| Brucklay
Pygmy Goats - Shetland Sheep |
| Just
arrived are our Shetland ewe lambs,
cute little things and very tame. They
are all registed and we plan to get
a registered Shetland ram for them
next autum. |
The
Shetland sheep is a small, fine-woolled
breed of sheep originating in the Shetland
Isles, but now also kept in many other
parts of the world. It is one of the
Northern European short-tailed sheep
group. Shetlands
are classed as a "unimproved" breed.
This breed is kept for its very fine
wool, for meat, and for conservation
grazing.
Although Shetlands are small and slow-growing
compared to commercial breeds, they
are hardy, thrifty, easy lambers, adaptable
and long-lived. The Shetland breed
has survived for centuries in difficult
conditions and on a poor diet so they
thrive in better conditions. Shetlands
retain many of their primitive survival
instincts so they are easier to care
for than many modern breeds. |
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Breed
characteristics
Shetlands appear in
a wide variety of colors, many of which
are called
by their traditional names by breeders
The Shetland is one of the smallest
British breeds. The ewes are usually
polled (hornless) and the rams usually
horned. The breed is noted for its
very fine, soft wool and the high
quality of its meat, though its smaller
size limits its use in commercial
meat markets. They are small-bodied
animals with no wool on the face,
nose or legs, and small, erect ears.
The legs are of medium length and
finely boned. A distinguishing feature
of northern short-tailed sheep is
the short, fluke-shaped tail, broad
at the base, tapering to a point,
and covered towards the tip in hair,
not wool.
Shetlands occur in very many different
colours and patterns, most of which
have particular names.
Rams usually weigh 90 to 125 lb (41
to 57 kg) and ewes about 75 to 100
lb (34 to 45 kg).
Shetland wool
The wool produced by the
Shetland has historically been a valued
commodity.
Shetlands produce numerous shades
of wool colours, and
this variety was commercially important
to the wool industry of the Shetland
Isles, where natural wools are often
used undyed. Tweed is also produced
from the coarser Shetland wool but
the Isles are best for their multi-coloured
knitwear
and for the traditional knitted lace
shawls which are so fine they will
pass through a wedding ring. Fleeces
usually weigh between 2 and 4 lb
(0.91 and 1.8 kg).
Lambing
Like other "primitive" breeds
the ewes are highly seasonal, becoming
fertile in October and November (in
the northern hemisphere) and lambing
in spring or summer. On the poor
grazing of the breed's native Isles
the lambing percentage is about 130%.
However, when the ewes are on better
pasture, twin lambs are more common,
especially from mature ewes. Shetland
ewes are hardy, easy lambers, good
mothers and produce a lot of milk.
Healthy lambs are born weighing around
4 to 7 lb (2 to 3 kg).
Colours and
patterns
Shetland sheep can show almost
all possible sheep colours and patterns,
although solid white and solid moorit
(reddish brown) are most common.
Many of the colours and patterns
have Shetland dialect names – these
derive from the Norn language formerly
spoken in Shetland, and similar names
are also used in at least one other
Nordic language: Icelandic.
Eleven main colours are recognised
(most including many different shades):
light grey, grey, white, emsket (dusky
bluish-grey), musket (light greyish-brown),
shaela (dark steely-grey), black,
fawn, moorit (reddish brown), mioget
(honey-toned, yellowish-brown), dark
brown.
Over thirty different coat patterns
are recognised, many of which can
occur in combination. They include
katmoget ("badgerface":
dark belly and dark shading around
nose and eyes, lighter elsewhere),
gulmoget ("mouflon", the
reverse of katmoget: light belly,
dark face with light marks around
eyes, dark elsewhere), yuglet (generally
light with dark "panda" patches
around eyes), bleset (dark with white
blaze down face), smirslet (white
marking around muzzle), sokket (with
white socks on legs), bersugget (irregular
patches of different colours) and
bielset (with a collar of a differing
colour). |
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