As a duel purpose sheep breed the Ile de France possesses the excellent traits of a large, deep, wide, well fleshed and balanced body build. The Ile de France is horn less and has a white pelt without coloured fibres. A good example of an ideal Ile de France ram and ewe is included to give a good vision.
Conformation – 80%
| 1. | HEAD | |
(a) | Mouth: | Strong and wide with well developed teeth and jaws. |
| Undesirable: | Sharp pointed mouth. |
| Disqualification: | Malformed mouth such as long or short lower jaw or crooked mouth. |
(b) | Eyes: | The eyes must be large, clear and lively |
| Undesirable: | Lifeless expression and bulging eyes. |
| Disqualification: | Inward folding eyelids |
(c) | Ears: | Large, wide and alert ears. |
| Undesirable: | Thin, small and hanging ears. |
| Disqualification: | Genetic deviations with regard to ears |
(d) | Horns: | The ideal is a horn less sheep. |
| Undesirable: | Loose horns on rams. |
| Disqualification: | Rams: Fixed horns/hornknobs Ewes: Prominent horned head or loose horns. |
(e) | Coat: | The head and ears must be covered with soft white hair. Wool must go as far as the eyebrows and must form a well rounded quaff. |
| Undesirable: | Wool that is slightly low on the face and slightly bare heads. The appearance of a little red and pink colour on ears and around the eyes and “kemp” on head. |
| Disqualification: | Woolen face, ie. Excessive wool on cheeks and wool hanging from the nose. Where wool appears on the face of lambs there is a possibility that it will disappear when the lamb grows. Surplus of red and pink on bare ears and around the eyes. |
(f) | General appearance: | The head must be in balance with the rest of the body. Entirely female head on ewes and male head on rams. |
| Undesirable: | Unbalanced head in proportion with rest of body. Female heads on rams and fine or rough heads on ewes. |
| 2. | NECK | |
| Desirable: | Necks must be strong, broad and compact but not short. The neck must fit in well with the head, shoulders and breast | |
| Unsatisfactory: | Small wrinkles (folds) on neck | |
| Disqualification: | Large wrinkles (collar wrinkles) around the neck as well as long, thin. Turned, stiff and “U” necks | |
| 3. | FORE QUARTER | |
| Desirable: | Well balanced in comparison with the rest of the body. | |
| (a) | Chest: | Broad, deep and prominent between fore legs. Less developed in ewes than rams. |
| Undesirable: | Small and/or shallow breast. | |
| (b) | Whithers and shoulders: | Broad, well fleshed , even with back and well attached to middle section. |
| Undesirable: | Slightly bare and small shoulders as well as raised fore quarter. | |
| Disqualification: | Excessively loose or sharp shoulders, pinched behind shoulders “devils grip.” | |
| 4. | TORSO | |
| (a) | Back: | Straight, broad, strong and of moderate length. |
| Undesirable: | Too short, hollow or crooked. | |
| (b) | Loins: | Long, broad, straight, in line with back and cross and well fleeced. |
| Disqualification: | Loins which are too small or bare. | |
| (c) | Ribs and flanks: | Good set of ribs with good linkage to fore and hind quarters. Deep and full flanks. |
| Disqualification: | Raised hind body or groin. | |
| 5. | HIND QUARTER | |
| Desirable: | Broad and consistent link with torso and well fleeced | |
| Undesirable: | Hind quarter higher than fore quarter in adult sheep. | |
| (a) | Cross: | Straight with good length and wide over hips. |
| Disqualification: | Excessively hanging cross, pointed and small cross. | |
| (b) | Hips and thirls: | Well placed and fleshed but not outstanding. |
| (c) | Buttocks: | The outer, inner and hind thighs must be well fleshed, forming like an upturned level “u” |
| Disqualification: | Badly fleshed buttocks which is too highly cut between hind legs. | |
