AY Honors/Sheep Breeds/Rambouillet

The Rambouillet is also known as the Rambouillet Merino or the French Merino. It originated some years before the Merino was first imported into the United States. In 1786 the French government either purchased or Louis XVI received as a gift from his cousin, the King of Spain, over three hundred of the finest Spanish Merinos. (318 ewes, 41 rams, 7 wethers) The flock was subsequently developed on an experimental royal farm at a place known as Rambouillet, not far from Paris. In the park near the village, this flock was cultivated by the government. No sheep were sold for many years. At last, selection and breeding produced a well-defined breed, differing in several important points from the original foundation stock.

The breed was increased in size and weight of fleece over the Spanish Merino. The wool was increased in length to three inches or more. Full grown ewes weighed up to two hundred pounds and rams up to three hundred, live weight. The fleece was valuable in the manufacture of cloth, at times being woven in a mixed fabric of cotton warp and wool weft, known as delaines. From this 1800s style of popular fabric, printed in French factories, the sheep sometimes been called the Delaine Merino. When it is referred to as a Rambouillet, it is to commemorate Château de Rambouillet, the place of its origin.

The breed is well known for its wool, but also for its meat, both lamb and mutton. It has been described as a dual-purpose breed, with superior wool and near-mutton breed characteristics.

Sources:

[1]The American Rambouillet Sheep Breeders Association

[2]"The Varieties and Breeds of Sheep" in Henry Stewart's The Domestic Sheep: Its Culture and General Management. Chicago: American Sheep Breeder Press, 1898.