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 A
photograph of a Navajo child holding a four-horned Navajo-Churro
lamb was sent to my parents in the 50s. It always turned up when
I was looking through my mother’s box of photographs. It must
have been a similar impression that led Dr. Lyle McNeal to his
mission of saving the breed from being diluted into other
breeds.
In 1989 I purchased our first handful of ewes from the Pine Hill
Navajo-Churro Project in Ramah, New Mexico.
For nearly twenty years we have kept our flock at about 150
ewes, always working for improvement by careful culling for
confirmation and fleece quality, maintaining good health
practices, and avoiding any undesirable traits.
When selecting herd sires, we prefer to return to the Southwest
for rams that are thrifty, strong, and display the natural
instincts of those herds raised out on the open land.
The mothering ability and intelligence of the Navajo-Churro
sheep never ceases to impress me. The lambs are quick growing on
our meadow conditions, ready for market in five months. The
market we have developed prize the delicious taste of the meat.
The Navajo-Churro sheep are
descended from the Churra, an ancient Iberian breed. The Churra
(later corrupted to Churro by American frontiersmen) were
brought by the Spanish Conquistadors in the 16th century as a
source of food and clothing for the settlers and armies. By the
17th century the Churro were popular with the Spanish settlers
in the upper Rio Grande Valley. Flocks of Churro were also
acquired by Native Americans through raids and trading, and soon
became an important part of the Navajo economy and culture. A
series of US Government sponsored flock reductions and
"improvements" (by cross breeding) decimated the Navajo flocks
until the old type Churro sheep nearly disappeared.
In
the 1970's several individuals began acquiring Churro phenotypes
with the purpose of preserving the breed and revitalizing Navajo
and Hispanic flocks. The Navajo-Churro
Sheep Association (N-CSA) was formed in 1986 to
preserve and promote this truly All-American Breed. The name
"Navajo-Churro" was chosen to honor both their Navajo and their
Spanish origin/heritage. While more than
4,000 sheep have been registered since the N-CSA was
formed, Navajo-Churro sheep are still considered a rare breed by
the
American Livestock Breeds
Conservancy (ALBC).
Navajo-Churro sheep carry
the polycerate gene which allows them to produce multiple horns,
the Navajo-Churro are one of the rare breeds that have this
gene, horns can be produced from 2 - 6 horns!; both rams and
ewes can be horned or polled.
They are a small to
medium size breed with ewes weighing form 85 to 120 pounds and
rams ranging from 120 to 175 lbs. The meat they produce are
superior to the meat breed sheep. Tasting delicious, the Churro
have a surprisingly LOW fat content.
Navajo-Churro wool comes
in a wide range of natural colors, is classified as coarse and
is composed of three distinct types of fiber: 1) Inner Coat
(3-5"staple length): wool fibers ranging from 10-35 microns,
comprising 80% of the fleece, 2) Outer Coat (6-12"staple
length): hair fibers measuring 35+ microns, comprising 10-20% of
the fleece, 3) Kemp: short opaque fibers of 65+ microns, not to
exceed 5% of the fleece. The fleece is open with no defined
crimp and should be lustrous with a silky hand. It is high
yielding with a low grease content.
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Hussa Ranch
John and Linda Hussa
Box C
Cedarville, CA 96104
Tel. 530.279.6380
lhussa@frontiernet.net
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