| Tail root: | Attached sturdily to cross and slightly lower than cross. | |
| Disqualification: | Too high or standing out tail root. | |
| 6. | BONES & HOOFS | |
| Desirable: | Must be strong, relatively upright and places at right angles to the body with an average length and density of bone. Hooves strong and well formed. ( Coloured hooves not undesirable). Knuckles short and strong. | |
| Undesirable: | Long, thin legs; slightly bowed hind legs and slightly “X” fore legs. | |
| Disqualification: | Narrow spacing of fore or hind legs. “Koelhakkigheid”, sickle shaped hocks or hocks that are too upright on hind legs; “x” formed fore legs. Too long, too short or too dainty legs. Bad pastern joints (walk through). Hooves that are too widely split and long, outgrown fore and hind hooves. Black or brown spots on hair and wool of legs (“Sandy legs”). | |
| 7. | PIGMENT | |
| Desirable: | Light pink skin over the whole body with brown or black eyelids and eyelashes. Small black and brown spots on skin. Around mouth, nostrils, eyes, udder or scrotum and under tail is acceptable. | |
| Undesirable: | Small patches (smaller tham 3cm) of black and brown hair filaments around eyes, eyelids. Nostrils and on ears. No pigment around eyes. | |
| Disqualification: | Any coloured wool filaments or large patches of black or brown hair filaments on face, away from mouth, eyes, eyelids, nostrils and even larger patches (bigger than 3cm) on ears. Black or brown speckles on hair or wool of legs. | |
| 8. | SEX ORGANS | |
| (a) | Testicles: | They must both be normal and of equal size. Testicles must be firm and not soft. |
| Disqualification: | Unusually small testicles; absence of testicles or one normal ball and the other one smaller. Hardening of testicle(s) and/or fascicle(s). | |
| (b) | Scrotum: | Well attached, equally formed and of normal size. |
| Disqualification: | Hanging too low or too small. Badly divided sack, more than 3 cm. | |
| (c) | Udder: | Well formed udder with nipples of normal size. |
| Undesirable: | Udder that is too small or too large and hanging. Too large or too small teats. | |
| Disqualification: | Absence of one or both teats. Only one half functioning or totally bad udder. | |
| 9. | BODY WEIGHT | |
| Preferably minimum mass must be in kilograms. If the mass is not achieved by the first inspection, the inspection will be postponed. If the minimum mass is not achieved by the second inspection, the animal will be disqualified. See point 8 of guidelines for selection. | ||
| 10. | BODY WEIGHT GUIDELINE | |
| Age | Rams | Ewes |
| Birth | 3-5 kg | 3-5 kg |
| 3 months | 30 kg | 26 kg |
| 6 months | 45 kg | 35 kg |
| 9 months | 60 kg | 45 kg |
| 12 months | 75 kg | 50 kg |
| 18 months | 90 kg | 60 kg |
| Adult | 100 kg | 65 kg |
Wool Traits – 20%
| 11. | GENERAL APPEARANCE | |
| Desirable: | The fineness is generally a medium wool with a spinning count of 60’s to 70’s (20 to 27 microns). Further the wool must be as proportional as possible, with regard to quality, length, fibre thickness and density, over the whole sheep. |
| Quality: | Where possible clear, even curls with a soft feel and the absence of unfamiliar |
| Unsatisfactory: | Uneven curls, straight fibres, hard handling and the presence of unfamiliar fibres. |
| Disqualification: | Rough and/or hard hair in the britch. |
|
|
|
| 12. | STOMACH AND ENDS | |
| Desirable: | The wool on stomach, and ends must be of good length, quality, density, pile formation and colour especially in young animals. | |
| Acceptable: | In older animals (especially ewes) bad or bare “perish” | |
| Unsatisfactory: | Bare legs just underneath the under line. Bare head, stomach and legs in young animals (unchanged) Deviations in breed standards, that appear as incorrect, are viewed as culling errors. | |
