Tunis Sheep

The Tunis sheep is an ancient breed of domestic sheep. As the name indicates, this American breed's connections to the foundation stock from Tunisia in Northern coast of Africa.

It is one of the oldest breeds of sheep, having descended from ancient fat-tailed sheep referred to in The Bible.

The breed is known by some other names such as Tunisian Barbary and American Tunis. North African sheep were imported to the United States as a gift by the Bey of Tunis to George Washington in the late 1700s.

References to these sheep appear in journals, letters and farm records of some of the leading agriculturists and citizens of the day.

A uniquely American sheep breed was created from this stock gradually. The Tunis sheep were a recognizable breed by the late 18th century to early 19th century.

And it is one of the oldest breeds of livestock developed in America. The breed spread throughout the mid Atlantic and southeastern United States.

And it was well adapted to the heat and humidity of these regions. However, read some more information about this old breed of domestic sheep below.

Tunis Sheep Characteristics

Tunis sheep is a large breed with slender head and pendulous ears. The lambs are robust at birth and are warmed by a double coat, which is a darker shade of red on the surface.

White spots on the tip of the tail and on the top of the head are common. They have creamy white fleece, which appears as the lamb matures.

tunis sheep, about tunis sheep, tunis sheep appearance, tunis sheep breed, tunis sheep breed info, tunis sheep breed facts, tunis sheep care, caring tunis sheep, tunis sheep color, tunis sheep characteristics, tunis sheep ewes, tunis sheep facts, tunis sheep for meat, tunis sheep for milk, tunis sheep history, tunis sheep horns, tunis sheep info, tunis sheep images, tunis sheep lambs, tunis sheep meat, tunis sheep origin, tunis sheep photos, tunis sheep pictures, tunis sheep rarity, tunis sheep rearing, raising tunis sheep, tunis sheep size, tunis sheep rams, tunis sheep temperament, tunis sheep tame, tunis sheep uses, tunis sheep varieties, tunis sheep weight

Wool of these animals is lustrous and long-stapled, measuring four to six inches. Their head, ears and legs are usually of red color. Both rams and ewes are naturally polled.

Average live body weight of the mature Tunis sheep is between 80 and 100 kg. And the lambs weight 3 to 5 kg at birth. Photo and info from The Livestock Conservancy and Wikipedia.

Uses

The Tunis sheep are a dual purpose animal. But today they are raised mainly for meat production.

Special Notes

The Tunis sheep is a very docile animal. They are well known and valued for very high quality meat production. Market lambs are economical to raise and produce very high quality carcasses with excellent meat to bone ratios. They produce medium-grade wool, which turns white during processing.

The ewes are excellent milkers, and are very fertile and prolific. They consistently produce twins and make attentive mothers. They are good grazers and easy keepers. They are very good to thrive in forage based production systems. Review full breed profile of the Tunis sheep in the following chart.

Breed Name	Tunis
Other Name	Known as Tunisian Barbary and American Tunis
Breed Purpose	Meat
Special Notes	Very hardy and strong, docile, well known and valued for very high quality meat, excellent meat to bone ratios, produce medium-grade wool, ewes are excellent milkers, very fertile and highly prolific, good grazers and easy keepers, good to thrive in forage based production system
Breed Size	Large
Weight	Vary from 80 to 100 kg
Horns	No
Climate Tolerance	Native climates
Color	Creamy white
Rarity	Common
Country/Place of Origin	Tunisia

Comments

Murray Grey Cattle

The Murray Grey cattle are a breed of beef cattle from Australia. It was developed in the upper Murray River valley on the New South Wales. The breed was developed in 1905 from an initial chance mating of a black Aberdeen Angus bull and a roan Shorthorn cow during the Federation drought. From these matings the resulting thirteen dun-grey calves were kept as curiosities. And then Peter and Ena Sutherland bred them on the Thologolong property along the Murray River in New South Wales. Murray Grey cattle grew faster and were good converters of feed and produced quality carcases. These are the reasons this animals become very popular after their development. And local farmers became interested soon in these animals and began breeding them. The first large scale commercial farms were established in the 1940s. Today the breed is available in many countries. Both live Murray Grey cattle and embryos have been exported to many countries such as Canada, South America, New Ze...

