In 1906, Senator Johannes Cornelis van Rooy of the farm Koppieskraal, district Van Rooy Sheep Breed History Bethulie, began trials to breed a new breed for slaughter lamb production. The requirements he set for this breed were threefold: The breed had to be strong and hardy to cope with regular droughts. It had to be fertile in order to maintain a high percentage of production. It had to have an excellent conformation.

With these aims in mind he made use of a white “Blinkhaar Afrikaner” ram and eighty Rambouillet ewes. With the progeny of these the principle of inbreeding, coupled with severe selection, was applied. This selection mainly aimed at size, conformation and white sheep with enough wool in between the bristly hair to serve as protection against cold. Senator van Rooy realized that he could not dispose of fat localization without sacrificing hardiness and fertility. Then an attempt was made to get good conformation with as little fat localization on the body as possible, and only a reasonable accumulation on the rump. Later on a polled Wensleydale ram was introduced in an effort to improve conformation. This ram was sent to South Africa by the English Government to assist in the advancement and improvement of the South African sheep breeds after the Anglo-Boer-War. This is how the Van Rooy sheep breed originated and although the breed has been much improved since then it still complies with all the fundamental requirements that were set in those days. All-important characteristics have been preserved and present day breeding and selection keep them in view.

These sheep very soon acclimatized in the Southern and South Western Free State, and the North-Eastern districts of the Cape Province, and farmers started making use of Van Rooy rams more and more. Only a limited number of farmers could be helped by Senator Van Rooy with Van Rooy ewes, and they succeeded in keeping their animals true to type. On the other hand many farmers were of necessity compelled to make use of other native breeds for the up breeding of their breeding stock. For this purpose they used Blackhead Persians and Blinkhaar Afrikaners.

Subsequent development of the breed through the years sins its origin in 1906, was retarded many a time by various factors. The regressive influence, which the First World War (1914) had on the initial stages of development of the breed for five years, can never be underestimated. Only after this period Van Rooy sheep numbers increased rapidly, but then followed the hardships of those years after 1930 as well as the outbreak of World War Two, which factors both adversely influenced increase in numbers and improvement of conformation. Towards the end of this the popularity of the breed was again emphasized until abnormally high wool prices in 1948 induced many farmers to switch over to the Merino. At the same time a strong tendency flamed up to do away with superfluous fat on the carcass of slaughter sheep. These latter occurrences not only retarded the breed’s progress; on the contrary, its numbers dwindled. In addition farmers from Namibia started buying up Van Rooy ewes for the breeding of Karakuls. They were prepared to pay exorbitant prices and accordingly found that many owners waiting for an opportunity to change over to the Merino or to a non-fat-tailed type, only too willing to sell. These ewes became a dead loss to the breed. One instance is known of a Namibian farmer, who bought 30 000 Van Rooy ewes in the South-Western Free State in one month’s time taking them all to Namibia for Karakul breeding.

The popularity of the breed is again on the ascent during recent years; especially since the years of drought the demand for Van Rooy sheep is expanding. Another reason for this accentuated demand is the recent successes achieved by The Van Rooy Sheep Breeders Association with regard to mutton conformation.