Portland sheep

[English]

Portlands are a rare heathland breed of sheep originally from the South Dorset area in South West England. They are representative of the tan-faced group of breeds from the South West. They are small, square and with short, tan-coloured legs. The front legs and hind legs below the hock should be free from wool. The hooves should be uniformly dark, small and straight. The nose is dark. Some sheep carry a light covering of wool on the forehead but the rest of the face is free from wool. Horns are light coloured; those of the ram are heavily spiralled; in ewes they curve through a half circle. There is often a black line in one or both of the horns. Lambs are born with a foxy-red coat which changes in the first few months to a creamy white. The wool is close and fine with a short staple though some red kemp fibres may be found on the britch. The breed produces exceptionally high quality meat, with fine texture and excellent flavour, but achieves lambing percentages of only about 100%. The average weight of a mature ewe is around 40kg. More details can be found at the website below.

Countries