The Bond sheep is a breed of domestic sheep which was originated from Australia. It was developed near Lockhart, New South Wales around 1909.
Thomas Bond created this breed by crossing Saxon-Peppin Merino ewes to stud Lincoln rams.
The resulting progeny was selected on the basis that they would be more suited to the Riverina environment. The breed was known as the “Commercial Corriedale” previously.
Today the Bond sheep breed is primarily found in southeast Australia, but the numbers span across Australia. And along with the availability in it’s native area, the breed is also found in some other countries such as China, Russia and New Zealand.
The Australian Bond Sheep Breeder’s Association was founded and has existed since 1984. It has now 30 registered studs that sell more than 3000 rams per year. Read some more information about this Australian sheep breed below.
Bond Sheep Characteristics
The Bond sheep are large animals. They are tall and long-bodied animals. They have hardy constitutions and have open faces. Their body is plain and they are mainly white in color.
Both rams and ewes are generally polled, that means they have no horns.
Average live body weight of the mature Bond rams is around 150 kg, and the ewes are slightly smaller than the rams. Photo and info from Sheep101 and Wikipedia.
Uses
The Bond sheep are dual-purpose animals. They are raised for both meat and wool production.
Special Notes
The Bond sheep are very hardy and strong animals. They are well adapted to their native climates, and also do well in some other conditions.
They have the ability to produce economic results in a wide range of climatic conditions of rainfall from 350 to 1140 mm.
They produce long stapled, white, high quality wool with a diameter of 22 to 28 microns. Their average fleece weight is about 7-8 kg.
The lambs grow relatively faster under good conditions. High lambing percentages are most common for the Bond ewes, and they have a very high fertility rate. However, review full breed profile of the Bond sheep in the following chart.
| Breed Name | Bond |
| Other Names | Initially known as Commercial Corriedale |
| Breed Purpose | Dual-purpose (meat, wool) |
| Special Notes | Large animals, very hardy and strong, well adapted to their native climates, also do well in some other conditions, have the ability to produce economic results in a wide range of climatic conditions of rainfall from 350 to 1140 mm, produce long stapled and high quality wool, grow relatively faster under good conditions, the ewes have high lambing percentage, very good for both meat and wool production |
| Breed Size | Large |
| Weight | Around 150 kg |
| Horns | No |
| Climate Tolerance | Almost all climates |
| Color | White |
| Rarity | Common |
| Country/Place of Origin | Australia |
