Detailed Guide to Identifying the Authenticity, Quality, and Superiority of Small-Tailed Han Sheep

1. The difference between crossbred “hybrid sheep” and authentic Small-Tailed Han Sheep

Some production areas historically carried out crossbreeding improvement on Small-Tailed Han Sheep; the resulting offspring grow slowly, and as adults are far inferior to Small-Tailed Han Sheep, while ewes have low lambing rates and poor economic returns.

2. The difference between inbred “degenerate sheep” and selectively bred “long-legged” Small-Tailed Han Sheep

Some sheep raisers have caused breed degeneration through long-term inbreeding; although the appearance is not obviously different from Small-Tailed Han Sheep, development is slow, the body is small, the legs are relatively short, and the number of lambs is low; whereas selectively bred Small-Tailed Han Sheep grow quickly, are large in size, produce many lambs, and have good meat quality.

3. The difference between one-and-a-half-year-old “Hu Sheep” and young Small-Tailed Han Sheep

Grown Hu Sheep have no horns, while most Small-Tailed Han Sheep have horns. Hu Sheep have a flat, elongated body, an underdeveloped forequarters, a slightly higher hindquarters, slow growth and development, and a small adult size, showing significant differences from Small-Tailed Han Sheep.

4. The difference between artificially “de-toothed sheep” and normal “tooth-changing sheep”

Some lawbreakers pull out the middle 2 incisors of old Small-Tailed Han Sheep that have already lost production capacity, then falsely claim they are young sheep that have just changed teeth, passing off old as young to deceive buyers. To identify this phenomenon, it must be made clear: lambs and young sheep have snow-white milk teeth, while permanent teeth are yellow and large; the longer and more heavily the permanent teeth are worn, and the shorter the teeth, the older the sheep, which is undoubtedly a “long-in-the-tooth” sheep or an artificially de-toothed “old sheep”; never buy it.

5. The difference between the superficially similar Shaanxi “Tong Sheep” and Small-Tailed Han Sheep

The body type and appearance of Shaanxi “Tong Sheep” are similar to Small-Tailed Han Sheep, but their limb length is slightly shorter, rams have large tails, and both rams and ewes have no horns; whereas Small-Tailed Han Sheep have long legs, and only very few ewes have no horns.

6. The difference between the similar-looking Xinjiang “Hetian Sheep” and Small-Tailed Han Sheep

Most Hetian Sheep ewes have no horns, and because the ribs open poorly and the chest is relatively narrow, adult sheep are small in body; at the same time, the coat color is mixed, especially with irregular black spots on the head, and fewer than 20% have an all-white coat; whereas very few Small-Tailed Han Sheep ewes have no horns, and they have a broad chest, are tall and large as adults, and have a pure white coat with no mixed color.