Historically, the Navajo-Churro have adapted readily to the harsh extremities of the states, ranging from snowy mountains to the desert regions, with natural selection being solely responsible for the survival of the fittest. These sheep and their descendants possess the desirable ability to subsist and reproduce on scarce amounts of feed and water if it necessitates. They are highly disease resistant with the ewes being remarkably prolific commonly producing twins and, less often, triplets. The ewes have an incredibly strong maternal instinct and rarely fail to claim their lambs. This breed is considered to be the highest milk producer of any sheep and produces a superior low fat meat when grass fed.
Rams can be policerate, often producing four horns.
The lustrous, long, open type of fleece has little shrinkage and a lower grease content than most improved wools, thus the percent of clean wool is high as dirt does not adhere to the fibres as easily. Because the Navajo-Churro sheep have not been subject to significant artificial genetic selection, there is some variation between fleeces. Lamb fleece and some adult fleece make great outer garment yarn for knitting or weaving. With the resurgence in popularity of natural coloured wools, the Navajo-Churro fleeces have much to offer spinners and weavers. At Cowichan Bay Farm, we are dedicated to preserving the Navajo-Churro sheep to developing niche markets for specialty food and wool products.