In Senegal, Ladoum sheep can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Measuring up to four feet tall, they're prized as pets and status symbols.
An Australian white ram broke records after selling for a whopping $240,000.
Texel sheep are the most expensive sheep breed to buy because their breeding lines are tightly controlled.
Last year, a Texel lamb broke the record to become the world's most expensive sheep. It was sold for nearly £368,000 or Rs 3.5 crore in Scotland, according to a News18 report.
Double Diamond is a Texel sheep that just broke the world record for price sold. A sheep sold for a record 350,000 guineas – or around $490,000 in American money – at an auction in Scotland this week.
The Valais blacknose is an ancient sheep breed originating in the Swiss Alps. They are known for their black noses and black knees. In Australia, Valais blacknose are currently selling for between $7,000 to $25,000 each.
The Australian white stud sheep was sold by Tattykeel at Black Springs near Oberon, beating the previous meat sheep record of $165,000 set by the same stud in 2021. It is the most expensive sheep sold since 1989, when a merino sold for $450,000.
The predominant breed of sheep in Australia is the Merino. The Merino was first introduced into Australia in 1797 and has over the years developed for wool production. It has also been used for cross breeding with British Long Wool & Short Wool Breeds for mutton and prime lamb production.
In 1797 the first merino sheep were landed in Australia. Unlike earlier breeds, this Spanish variety was much better suited to the Australian environment and was a formidable wool producer.
The McLachlan family holds the mantle for the biggest sheep station in Australia with the more than one million-hectare Rawlinna Station 400km east of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
With their shaggy white wool and their black furry faces, it's pretty easy to see how the Valais Blacknose got the status as the world's cutest sheep breed. Hailing originally from the mountains of Switzerland, the Valais Blacknose have developed a big woolly coat that is perfect for that harsh Alpine weather.
Nowadays the purebred Damara sheep is a rare breed in Australia due to this continuous cross breeding.
Eastside Lewisdale Gold Missy is a twelve-year-old black and white Holstein cow from Canada that sold for 1.2 million dollars at the Morsan Road to the Royal Sale in Uxbridge, Ontario on Wednesday, November 11, 2009. This purchase has made Missy the current most expensive cow in the world.
'World's cutest sheep' Valais blacknose makes long-awaited flight to Tasmania. It was among a flurry of barking dogs and squeals of children's excitement that a long-awaited sheep called Amy walked regally across the tarmac of a regional airport in Tasmania, and straight into the arms of her new family.
Pink Sheep are the rarest with only a 0.164% chance of naturally spawning.
Merino. The ancestors of pretty much all fine wool breeds produce the finest and most valuable type of wool. Merino sheep have wool of fineness 17-22 microns. Some of these may also be as thin as 12 microns which is nearly the size of cobwebs.
Arthur Bryant Triggs was born in 1868 in Chelsea in England. From middle class beginnings he became one of southern NSW biggest names in property and livestock. He arrived in Australia in the late 1880s and thought working in a bank was a fine career for a young man with high expectations.
'Lamb Master' is Australia's newest breed of sheep. It's the result of a 25 year breeding program and a combination of some of the world's best genetics. More on: Margaret River.
Common dual-purpose breeds used in Australia include: Border Leicester, Corriedale, Coopworth, Texel and South African Meat Merino (SAMM). Breeds that tend to be used mostly for meat production include: Poll Dorset, Suffolk, White Suffolk and Dorper.
Victoria is Australia's largest sheep meat producer, producing around half (46%) of Australian sheep meat followed by NSW (28%). Victoria's sheep meat production increased by 5 per cent (15,100 tonnes) between 2015-16 and 2019-20.
Sheep meat consumption
According to the OECD, the consumption of sheep's meat—including both lamb and mutton—is most popular in Kazakhstan, Australia, and Turkey.
Dorpers are known as a low maintenance, easy care breed which can adapt easily to a variety of conditions, are non-selective graziers and are one of the only breeds that thrive in harsh conditions.
The Norwegian Grey Troender (Norwegian: Grå trøndersau) is a very rare breed of domesticated sheep that originated from crossbreeding native landrace sheep with the now extinct Tautra sheep in the late 19th century. There are currently approximately 50 individual animals, nearly all residing within Norway.
Prices averaged $279 and from $227 to $368. The top price went to a line March 2020 drop ewe lambs weighing 59kgs from Avonside at Narromine, NSW. Another highlight was the $320 paid for a line of April-May 2020 drop lambs from Wellington, NSW, weighing 43kgs.
A black fleece is caused by a recessive gene, so if a white ram and a white ewe are each heterozygous for black, about one in four of their lambs will be black. In most white sheep breeds, only a few white sheep are heterozygous for black, so black lambs are usually much rarer than this.