More Than Handsome, Tunis Sheep Deliver The Goods DAVE LEFEVER Lancaster Farming Staff WAYNESBORO (Franklin Co.) Tunis sheep will turn your head. Their slim, coppery faces and long ears are not the most famil iar of sheep features. That rusty look, also found on the legs, can range from tan and cinnamon to a rich red. The wool is creamy in color. It’s the darker-faced Tunis that attract many people, accord ing to Don and Miki Schrider, who have been raising Tunis for about eight years on their 10-acre farm between Waynesboro and Greencastle. They maintain a flock of 12-15 breeding ewes, along with two rams and young stock. “Everybody really wants to get their hands on the deeper red,” Don said. According to the Schriders, however, the best functional qualities of the breed are not re lated to the degree of pigmenta tion. “Color has nothing to do with the economy and production of this sheep,” Miki said. Good mothering ability, effi cient growth, top-quality meat, and usable wool sometimes pre ferred by handspinners are some of the traits that have helped win widespread support for Tunis sheep. They are also known for their docile nature, high percentage of twin births, strong milk produc tion, and longevity. Miki Schrider with one-day old Tunis lamb, born with a double coat of deep red. More About The Breed The American Tunis evolved from a number of importations of fat tailed sheep from Africa and the Middle East in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These sheep were crossed with some established European breeds to improve the meat characteristics. The earliest documented importation occurred in 1799. They came as a gift to the U.S. from the ruler of Tunisia, his highness the Bey of Tunis, and were entrusted to the care of Judge Richard Peters of Pennsylvania who became an outspoken advocate of the breed. By the 1820’s, Tunis were in much demand by butchers in eastern Pennsylvania. Descendants of Judge Peters’ sheep, as well as addi tional importations of fat-tailed sheep became established in Mary land, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. Thomas Jef ferson imported “broad-tailed” sheep and kept them for many years. He preferred them over his Merinos for their mutton and wool-pro ducing attributes. The breed was quite popular as in 1892, Ezra Carmen in a chapter of A Report of the Sheep Industry of the U.S. wrote, “ But for the in troduction of the flne-wooled Merino, these Tunisian sheep would probably have become disseminated throughout the U.S., and in some of them have become the prevailing flocks.” The breed has a long, notable history that includes grazing privileges in the pastures of Thomas Jefferson. Descendants of ancient, fat tailed sheep, the Tunis breed originated in the arid lands of Tunisia on the northern coast of Africa. The first flock recorded in the U.S. was at Belmont, Phila delphia County, in 1799. Jeffer son later owned a large flock and was a leading promoter of the breed, according to information supplied by the National Tunis Sheep Registry, Inc. Their hardiness and heat toler ance helped make them a favor ite in the U.S. South during the first half of the 1800 s. Most of the large southern Tunis population, however, became food for sol diers during the Civil War, caus ing a majority of the flocks to be wiped out. Flocks originally established in the Northeast have survived and served as seed stock for main taining a strong gene pool and a thriving population throughout different regions of the country today. In earlier years, Tunis were crossed with some other breeds, including Southdown and Border Leicester. Today, no crossbreeding is allowed for regis tered animals, Don said. While considered a fine-boned, medium-sized breed, Tunis grow rapidly through the pasture sea son and into maturity. For lambs destined for the dinner table, typ ical slaughter time is early fall for Origin, History From Website information. ' t Miki and Don Schrlder, with flock of Tunis ewes, due to lamb soon. Roxy, the dog, is purebred Maremma, an Italian breed noted for its sheepguarding skill. animals born in March or April on the Schrider farm. “They produce a 100-pound freezer lamb about as fast as any (breed),” Don said. Some managers of meat breed flocks, such as Dorset, favor crossbreeding with Tunis sires to produce the lamb crop, believing this use of a Tunis “terminal sire” results in more lambs, greater weight gains, and tastier meat. According to the Schriders, the meat of older Tunis sheep is also delicious and “in some ways bet ter” than lamb, even when ani mals are slaughtered at four and five years of age. As Pennsylvania director for the National Tunis Sheep Regis try, Inc., Don noted that the breed standard allows for a cer tain range of traits, according to personal preference. While some breeders focus on larger, show-type sheep, others go for a smaller frame they feel is more in line with original blood lines. Breeders also have varying opinions on other traits, such as the ideal ear length. According to Don, the differ- The Schriders keep two breeding rams on the farm to help maintain genetic diversity. Sampson, front, serviced the flock last fall. The other three are yearling rams, one of which will be selected as a breeder. ences in opinion are minor and help demonstrate the breed’s ge netic range. “There’s a fair amount of di versity that, allows for unique breeding programs,” he said. The breed standard allows a bodyweight range of 125-175 pounds for breeding ewes, 175-200 pounds for rams. JLambs should weigh between seven and 12 pounds at birth. They are bom with a double coat, mahogany red on the surface, that gradually turns into a creamy-colored fleece as the ani mal matures. At the Schriders, lambs are left to nurse their mothers well into the summer, nearly until the end of the natural lacatation period of the ewes. Meanwhile, the lambs are also supplying a large part of their diet by grazing on their own. The Schriders rely on pasture during the growing season. In winter, orchard grass hay with a bit of alfalfa makes up the bulk of the ration. About two weeks prior to the start of lambing in March, they begin supplementing the ewes with grain, continuing through early lactation until the pastures are green and ready for grazing. The Schriders caution other Tunis breeders against feeding more grain than necessary. As a thrifty breed histori cally able to subsist in desert-like conditions Tunis can become fat from overeating and also risk birthing problems because of overly large lambs, the Schriders pointed out They rapidly changed tfteir feeding program soon after start ing in the Tunis business. At that time, they culled one of the adult ewes, had it butchered, and dis covered its carcass was covered in a layer of fat several inches thick, Miki said. Now they monitor their ewes’ body condition frequently by checking spines with their finger tips, making sure the bone is not' covered with tallow but can be felt as a distinct ridge. Because of their high milk out put, Tunis have also been cross bred with dairy sheep, according to Don. A sheep dairy for cheese production in Vermont has some ewes that are one-quarter Tunis, he said.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers