publisher=The American Rambouillet Sheep Breeders Association|access-date=2016-07-06}} An estimated 50% of the sheep on the US western ranges are of Rambouillet blood.{{cite book
| last = Ross
| first = C.V.
| title = Sheep production and Management
| publisher = Prentice Hall
| year = 1989
| location = Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
| pages = 26–27
| isbn = 0-13-808510-2 }} Rambouillet stud has also had an enormous influence on the development of the Australian Merino industry through Emperor and the Peppin Merino stud.
Value of the fleece
The fleece was valuable in the manufacture of cloth, at times being woven in a mixed fabric of cotton warp and wool weft.{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/156299/delaine|title=delaine - fabric|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=15 June 2015}}
Uses
The breed is well known for its wool, but also for its meat, both lamb and mutton. It has been described as a dual-purpose breed, with superior wool and near-mutton breed characteristics. This breed was also used for the development of the "Barbado" or American Blackbelly sheep, which was crossed with Barbados Blackbelly and mouflon for their horns at hunting ranches.{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Frank H. |last2=Miller |first2=Mason E. |title=Sheep And Goat Handbook, Volume 4 |date=2019 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-000-23954-6 |page=419 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Dohner |first1=Janet Vorwald |title=The Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry Breeds |date=2001 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-13813-9 |page=150 |language=en}}
References
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rambouillet (Sheep)}}
Category:1786 establishments in France
Category:Sheep breeds originating in France
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