Cotswold (sheep)

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Cotswold
Ewe at Combe, Witney, Oxfordshire
Conservation status
Country of originUnited Kingdom
StandardCotswold Sheep Society
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    130 kg
  • Female:
    85–90 kg
Wool colourwhite
Face colourwhite
Horn statuspolled in both sexes

The Cotswold is a British breed of domestic sheep of lustre longwool type.[4]: 790 [5]: 5 [6]: 77 [7]: 462  It originates in, and is named for, the Cotswold range of limestone hills in the South West, South Central England and West Midlands. It is a large sheep, and is kept as a dual-purpose breed, providing both meat and wool.[8]

It is a rare breed: in 2021, it was listed as "at risk" on the watchlist of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.[9]

History

From Brett's Colonists' Guide (1883)

A separate show class for Cotswold stock was created at the Royal Show of 1862 in London.[10]: 559  A breed society, the Cotswold Sheep Society, was established in 1892,[10]: 559  and published a flock book with entries going back to late eighteenth century; this society became defunct in the 1920s. A new society with the same name was formed in 1966.[11]

In 2009, it was classified on the watchlist of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as "minority", the lowest of five levels of concern;[9] in 2021, it was one of twenty-four breeds listed as "at risk".[3]

In July 1964, a Roman-sculpted replica of a sheep's head was described as having been unearthed near Bibury Church in Gloucestershire, England. A photo of this sculpture is on page 6 of the booklet The Cotswold Sheep.[12] The resemblance to modern Cotswold sheep is striking.

Stock was introduced to the United States by Christopher Dunn of New York State in 1832.[13]: 119 

Characteristics

The Cotswold is a large, tall sheep. Ewes weigh some 85–90 kg, and rams about 130 kg.[14] It is polled in both sexes. The legs and face are without wool and are usually white; it has a pronounced forelock.[14]

A black variant, the Black Cotswold, is recognised as a separate breed in the United States; a breed society was formed in 1990.[15]: 306 

Use

The Cotswold is reared both for wool and for meat. Lambs are commonly slaughtered at some four months old, when they may weigh 18–22 kg.[14]

The wool is lustrous; fleeces weigh from 5.5 to 10 kg. Staple length is approximately 15–20 cm, with a Bradford Count of 44s–48s.[14]

References

  1. Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. Breed data sheet: Cotswold / United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed November 2021.
  3. Watchlist overview: Watchlist 2021-22. Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Accessed November 2021.
  4. Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
  5. David Cottle (2010). International Sheep and Wool Handbook. Nottingham: Nottingham University Press. ISBN 9781904761860.
  6. Susannah Robin Parkin (2015). British Sheep Breeds. Oxford: Shire Publications. ISBN 9780747814481.
  7. Michael Lawson Ryder (2007 [1983]). Sheep and Man. London: Gerald Duckworth & Company. ISBN 9780715636473.
  8. The Breed Today. Cotswold Sheep Society. Archived 8 June 2006.
  9. Cotswold: Watchlist Category 5, Minority. Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Archived 24 January 2010.
  10. Hilton Marshall Briggs, Dinus M Briggs (1980). Modern Breeds of Livestock, fourth edition. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 9780023147302.
  11. The History of the Society. Cotswold Sheep Society. Archived 3 January 2026.
  12. The Cotswold Sheep, L. V. Gibbings, ed., pub. 1995 by Geerings of Ashford Ltd, Ashford, Kent
  13. Janet Vorwald Dohner (2001). The Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry Breeds. New Haven, Connecticut; London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300088809.
  14. Cotswold. Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Accessed November 2021.
  15. Valerie Porter, Ian Lauder Mason (2020). Mason's World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties (sixth edition). Wallingford; Boston: CABI. ISBN 9781789241532.