Use : California Red sheep are a dual - purpose strain remark for their silky , beige or oatmeal - colored fleece and their exceptionally crank , tasty nitty-gritty .
account : In the 1970s , Glenn Spurlock , PhD , of Davis , Calif. , began crossing Tunis sheep and Barbados sheep with the finish of creating a large , woolen - free stock of sheep . Although he did n’t accomplish that destination , his Tunis - Barbados sheep were attractive and first-class meat makers . At his retirement , Spurlock handed over his peck to Aime and Paulette Soulier of Winters , Calif. , who continued developing the sheep mix as a wool and kernel breed . Others became involved , peculiarly Alice Gardner of Dixon , Calif. who raised a California Red mountain from the first unfeigned California Red sheep . Today , there are more than 60 breeder of California Red sheep , all of whose sheep are descendants of Spurlock ’s original flock .
Conformation : California Reds are medium - sized sheep . Aries the Ram weigh 225 to 250 Cypriot pound and ewes weigh 130 to 150 Irish punt . Both sex are poll and have long , more or less pendulous pinna . Their heads and their leg are gratuitous of wool below the knees and hocks ; these areas are enshroud , instead , with gold- to dark cinnamon - biased hair . Ram sometimes produce telling cerise manes . They are tranquil , prosperous - start sheep and are very reactive to gentle handling . California Red lamb are born a upstanding cinnamon red or rust color . By the sentence they ’re 1 to 1½ years old , their fleece has grown in ecru or oatmeal - colour , with soft cherry-red hair’s-breadth equally distribute throughout . Their wool - free heads and legs remain the same colour from their birth . The California Red sheep has silky , easygoing wool that grows 3 to 6 inches long between annual shearings , measures 50 to 60 on the Bradford reckoning system and norm about 30 to 35 micrometer in diam .
Special Considerations / Notes : California Red lamb is noted for softheartedness , flavor and low fat contentedness . California Red sheep breed year round , making it potential to wean three Elia crops in two years . Ewes generally farm twins ; they ’re attentive , protective mothers that make plenty of milk for their lambs . California Red sheep prosper on pasturage , cause them ideally fit for constitutive and gage - base yield systems . Although the strain was developed in California , rancher in harsh weather area like Canada and Colorado swear by California Red sheep . They ’re a first - social class choice for weavers and handspinners ’ flock , as well as for hobby farms .
