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Shetland
Sheep
We
believe that smaller livestock
breeds will "come back into
fashion" since the average
amount of land that a homesteader
owns is decreasing. Smaller livestock
are easier on the land and are
often hardier and more productive
per pound than their larger cousins.
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Two
of our sweetest girls!
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Shetlands
are an ancient breed of sheep
coming from the Shetland Isles.
Shetlands are believed to have
been originally brought to the
islands by Vikings.
Shetlands were first brought to
North America for Thomas Jefferson,
However the breed did not survive
in the States at that time. The
major importation happened in
the 1980's by Col. Dailley. Most
Shetlands are derived from that
importation. In the late 90's
semen was brought from the United
Kingdom to bring in new blood
and help save some of the rarer
colors (Dohner, 2001).
Shetlands are a hardy unimproved
"primitive" landrace.
Since they are a landrace there
is much diversity in colors, fleece,
and temperaments. Some are extremely
friendly and will wag their tails
when they receive scratches. Shetlands
are smaller than commercial breeds
and require little feed or assistance
in lambing. Shetlands have a short
tail that does not require docking.
Shetlands do not have many of
the problems that larger breeds
have.
Shetlands come in 11 different
colors, going from white to brown
to black, with variations including
markings and spots or combos of
the above.
We are striving to produce friendly
polled male and female Shetlands.
Polling is accepted by NASSA as
acceptable in both males and females.
References
Dohner, Janet Vorwald. 2001.
The Encyclopedia of Historic and
Endangered Livestock and Poultry
Breeds. Yale University Press.
New Haven and London.
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