An adorable 2-day old female Rideau Arcott x Canadian Arcott sheep - one of three in the litter born at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum on 6 March. The babies have a Rideau Arcott Mom (Ewe) and a Canadian Arcott Dad (Ram). They are still wobbly on their feet and are not much bigger than my chihuahua, although their legs are much longer!

« The Rideau Arcott is a purebred sheep which was created entirely in Canada. It was developed over a period of 10-15 years by Agriculture Canada at the research station near Ottawa. The original genetics came from the Finnish Landrace, Suffolk and East Friesian breeds. After many generations of selection, the new breed was released to Canadian producers in the late 1980's.

The purpose of the Rideau Arcott development program was to produce a maternal breed that would offer high fertility, good milking and mothering characteristics, excellent body conformation and good growth rate.

Rideaus are highly prolific ewes, reaching sexual maturity at 7-8 months of age and excel in crossbreeding programs with terminal sire breeds which emphasize meat production. Due to the large number of multiple births, the Rideau does require additional attention to nutrition and lambing time management. »