The Montadale sheep is a breed of domestic sheep from United States. It was developed by E. H. Mattingly in the 1930s. E. H. Mattingly was a Midwestern commercial lamb buyer who had a dream of developing the ideal sheep.
He had been told that ‘the best starting for his goal would be to bring together the best characteristics of the big Western range sheep and the Midwestern mutton-type sheep. And he selected the Columbia and the Cheviot sheep breeds as the basis for his project.
The Columbia is a large and big bodied sheep with heavy and good quality fleeces, and it was developed in the early 1900s in Wyoming and Idaho. While the Cheviot is a small breed developed in Scotland, and it is a hardy breed also.
The Cheviot is known for it’s correctness, muscling and style. The first cross of Cheviot ewes and Columbia rams proved to Mattingly that his project was on track. But he also crossed Columbia ewes with Cheviot rams.
And that cross was even more successful, and was chosen as the foundation for the new breed ‘Montadale sheep’.
The breed is one of the youngest sheep breeds in existence in the United States. And it was exhibited in competitions across the country, and quickly attracted the attention of progressive sheep producers.
The breed was first imported to Canada in 1960. The Montadale Sheep Breeders Association was founded in 1945 with five charter member.
Today the breed is raised as a dual-purpose animal, and used for both meat and wool production. Read some more information about the Montadale sheep below.
Montadale Sheep Characteristics
The Montadale sheep are a medium sized animal with beautiful appearance, and they are very productive. They appear with a high-yield carcass. They are also known to have lean and well muscled carcasses.
They feature bare legs and heads with white wool and black nostrils and hooves. They have much larger and longer legs and lower-sitting ears.
As a medium sized animal, average mature body weight of the Montadale rams is between 90 and 124 kg. And the mature ewe’s live body weight vary from 68 to 90 kg. Photo and info from RaisingSheep.net and Wikipedia.
Uses
The Montadale sheep are dual-purpose animals. They are good for both meat and wool production.
Special Notes
The Montadale sheep are very hardy and strong animals. The ewes are excellent mothers, and they have gained a reputation for their strong maternal instinct. They are able to produce plenty of milk for raising multiple lambs. The lambs are strong and grow rapidly.
The Montadale sheep are a dual-purpose animal. They are good for both meat and wool production. They are known to have lean and well muscled carcasses. Wool of these animals is of pretty good quality which is commonly used by farmers at commercial mills.
The fleece from Montadale ewes will usually weight from 3.6 to 5.4 kg, with a staple length of 3.25 to 4.5 inches. However, review full breed profile of the Montadale sheep in the following chart.
| Breed Name | Montadale |
| Other Name | None |
| Breed Purpose | Dual-purpose (meat and wool) |
| Special Notes | Very hardy and strong animals, dual-purpose animals, good for both meat and wool production, the ewes are excellent mothers and have strong maternal instinct, the ewes produce plenty of milk for raising multiple lambs, the lambs are strong and they grow rapidly |
| Breed Size | Medium |
| Weight | Mature ewe’s live body weight vary from 68 to 90 kg. And the rams on average weight between 90 and 124 kg |
| Horns | No |
| Climate Tolerance | All climates |
| Color | White |
| Rarity | Common |
| Country/Place of Origin | United States |
