Delaine Merino

The Merino originated in Spain. American breeders selected the smooth-bodied Delaine type from it, and the Delaine became the predominant Merino of North America.

It spread as a range sheep: found throughout the United States at all altitudes, and thriving on the arid ranges of the Southwest.

Rams weigh 190 to 240 pounds and ewes 125 to 160. The fleece is the finest thing about them by design: 17 to 22 microns, nine to fourteen pounds from a ewe, with a staple of two and a half to four inches.

Removing the folds also removed several problems. Smooth-bodied sheep are faster to shear, less prone to fly strike, and more tolerant of heat than a wrinkled Merino.

They are hardy, long-lived, and flock strongly, which suits range conditions.

That flocking instinct is a working trait: it is what lets one herder move a big band.

Fine wool. The American and Delaine Merino Record Association grades a Delaine fleece at 64s spinning count or finer, 17 to 22 microns, with 2.5 to 4 inches of staple in a year's growth. Breeders select for weight of long, dense, fine fleece on a medium-sized sheep rather than for size, because bigger frames tend toward coarse, short wool.

The Delaine is the smooth-bodied C type, which the association calls the most practical Merino on the average farm and especially suited to range production in the western and southwestern states, with flocks from Texas and California to Ohio and New York. The ewes stay productive a long time: breeders keep choice ewes producing at 10 to 12 years old.

They handle arid country and altitude; the breed's American career was made on the dry ranges of the Southwest.

Shearing needs doing properly every year: the oily fleece extends down the legs, and the crop is only as good as its harvest.

The trade is the carcass and the calendar. A Delaine lamb finishes light and slow next to a meat breed, so income leans on the clip, and the value of that clip depends entirely on shearing and handling being done properly.

The American and Delaine Merino Record Association keeps the US book. Ask for fleece weights and micron on the animal and its dam; in a wool breed the records are the product.

Recent sale prices on HoofnHorn, where there are any, are further down this page.