Moorschnucke

Moorschnucke, often called the White Polled Heath or Diepholz Moorschnucke, is a German heath sheep associated with bogs, moors, and low-nutrient grassland in northern Germany. It is a small to medium, hornless landrace type with white fleece, a light frame, and the thriftiness needed for rough forage. Unlike heavier meat breeds, it was shaped by wet heath and peatland grazing rather than high-input pasture. Flocks are valued for lamb and regional conservation grazing, especially where woody regrowth and coarse vegetation need steady browsing pressure.

Management is less about rapid finishing and more about keeping hardy sheep working safely on marginal ground. Keepers use Moorschnucke flocks for nature reserve grazing, dike and heath maintenance, and low-input small farms, but wet ground still demands attention to feet and parasite cycles. Winter feed should make up for poor forage without pushing the sheep into excessive condition. Because the breed is numerically limited, conservation-minded breeders pay attention to unrelated breeding animals, lamb survival, and retaining the hornless, white heath-sheep type.