Wensleydale Sheep Breed – Everything You Need to Know

Table of Contents

1 WENSLEYDALE SHEEP QUICK PROFILE OVERVIEW
2 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
3 EWE BREEDING & MILKING INFORMATION
4 SHEEP MEAT PRODUCTION INFORMATION
5 SHEEP WOOL PRODUCTION INFORMATION
6 GOOD TO KNOW
7 HISTORY
8 Video
9 USEFUL LINKS

The Wensleydales sheep breed is a large, if not the heaviest and largest, sheep breed. It is a long wool sheep with a long shaggy sheep coat.

They are very hardy and sturdy with the beautiful fleeces kemp free. They are, however, a slow maturing breed that are carefully selected for their fine curly fleece and outstanding meat qualities.

WENSLEYDALE SHEEP QUICK PROFILE OVERVIEW
The Wensleydale sheep breed is one of the heaviest and largest of all sheep breeds
Country of Origin:	United Kingdom
Other Names:	None
Breed Size:	Large
Main Purpose:	Meat and wool
Can be used for	Breed, **LSC, Meat, Wool
Temperament:	Docile
Ideal Climate:	Heat, Cold, Most climates
Conservation Status:	Not listed by the *ALC Status/Rarity: At Risk as listed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust
Health Issues?	No known health issues
Good Starter Sheep?	Novice to intermediate level sheep farmer/keeper
Sheep Associations:	North America Wensleydale Sheep Association and the Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders’ Association
Sheep Clubs:	Please refer to the members/breeders directories at the North America Wensleydale Sheep Association and the Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders’ 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 Wensleydale sheep breed is a large sheep with a heavy body, long clean legs that their long hair hangs over. They have a clean face with a lock of hair/fringe on the forehead that can grow into the eyes. Their faces are a blue-grey color.

Color(s):

White with a blue-grey face You can get Black Wensleydale sheep

SHEEP ⇒	EWE	RAM
Breed Weight:	90 kgs	135 kgs
Breed Height:	Unclear they are a large breed	Unclear they are a large breed
Hair:	They have a long-purled fleece that when not sheered can touch the ground	They have a long-purled fleece that when not sheered can touch the ground
Ears:	Long, blue-grey color and stick out from the side of the head alert	Long, blue-grey color and stick out from the side of the head alert
Horns:	Polled	Polled
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:	1 Breeding cycle per year	Cover 5 to 10 Ewes in 1 season

EWE BREEDING & MILKING INFORMATION
The ewes breed once a year and mostly produce enough milk to wean their lambs. The ewes are highly prolific and with a very high lambing percentage.
Breeding Period/cycle:	Usually lasts 24 to 36 hours
Estrous cycle:	Ave. 17 days/13 to 19 days
Gestation Period:	Usually, around 150 to 155 days but most gestation is 152 days
No. Lambs/Litter:	1 or 2 (twins)
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
Milk Ideal for:	Lambs
You may Also Like:	10 Best Sheep Breeds for Milk

SHEEP MEAT PRODUCTION INFORMATION

The Wensleydale sheep breed is highly regarded for its top-quality meat production. Lambs grow fast reaching a weight of up to 25 kgs at 8 weeks or 72 kgs by 21 weeks. Their meat has good meat to bone ratio with nice lean cuts.

Meat Production:

Yes, Quality: Premium

SHEEP ⇒	LAMB	HOGGET/MUTTON
Approx. Maturity Weight:	58 kgs	79 Kgs

SHEEP WOOL PRODUCTION INFORMATION

The Wensleydale sheep breed is a long wool sheep breed with a very long coat that if not sheered can reach the ground. The wool is of the finest quality and is the most valuable luster long wool in the world. Their fleeces have absolutely no kemp in them giving them a unique wool-producing follicles characteristics.

Wool Production?

Yes, Excellent quality and highly valuable

Wool is used to Produce:

Knitwear, cloth, special effects and handle in hand knitting yarn and sometimes upholstry.

SHEEP ⇒	EWE	RAM
Age they Produce from:	6 to 8 months	6 to 8 months
Approx. Length:	20.32 cm to 30.48 cm	20.32 cm to 30.48 cm
Microns:	33 to 35	33 to 35
Approx. Quantity:	5.8 to 9 kgs every 15 months	5.8 to 9 kgs every 15 months

GOOD TO KNOW
A few more interesting facts to know about the breed
Child-Friendly?	No livestock should be left unattended around unsupervised children
Landscape Management?	They love to graze and forage through the fields
Where to buy them?	Please refer to the members/breeders directories at the North America Wensleydale Sheep Association and the Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders’ Association
General Information:	The Wensleydale wool is said to be the most valuable and finest long wool in the world. It takes the sheep around 15 months to grow its complete long fleece. Their special kemp freed fleece characteristics is a special quality that is transmitted to cross-bred lambs making Wensleydale ram one of the best wool improving sires in the world.

HISTORY

The Wensleydale sheep as we know them today is from a large ram named “Bluecap”. “Bluecap” was the result of a crossing of a Dishley Leicester ram with a Teeswater ewe in 1838.

Bluecap was a very striking ram with blue pigmentation on his face and ears. He was also a very large ram with weighing around 203 kgs and a very distinctive wool quality.
The modern-day Wensleydale sheep have inherited these qualities being large with as striking blue face and long lustrous wool.

The Wensleydale sheep were almost extinct in the 1970’s but were saved by various associations and heritage trusts that took and avid interest in reviving the breed.

The Wensleydale sheep of North America first arrived in the United States in the late 1990’s. They were brought into the country on a breed-up program.