Sheep breed
Rouge de l'Ouest
Rouge de l'Ouest
A prolific red-headed French meat sheep from Maine-Anjou.
Description1
A French breed from Maine and Anjou (Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe). It was created by crossing local sheep with English Leicester and Wensleydale rams, alongside the Bleu du Maine, from which it differs mainly by its pinkish-red head.
A large sheep with broad shoulders, a long straight back and well-developed legs of lamb. Its uniformly white fleece leaves the head and lower legs bare; the head is reddish, broad and polled. Calm-tempered.
Very prolific (avg. 1.85 lambs per litter) and a good milker that can rear three lambs. Its lambs give fine, lean meat and are mostly fattened at grass; its rams are used for crossing. Kept mainly in Pays de la Loire, Brittany and Poitou-Charentes, and in Belgium.
History1
19th century
Local ewes crossed with Leicester and Wensleydale rams give rise to the Rouge de l'Ouest and the Bleu du Maine.
Early 20th century
The breed stabilises; officially recognised in 1963.
1968
The flock book is opened.
Breed standard and breed society
The official breed description, breeding goal and herdbook rules are published by the breed's recognised breed society.
- French Wikipedia – Rouge de l'Ouesthttps://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rouge_de_l'Ouest
Photo gallery
All photos are freely licensed (Wikimedia Commons, Flickr); author, source and licence are shown under each image.
Sources
Accessed: 2026-10-18.