Île-de-France

In 1824 Auguste Yvart, professor at the National Veterinary School of Alfort, created it by mating French Rambouillet ewes with English Leicester rams, then called Dishley. Initially known as the Dishley Merino, the breed entered a flock book in 1922, when it received the name Île-de-France.

It first came to Hungary in the 1950s to improve the Hungarian Merino. As a half-bred Merino it acclimatised without problems, and its housing and feeding needs barely exceed those of the Hungarian Merino. It breeds readily out of season, has a prolificacy of 1.4–1.8 and combines maternal and meat traits at a high level.

The head is broad and polled, with medium-sized ears carried horizontally. The neck is short and heavily muscled, the chest deep and well sprung, the back and loin straight, wide and long; the rump is wide and the thighs strikingly full, bulging backwards in profile. The legs are correctly set with strong bone; the wool is white and lustrous.