Back straight and long, with a wide and deep loin. These questions have no transnational or even national answers. In need of a travel bag for the Christmas season? [15] "Clean basis" refers to the net weight anticipated after thorough washing (see "clean yield" above); much wool moved internationally is shipped before washing as the natural oils in the fleece make it travel better. Romney Tweed CIC as a social enterprise has the twin aims of encouraging local industry and of helping young people acquire skills and find jobs. The Romney is in general an open-faced breed with long wool that grows over the legs in full. The breeding of Romneys is not limited to England and New Zealand. In New Zealand the standard says “44s to 52s” but gives a different AFD range: 33 to 37 microns. The oldest Romney breed society, that of England (founded 1895), adopted the following standard in 1991, The Official Description of the typical Romney sheep is as follows: Head wide, level between ears, with no horns nor dark hair on the poll. The first confirmed export of Romneys from England was a shipment of 20 from Stone, Kent, that went on the Cornwall to New Zealand in 1853. [17] In New Zealand natural colored Romneys can be registered in the Romney section of the Black and Natural-colored Sheep Breeders Association, but are still eyed with suspicion by many breeders of white Romneys. [12] A later book is more circumspect: “Romneys are said to be somewhat resistant to foot rot, liver flukes and other problems that often plague sheep in damp pastures.”[13]. After 1932, the technology for shipping chilled fresh meat by sea (and later by air) further enhanced the export trade. The time-honored “Bradford system”, which uses the eyes and hands of experienced humans, has some correlation to measured AFD, but can be biased. In the same year, total wool exports returned nearly NZ$ one billion, about 3% of total merchandise exports revenues for the country.[16]. We are SFCP Flock #CT-51 and Certified Scrapie Free as of Fall 2007. Romneys produce a heavy fleece. No international agreement exists on converting Bradford counts into AFD in microns. Chest wide and deep. It is actually a ‘long-wool’ breed originating in England. New Zealand is the world's largest producer and exporter of “strong crossbred” wool (a term for wool with average fiber diameter >35.4 microns). Perhaps the most important dimension of wool, which above all else determines its best use, is average fiber diameter (AFD). ‘The Romney Marsh and Dungeness, an area of unusual natural beauty with a sheep farming heritage, suffers from high unemployment. Neck well set in at the shoulders, strong and not too long. Chicago, American Sheep Breeder Press 1900 p.76, McKenzie Anna. A finer-wooled sheep (e.g. The increased fleece weight of a long-wooled sheep comes from the longer fiber length produced. The New Zealand export lamb trade started in 1882 with a shipment aboard the Dunedin of 4,900 frozen carcasses to London's Smithfield Market. We emphasize fleece and breed character in our flock with a fondness for black noses and thick fuzzy ears. With its high lustre and durability, the wool is suitable for clothing as well as the more traditional carpets and blankets. [1] The sheep recognized by 1800 as "Romney Marsh" or "Kent" were improved in body type and fleece quality through crossings with Bakewell's English Leicester.[2][3]. Merino, Rambouillet) actually has far more wool follicles than the long-wooled sheep, but each supports a slower-growing fiber that is, therefore, shorter at periodic shearing. In 2008, NZ sheep-meat exports (mostly of lamb) brought in more than half of the country's NZ$4.5 billion meat export revenues.[16]. Only a small fraction of the thousands of Romney fleeces shorn in the US each year, however, go to this “niche-market” use. The breed has also been established in Patagonia, Australia, Portugal, Brazil, Canada, and Southern California.[7]. Romney breed standards are not identical across all countries, but have much in common. The New Zealand Romney Marsh Association was formed in 1904. A Century of the NZ Romney, New Zealand Sheep Farmer 2000: 7: 14-19, Centenary Handbook of the Romney Sheep Breeders’ Society (1995). A healthy mature ram can yield at shearing upwards of 10 kg per year, while flock averages in NZ for breeding ewes are typically above 5 kg. With these and a further 30 ewes sent in 1856, Alfred Ludlum established New Zealand's first Romney Marsh stud in 1860 at Newry, in the Hutt Valley, and Ludlam's brother-in-law, Augustus Onslow Manby Gibbes, also bred them around this time in Australia at his famous sheep property, Yarralumla. The breed was recognized in it’s native area by the 1800s. Exported to other continents, the Romney is an economically important sheep breed, especially to the sheep-meat and wool export trades of New Zealand. It is also called as Romney Marsh previously, and local farmers call the breed as Kent. Weaving Tweed From The Wool Of Romney Sheep ‘The Romney Marsh and Dungeness, an area of unusual natural beauty with a sheep farming heritage, suffers from high unemployment. [11], Almost every detailed description of the Romney cites relative resistance to foot rot, an attribute rarely mentioned in descriptions of other breeds. Romney Tweed’s limited edition range of holdalls, Christmas is going to feel very different this yea, You can choose from a range of Romney Tweed worste. The Romney is a "long-wool" breed recognized in England by 1800. We will inform you when the product arrives in stock. An English description of size speaks of “big sheep”—ewes, to 85 kg, rams to 110 kg, while the American breed standard calls for ewes at breeding age to be “140 lbs or more” and rams “200 lbs or more.”[8]. Sheep should stand well on their pasterns. [citation needed] New Zealand is the world's largest exporter of frozen and chilled lamb. North Adams MA, Storey Books, 2001 p. 68, "Agricultural and forestry exports from New Zealand", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Romney_sheep&oldid=971113597, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2009, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 4 August 2020, at 07:29. 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. Romney Tweed CIC as a social enterprise has the twin aims of encouraging local industry and of helping young people acquire skills and find jobs. Approved at the Annual General Meeting of Members of the Romney Sheep Breeders’ Society, Great Britain 1991, Davis GH et al. The Romney's fleece is ideal for hand-spinning, and is often recommended to beginners. Between 1900 and 1955, 18,000 rams and 9,000 ewes went from England to 43 countries. The fleece should be of white colour, even texture and a good decided staple from top of head to end of tail and free from kemp.[8]. Traditionally, natural-colored (or “black”) sheep were detested, as even a small amount of black fiber on an otherwise white sheep can ruin hundreds of pounds of textile. Tail set almost even with the chine . The Domestic Sheep Its Culture and General Management. Romneys are strong-wooled sheep, with an AFD higher than many sheep breeds. Romney Sheep - Viewfield Farm is located in New Galloway, Dumfries and Galloway. A Romney may have either a colored or white fleece. The Romney sheep is a breed of domestic sheep from United Kingdom. From the start, in 1986 we have put our Romney and Romtex sheep through a stringent breeding program to develop a type of ewe with durability and performance qualities like no other maternal sheep.