Delaine Merino Sheep Breed – Everything You Need to Know

The Delaine Merino Sheep is a medium sized sheep breed and classified as a Type C Merino sheep breed. It has a smooth body that is free of wrinkles and the rams tend to be a lot larger. The Delaine Merino makes for over 95% of the Merino’s in America.

DELAINE MERINO SHEEP QUICK PROFILE OVERVIEW
The Delaine Merino sheep have thick, heavy folds of skin around their neck area, behind their shoulders, on their thighs and rear flanks. They give the sheep more skin surface for increased wool production.
Country of Origin:	United States of America
Other Names:	American Merino Sheep or American Delaine Sheep
Breed Size:	Medium
Main Purpose:	Wool
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Can be used for	Breed, Wool **LSC (Landscape Management)
Temperament:	Docile and easy to manage
Ideal Climate:	Most climates
Conservation Status:	Not Listed by the *ALC Status/ Rarity: Common
Health Issues?	No known health issues
Good Starter Sheep?	Novice to Intermediate sheep farmer/keeper
Sheep Associations:	American & Delaine Merino Record Association
Sheep Clubs:	Refer to the American & Delaine Merino Record Association
Note: ALC stands for American Livestock Conservancy * LSC stands for Landscape Management – the animal is used for controlling various vegetation growth

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

The Delaine Merino has a smooth body with not wrinkles but a heavy fleece with folds around its neck, shoulders, flanks and thighs. This gives then the appearances of wearing a really heavy sheep skin coat. They usually have smooth clear faces with very bright and alert eyes.

Color(s):

White

SHEEP ⇒	EWE	RAM
Breed Weight:	57 to 82 kgs	80 to 107 kgs
Breed Height:	Unclear – they are a medium size	Unclear – they are a medium size
Hair:	Soft, fine, strong, dense and uniform in length	Soft, fine, strong, dense and uniform in length
Ears:	Small earls that stick out to the side of the head	Small earls that stick out to the side of the head
Horns:	If they have horns, they are curled tight against their head	If they have horns, they are curled tight against their head
Matures at age:	10 weeks/15 months or 15 years	10 weeks to 15 months
Puberty Age:	5 to 12 months	5 to 7 months
Breeding Age:	18 months	1 year
Breeding Traits:	See Ewe Breeding & Milking Info.	Cover 5 to 10 Ewes in 1 season

EWE BREEDING & MILKING INFORMATION
The ewes can be bred throughout the year with around 8 to 9 months intervals.
Breeding Period/cycle:	Usually lasts 16 to 59 hours
Estrous cycle:	Ave. 17 days/15 to 20 days
Gestation Period:	Usually, around 149 to 155 days but most gestation is 152 days
No. Lambs/Litter:	1 to 2 (twins) lambs in a season
Lactation Period:	Usually, around 150 to 240 day but most are milked for 180 days
Milking From:	4 to 6 weeks after lambing
Milk Quality:	Good, Quantity: Enough to wean lambs, Per: Lactation period
Milk Ideal for:	Lambs
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SHEEP WOOL PRODUCTION INFORMATION

The Delaine Merino is known for its exceptionally fine wool. Their grease fleet weight for the Ewe is

Wool Production?

Yes, Quality: USDA Wool grade is 64s to 80s

Wool is used to Produce:

Ideal and in demand for hand spinners. They are used for other garments, wools, etc.

SHEEP ⇒	EWE	RAM
Age they Produce from:	6 to 8 months	6 to 8 months
Approx. Length:	6.35 to 10 cm	6.35 to 10 cm
Microns:	22 to 17	22 to 17
Approx. Quantity:	Around 5.4 to 9 kgs a year	Around 11 kgs a year

GOOD TO KNOW ABOUT THE DELAINE MERINO SHEEP
A few more interesting facts to know about the breed
Child-Friendly?	They are a docile breed, but they are still livestock which no child should be left unattended with.
Landscape Management?	They are excellent foragers and good herd sheep.
Where to buy them?	Refer to the American & Delaine Merino Record Association for information on registered breeders and suppliers of this breed.
General Information:	The Delaine Merino sheep have excellent herd instincts. They are extremely adaptable to most any climates and are excellent foragers making them able to survive in various different environments. This makes them a very versatile and thus valuable breed as it enables them to be bred and maintained near all over the world. They are not primarily bred for their sheep skin production. Although their skin is or has at some time been used for the production of some form of sheep skin product such as chamois, etc.

HISTORY

There is not other wool that can compare to that of the Merino sheep. And the Delaine Merino is no exception.

There are three types of Merino sheep:
Type A – are often more angular and have little carcass value with the sheep being a small sheep, they need more attention and care. Thus, this breed needs to be bred by a skillful sheep breeder and is not suited for commercial lamb and wool production.

Type B – They are bigger sheep and a bit more robust adapting to various ordinary farming type conditions and produce a lot of fleece around 25 pounds a year.

Type C- This is the category that the Delaine Merino sheep falls into. Unlike other Merino sheep breeds the Delaine Merino is smooth and wrinkle free. It also has a lot more skin folds giving a greater wool growth.
The Delaine Merino is found in a lot of the North American States where is it one of the most popular sheep breeds and makes up around 95% of the Merino sheep breeds in the States.

A large percentage of sheep breeds around the world carry Merino bloodline in some form. They are said to be the best sheep breed in the world. They also have a longer productive life span than other sheep breeds and can produce wool up to 10 years of age. There have been sheep that have lived even longer than that of the Delaine Merino Breed of sheep.