View source for Easycare

{{Short description|Breed of sheep}}
{{use British English|date=December 2022}}
{{use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{use list-defined references|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox sheep breed
| name          = Easycare
| image         = 
| image_size    = 
| image_alt     = 
| image_caption = 
| status        = {{ubl|{{nobreak|[[FAO]] (2007): not listed{{r|barb|p=120}}}}|[[DAD-IS]] (2022): unknown{{r|dad}}}}
| altname       = Easy Care
| country       = United Kingdom
| distribution  = 
| standard      =
| use           = [[Lamb and mutton|meat]]
| maleweight    = 
| femaleweight  = average 60{{r|cabi|p=803}} or 65 kg{{r|sac}}
| maleheight    = 
| femaleheight  = 
| skincolour    = 
| type          = 
| woolcolour    = white
| facecolour    = white
| horns         = [[polled (livestock)|polled]]
| note          = 
}}

The '''Easycare''' or '''Easy Care''' is a modern British [[list of sheep breeds|breed]] of [[easy-care sheep]]. It was developed in Wales in the second half of the twentieth century by [[cross-breeding]] between [[Welsh Mountain sheep|Welsh Mountain]] and [[Wiltshire Horn]] stock, with the aim of combining the meat-producing qualities and natural [[moulting]] characteristic of the latter with the hardiness of the former.{{r|cabi|p=803}} It is reared for [[Lamb and mutton|meat]] production.

== History ==

In the latter twentieth century the price of wool in the United Kingdom fell so low that its value did not always cover the cost of [[Sheep shearing|shearing]] the sheep that provided it.{{r|cabi|p=803}} The Easycare was bred from the mid-1960s by Iolo Owen on the island of [[Anglesey]] in [[North Wales]]. He [[cross-bred]] [[Welsh Mountain sheep|Welsh Mountain]] and [[Wiltshire Horn]] stock, with the aim of developing a sheep that would combine the hardiness of the Welsh Mountain with the meat-producing qualities of the Wiltshire Horn, and would also be [[polled (livestock)|polled]] and [[moulting|moult]] naturally without needing to be [[Sheep shearing|shorn]].{{r|cabi|p=803}} By the end of the century the number of breeding ewes was over {{val|10000}};{{r|cabi|p=803}} in 2012 the total population was reported to be {{val|150000}}.{{r|dad}}

There is a breed society, but no [[flock-book]]; stock is not registered.{{r|soc}}

== Characteristics ==

== Use ==


== References ==
{{reflist|45em|refs=

<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn|9789251057629}}. Archived 23 June 2020.</ref>

<ref name=cabi>Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). [https://books.google.com/books?id=2UEJDAAAQBAJ ''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''] (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{isbn|9781780647944}}.</ref>

<ref name=dad>[https://dadis-breed-datasheet-ext-ws.firebaseapp.com/?country=GBR&specie=Sheep&breed=Easy%20Care&lang=en Breed data sheet: Easy Care / United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Sheep)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed December 2022.</ref>

<ref name=sac>J. Vipond (2006). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721200048fw_/http://www.easicare.info/easicare.pdf  Easicare Sheep Systems]. Penicuik, Midlothian: Scottish Agriculture College. Archived 21 July 2011.</ref>

<ref name=soc>Louise Hobson (10 November 2017). [https://www.easycaresheep.com/news/2017/easy-care-sheep-take-care-when-purchasing-from-social-media-sites EasyCare Sheep – Take care when purchasing from social media sites]. The Easycare Sheep Society. Accessed December 2022.</ref>

}}

{{British livestock|R.1}}

[[Category:Sheep breeds]]
[[Category:Sheep breeds originating in the United Kingdom]]

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