Diversity

About Polled Dorset SheepAbout Polled Dorset Sheep



Source: www.homefarmdulas.co.uk
Source: www.homefarmdulas.co.uk
Polled Dorset is a breed of sheep developed for meat at the North Carolina State University Small Ruminant Unit in 1956. Their name refers to the fact that they area hornless variation of the Horned Dorset sheep. Polled Dorsets are the result of a genetic mutation by which some of the offspring of a certain ram grew no horns. After some years of breeding work, a strain of Dorset was developed which had lost the characteristic horns and which bred true.

Polled Dorsets are an all-white, medium-sized sheep, prolific and able to breed out of season. The carcases are muscular with good conformation and the adults produce a thick fleece, which is free from dark fibers. Since its development, the number of Polled Dorsets registered in the United States has grown to exceed the number of Horned Dorsets. Without horns the sheep are easier to handle and there is much less risk of the rams hurting themselves or others by butting. The Polled Dorset is sometimes confused with the Australian Poll Dorset, but that breed did not start as a genetic mutation but resulted from the introduction of Corriedale and Ryeland blood into the Dorset breeding program.