NEW U.S. BREED OF SHEEP

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25970, 25 November 1949, Page 7

NEW U.S. BREED OF SHEEP

MONTADALE TO BE SHOWN AT CHICAGO CHICAGO, November 23. A new American breed of sheep which has been developed during the last 17 years will appear in the International Livestock Exposition here for the first time in its fiftieth anniversary show opening on Saturday. The breed, named Montadale, was originated in Missouri by the Montadale Sheep Breeders’ Association. After trials with various breeds, they crossed a Cheviot with Columbia ewes, an old American-developed breed, and kept on crossing them until they achieved the breed characteristics they were seeking. Their goal was an ideal, all-purpose farm sheep, nne which would simultaneously produce both high-quality wool and a large meat carcass. They ended up with a sheep that looks like a Cheviot but is heavier. It has a small head and a white, open face, with no wool overhanging the eyes. The flock averages 121 b to 131 b of ligHtshrinking, long-staple wool. The breed has no body wrinkles to make shearing difficult. On (he meat side, the standard Montadale spring lambs must average 851 b of top mutton quality at four months and a half, permitting early marketing before the hot weather. A yearling ewe weighs 1251 b at twelve months. The breed dresses out high, with an even distribution of fat and lean meat and extra weight over the hindquarters where roasts come from. As much Montadale production as possible has been turned back into breeding. Stock frorti the Missouri breed has spread to Connecticut, Texas, Montana. Wisconsin, and into the South. Montadales which reached the slaughtering pens in recent years sold at a premium of 2 to 3 cents a pound. The wool also brought premium figures.