Sorting Cattle

Sorting cattle is important if you have a large number of animals. For better management you will need to separate the animals into different groups depending on their age, size, gender or condition score. If some cattle of your herd need to be examined by a veterinarian or confined due to injury or illness, then separation may also need to be done. Sorting is also needed for separating the calves that need to be weaned from their mothers. And separating the bulls is also necessary after they have done their duty with breeding cows. Sorting Cattle Sorting cattle is not actually a difficult task. It can be done easily if you understand stockmanship principles that take advantage of bovine psychology and behavior. However, here we are describing more about the ways of sorting cattle. Sorting From a Squeeze Chute In this system you can move your cattle through a working corral into a chute system into the squeeze. In this system you can check and process animals f...

Andalusian Black Cattle Farming

Andalusian Black cattle farming is not too popular, even in it's native area. It is a relatively rare breed which is valued for meat production. But today, the breed is listed as 'endangered', and total number of the breed is very less. The Andalusian Black cattle is a taurine cattle breed, and it was originated in west Andalusia, Spain. It is also known by some other names such as Negra de las Campiñas, Negra Campiñesa and Spanish: Negra Andaluza. The Andalusian Black cattle is actually a beef cattle breed which is raised primarily for meat production purpose. The breed is found in two main areas of west Andalusia (from Cordova to the foothills of the Sierra Morena), and in the provinces of Seville, Cádiz and Huelva. Today, total population of the Andalusian Black cattle breed is very less. And there were about 800 purebred cattle in the year of 2007. Total number of this breed decreased mainly for crossbreeding with other local cattle breeds. Other reason...

Belted Galloway Cattle Farming

Belted Galloway cattle farming is popular, especially in it's native area. It is a beef cattle breed and raised mainly for meat production purpose. The breed is also known by some other names such as Beltie, Oreo Cow and Panda Cow. The Belted Galloway cattle breed was originated from Galloway in the west side of Southern Scotland. It is a heritage breed, and is well adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and wildswept moorlands of the region. Exact origins of the breed are unclear. But it is often surmised that the white belt of the breed may be a result of cross breeding with the Dutch Lakenvelder belted cattle. And the breed is named so mainly because of the belt. An association for the breed named the Belted Galloway Association was formed in 1921 in Scotland. And the name of the association was changed to Belted Galloway Society in the year of 1951. The association keeps and records pedigrees for Belted Galloways and oversees the registration of White and Re...

Cleaning A Cow

Cleaning a cow in the proper way can keep the animal look and feel fresh. Cleaning also help to prevent external parasites. You may also need to clean your cow to show it off at your local county fair or other occasions. And you need to clean your cows more often especially if you have dairy cows. You can integrate a spraying system for cleaning a cow once a day or so. Along with cleaning the body, you should also provide a footbath for better health of the cow's hooves. However, here we are describing more about the process of cleaning a cow. Sprinkler System Add Sprinkler in a Pre-milking Wash Pen You can construct a pre-milking wash pen with sprinklers for cleaning multiple cows. In this system, install sprinklers all along the pen you hold the cows in before milking. Using concrete for the floor will be good. It will help to keep the floor dry quickly and you will not have a constantly muddy area. You should spray sprinklers both up and down to wash the cows th...

Agerolese Cattle Farming

Agerolese cattle farming is not common, even in it's native area. It is a dairy cattle breed which is raised mainly for milk production purpose in it's native area. It is a pretty rare breed and not available outside it's native area. The Agerolese cattle is actually from the area of Agerola, in Campania in southern Italy. It was developed from cross-breeding of indigenous Podolica cattle with Bruna Italiana, Italian Holstein-Friesian and Jersey cattle. The breed is particularly associated with the Sorrento Peninsula and Monti Lattari. The Agerolese cattle is one of the 16 minor Italian cattle breeds of limited diffusion recognized and protected by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture. There were a total of 200 animals available according to a census completed on 1 January 2002. And the conservation status of the Agerolese cattle breed was reported by the FAO as 'endangered-maintained' in 200...

Ankole-Watusi Cattle Farming

Ankole-Watusi cattle farming is pretty popular, especially in it's native area. It is a multi-purpose breed of domestic cattle which is raised and valued for show, draught, meat and milk production purpose. The Ankole-Watusi cattle is a landrace breed, a type of Sanga cattle and originally native to East Africa. It is also known as Ankole Longhorn, and also sometimes known simply as Ankole or Watusi. Ankole-Watusi cattle is actually an ancient breed, and ancient rock paintings and depictions of these animals have been observed in the Sahara region and in the Egyptian arts and pyramid walls. The Sanga breed has spread to the Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and some other parts of Eastern Africa, becoming the base stock of the indigenous African cattle populations. It has most of the usual Zebu characteristics such as the pendulous dewlap and sheath, hump of variable size and the upturned horns. The Ankole-Watusi cattle have played a very important role in the lives of various ...

Search This Blog