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Shetland Sheep |
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Our Herd As part of our continuous search to supply our customers with a variety of yarn and fibre we have decided to add the Shetland sheep to our farm. We recently purchased four young ewes from Heidi and Steve Welch of Ruis Dair Homestead located in Ontario. Below, are pictures of our new girls.
Why Shetlands? The main reasons for acquiring Shetlands is for their beautiful fibre and the wide variety of colors available. There are eleven whole main colors available in the Shetlands. The Dark Brown, Black, Moorit, Shaela, Mioget, Emsket, Fawn, Gray, Musket (Moosket), white and Light Gray. Furthermore, added to these main colors, you can have as many as 30 different kinds of markings making each Shetland almost unique in color. For a complete description of colors and markings you can visit the North American Shetland Sheep Association www.shetland-sheep.org. Another important feature of this little sheep is the softness of its fibre. The micron count of the fibre ranges in the 20-25 microns and the length of the fibre can be up to 4 inches. Shetlands are considered a small sheep, however there are advantages to being small, they eat less and are easy to handle. Despite their size they can still give up to 5 lbs of fibre and their meat is delicious.
 Ruis Dair Brianna
Grey Krunet Shetland history Apparently there is evidence of this Soay type sheep kept in Britain over 4500 years ago. They found horns of this type during the excavation of Jarlshof, a noted prehistoric site on Shetland. The current gulmoget has Soay or Mouflon markings suggesting that these early sheep contributed to the genetic makeup of today’s Shetland sheep.
Feed and care of Shetlands Because of their small size, Shetlands are easy to care for, they require less food than other breeds of sheep. Shetlands are classed as a landrace or “unimproved” breed, therefore making them very hardy, low maintenance animals, easy lambers and good mothers. Furthermore, they are part of the Northern European Short Tail group of sheep, therefore docking of tails is not required. They have distinctive personalities and adapt very well to different environments. Shetlands are nice sheep to have around and a pleasure to own. |
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