Hu
The Hu sheep is a Chinese breed from the Lake Tai and lower Yangtze region, especially Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and the Shanghai area. It is a white, polled sheep with a long history in humid lowland farming systems. Hu sheep are noted for early maturity, frequent twinning or larger litters, and the ability to breed outside a narrow seasonal window. Newborn lambskins from this breed have also been used traditionally for their curled white fleece.
Farms often keep Hu sheep in housed or semi-housed systems, feeding crop residues, forages, and formulated rations rather than relying only on open range. Their prolificacy is useful in commercial lamb production and crossbreeding, but it also makes nutrition, lambing supervision, and udder health more important than in many less prolific breeds. Recording litter size, lamb survival, and ewe condition helps separate genuinely productive lines from animals that only look typical of the breed.
