This is some of the history on sheep hair vs. sheep wool. The wild ancestors of today's domestic sheep breeds had long, coarse hair and a short, downy undercoat, which under domestication gradually became wool, with the long hair disappeared, wild sheep, such as the Mouflon, still don’t have wooly coats. It is estimated that approximately 10% of the world's sheep population is hair sheep, of which an estimated 90% are found in Africa and 10% in Latin America and the Caribbean. Hair sheep are not a cross between sheep and goats. They have the same number of chromosomes as wool sheep. The primary difference between hair sheep and wool sheep is the ratio of hair to primary wool fibers. All sheep have both types of fibers.
Hair sheep have a mixture of hair and wool that sheds naturally in the spring. They do not require shearing, crutching, or tail docking. Hair sheep have more hair fibers and wool sheep have more wool fibers. Wool sheep need to be sheared, crutched, and have their tails docked for health and sanitation reasons.
There are several breeds of hair sheep the most common are Barbados Blackbelly, St. Croix, Katahdin, and Dorper. The Barbados Blackbelly is probably the most widely known hair breed in the U.S. They are often used to train Border Collies or in crosses with the Mouflon for game purposes. Blackbellies resemble a deer or antelope in appearance. They grow slower than wool breeds, but produce a carcass with a mild flavor and less body fat. Moreover, the Blackbelly is one of the most prolific breeds of sheep in the world. The positives for hair sheep would be that they are less bothered by gnats and flies than wool sheep are and hair sheep can handle more heat and humidity than wool sheep can; hair sheep can adapt to a wide variety of climates and will grow a thicker, longer hair coat in cold weather. The negatives for hair sheep would be that they have less appealing coats compared to a wool sheep and hair sheep are not as easy to handle as wool sheep especially when drenching them with water to clean, vaccinate, etc. in groups.
There are four kinds of wool sheep such as the fine wool sheep (Rambouillet), long wool sheep (Romney and Lincoln), medium wool sheep (Suffolk, Dorset, and Hampshire), and the carpet wool sheep (Icelandic, Karakul, Navajo Churro, and Scottish Blackface). The Rambouillet is the most common breed of wool sheep in the U.S., especially the western states where the majority of sheep in the U.S. can still be found. The positives for wool sheep would be the rising value of wool and that they are easier to handle in pens, chutes, groups, etc. The negatives for wool sheep would be that they are more prone to gnats and flies especially when their wool gets wet and doesn’t dry quickly and wool sheep are less likely to handle high temperatures and humidity.
