A study of face-covering in the Hampshire breed of sheep

Face-covering was studied in three purebred Hampshire flocks in Southwest Virginia. The method of evaluation consisted of the assignment of grades by each of a committee of graders acting independently. The scale of grades ranged from one for faces bare of wool beyond the poll to five for faces fully covered to the nostrils. By assignment of plus and minus values for those faces considered to fall slightly above or below an event unit, ewes and lambs could be separated into fifteen classes. Some points receiving attention in the course of the study were: (1) the method of visual evaluation of the face-covering trait, (2) the effect of fleece length on appearance of the face, (3) the effect of age on extent of face-wooling among lambs, and (4) heritability of face-covering.