By Roelof Bezuidenhout

The Afrino is one of South Africa’s youngest locally developed sheep breeds. Although it has not made the same impact on the small-stock industry as the older, illustrious Dorper, for example, it remains an attractive option for farmers in arid regions, especially when wool prices are strong. Its development history holds valuable lessons for any sheep farmer.

The breed offers several advantages: a good carcass, strong mothering instincts, and Merino-type wool that can help to offset losses from predation – something pure mutton breeds cannot match.

Afrino farmers report that ewes continue to lamb even during severe droughts, thanks to their efficient feed-to-milk conversion. Fleece quality may decline under adverse conditions, but farmers still benefit from both a lamb and a wool cheque.

Since 2006, the Afrino has been included in South Africa’s long-term national programme to establish a biological reserve for small-stock research and conservation.

Breed history

The Afrino breed was developed in response to the depressed wool market of the late 1960s, when many farmers began crossbreeding Merino ewes with mutton breeds in an effort to improve profitability. However, these crossbreeds often introduced kemp (coarse fibres) and colour contamination, which threatened the quality of the South African wool clip.

In response, the wool industry made an urgent appeal to the Department of Agriculture to develop a white-woolled breed suitable for use as a terminal sire (a ram used specifically for meat production) in Merino crossbreeding. The new breed needed to be free of kemp and coloured fibres, while also being hardy enough to thrive under the harsh, dry conditions typical of extensive Karoo sheep farms.

As a result, a breeding programme was launched at the Carnarvon Experimental Station in the Northern Cape in 1969, involving eight different crosses between Merino ewes and a range of white-woolled and white-haired mutton breeds. The goal was to develop a white-woolled mutton sheep that would combine the fine wool quality of the Merino with the reproductive performance and meat-producing traits of terminal sire breeds.

By 1976, it had become clear that the cross comprising of 25% Merino, 25% Ronderib Afrikaner and 50% South African Mutton Merino best met the original breeding objectives. In addition to performing well as a terminal sire in crosses with Merino ewes, as originally intended, the resulting breed proved good enough to stand on its own. This led to the establishment of the Afrino Sheep Breeders’ Society in 1980.

Ongoing research

Performance data continues to emerge from the Afrino flock at the Carnarvon Experimental Station, where annual rainfall averages just 200 mm. These long-term studies have enabled genetic improvements in body weight and total weight of lambs weaned over ewes’ productive lifetimes, while simultaneously reducing fibre diameter.

Since 1991, all selection within this flock has been guided by BLUP breeding values, targeting specific traits under selection. (BLUP is an acronym for “best linear unbiased prediction”, a statistical method used to estimate the breeding values of animals.)

The research aims include evaluating selection criteria to improve reproductive efficiency, and to improve both mutton and wool production in dual-purpose sheep breeds under extensive grazing conditions. The project also involves storing blood and DNA samples from all animals studied.

Because the Carnarvon flock has been part of selection trials for decades, researchers can monitor and influence key economic traits – such as genetic trends in fibre diameter, weaning weight, and total lamb weight weaned over a ewe’s lifetime – with a high degree of accuracy.

Today, the Afrino Breeders’ Society works closely with animal breeding scientists, basing its selection programmes on scientific research. Notably, the Afrino was the first South African sheep breed to have separate selection objectives for rams and ewes investigated and implemented. Rams are selected for growth and fleece traits; and ewes are selected for reproductive performance, including fertility and mothering ability.

Farming with Afrinos

The Afrino is a low-input sheep, ideally suited to extensive farming. The breed makes excellent use of veld and rarely requires supplemental feed. Wethers do well on sour grassveld, where it would be too expensive to feed and run ewes.

Afrinos also perform well in feedlots, continuing to grow under high nutritional conditions and producing quality lean meat – where other breeds or crosses tend to accumulate excess fat.

The ewes are excellent mothers, have long productive lifespans, and require minimal intervention. Blowfly attacks are rare.

Under extensive conditions, the average market age is seven to eight months. In feedlots or under favourable conditions, lambs can reach market weight as early as three months.

Ewes weigh around 60 kg – about 10 kg more than a pure Merino – and rams are robust.

The breed’s hardiness stems from its Ronderib Afrikaner ancestry and the fact that breeders focus less on showring appearance and more on veld performance. Instead of round hindquarters, its legs are long and lean, like those of an antelope. And the legs are set squarely beneath the animal, not placed outside the body line like in some of the mutton breeds we see today.

Careful selection for wool is essential, as each ewe produces only 2,5 kg to 3 kg of wool annually. It’s not worth shearing if the fleece is poor. Fibre diameters typically range from 19 to 21 microns, with clean yields of 60% to 70%.

Afrino breed standards: A few pointers

• Rams and ewes should be selected under the same conditions in which their offspring will be expected to perform and reproduce.

• The primary breeding objective is to maximise the total weight of lambs weaned over a ewe’s lifetime.

• Meat quality should be high, with even fat distribution

• Wool production should account for only 3–4% of the animal’s body weight.

• The body and belly of the Afrino should be covered with good-quality wool, and a fair amount of it. As an extensive dual-purpose breed, however, wool quantity will vary depending on conditions. Clean bellies are often seen in ewes that have suckled lambs, and in some rams. Wool must be free of kemp, with as little colour variation as possible. Yellow or chalky white fleeces are considered disqualifying faults.

• In terms of conformation, the Afrino should have a strong, open head with well-developed upper and lower jaws and prominent nostrils. The face should be covered with soft cream-coloured hair without any kemp. A small tuft of wool on the forehead is acceptable, but there should be no wool on the cheeks. Ewes are naturally polled, whereas rams may have small, loose horns. The hindquarters should be broad across the hips and pin bones, blending smoothly with the barrel. Both the inner and outer thighs must be well-muscled and -fleshed. A slightly drooping rump is desirable.

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