RARE BREEDS OF LIVESTOCK

RARE BREEDS OF BRITISH LIVESTOCK - SHEEP

Once, Britain's livestock was far more diverse and colourful than it is today. Most regions had local varieties of cattle, swine and sheep suited to local conditions and needs. Before the growth of factories and industrial towns, many families had a few animals on a smallholding or grazed them on common land; many more fattened up pigs on household scraps (or in an orchard) or kept chickens. Dual-purpose livestock was common e.g. cattle that provided both milk and meat; sheep that produced both wool and meat (mutton). These days, livestock tends to be standardised and specialised and are very often not native to Britain e.g. Holstein dairy cattle, Charolais beef cattle. Some breeds fell from favour because of changing tastes or because they were seen as old-fashioned.

Some breeds have been lost forever. Luckily some others are being preserved in small numbers, not just because they are attractive, but also because they better suit particular styles of farming or locations and to preserve genetic diversity. Having livestock that is more-or-less all the same is genetically a bad thing - valuable traits are lost (such as the ability to lamb at different times of the year) and should illness strike it could wipe out entire breeds. Some breeds now have genetic defects (usually related to fast growth and excessive muscle growth) that cause problems in breeding and birthing.

The colour photos were taken at various farm museums and agricultural shows.

SHEEP

Sheep remain more diverse than most livestock, with primitive breeds still surviving in island locations. These are small, hardy, often multi-horned and have lighter fleeces. Primitive breeds tend to be black, brown, mousy dun or pied and are adapted to survive on relatively poor fare - sometimes including seaweed. "Improved breeds" are the larger breeds with heavy white fleece. They are farmed for wool, lamb and hide. The Milksheep is farmed for its milk and is growing in popularity. Lamb is popular, but mutton, the meat of the adult sheep, is strong-flavoured and has fallen out of favour ("teg" is an older lamb and also stronger in flavour). It is rare to see sheep with tails as these are usually docked early on to prevent them becoming soiled.

Soay

Hebridean

Manx Loghtan

Whitefaced Woodland

Cotswold

Further reading and more pictures (most available from online bookstores):

Two Hundred Years of British Farm Livestock by Stephen JG Hall & Juliet Clutton-Brock (as well as describing the history of breeds, this is crammed full of paintings showing how livestock breeds have changed)
The Chance to Survive by Lawrence Alderson (discusses rare and vanished breeds in several countries and the reasons why genetic diversity is important, has lots of photos)
Saving the Breeds: History of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust by Lawrence Alderson, Valerie Porter & Sue Franklin (relates to the preservation of rare breeds in Britain)
A Rare Breeds Album of American Livestock by Carolyn J Christman, D Phillip Sponenberg & Donald E Bixby (relates to the preservation of rare breeds in the USA)
Minority Breeds (an American booklet with black-and-white photos and accompanying descriptions; it appears to be out of print)

HISTORICAL PHOTOS INDEX

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