The Shetland sheep is a small, fine-woolled breed

Breed

A breed is a group of domestic animals or plants with a homogeneous appearance, behavior, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals or plants of the same species. Despite the centrality of the idea of "breeds" to animal husbandry, there is no scientifically accepted...

 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

Northern European short-tailed sheep

Northern European short-tailed sheep are a group of sheep breeds and landraces from the British Isles, Scandinavia, and the area around the Baltic. They are thought to be derived from the first sheep brought to Europe by early farmers...

 group, and is closely related to the extinct Scottish Dunface

Scottish Dunface

The Scottish Dunface, Old Scottish Short-wool, Scottish Whiteface or Scottish Tanface was a type of sheep from Scotland. It was one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group, and it was probably similar to the sheep kept throughout the British Isles in the Iron Age...

. Shetlands are classed as a landrace

Landrace

A landrace is a local variety of a domesticated animal or plant species which has developed largely by natural processes, by adaptation to the natural and cultural environment in which it lives. It differs from a formal breed which has been bred deliberately to conform to a particular standard...

 or "unimproved" breed. This breed is kept for its very fine wool, for meat, and for conservation grazing

Conservation grazing

Conservation grazing is the use of semi-feral or domesticated grazing livestock to maintain and increase the biodiversity of natural or semi-natural grasslands, heathlands, wood pasture, wetlands and many other habitats....

.

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.

History

Up to the Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 the sheep of the British Isles and other parts of northern and western Europe were small, short-tailed, horned only in the male and variable in colour. Short-tailed sheep were gradually displaced by long-tailed types, leaving short-tailed sheep restricted to the less accessible areas. These included the Scottish Dunface

Scottish Dunface

The Scottish Dunface, Old Scottish Short-wool, Scottish Whiteface or Scottish Tanface was a type of sheep from Scotland. It was one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group, and it was probably similar to the sheep kept throughout the British Isles in the Iron Age...

, which until the late eighteenth century was the main sheep type throughout the Highlands and Islands

Highlands and Islands

The Highlands and Islands of Scotland are broadly the Scottish Highlands plus Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides.The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 applied...

 of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, including Orkney and Shetland. The Dunface died out on the mainland in the late nineteenth century, leaving its descendants limited to a few islands, including the Shetlands. The Shetland type of the Dunface has been regarded as distinct since the early 19th century or before.

By the early twentieth century the Shetland was perceived as threatened by cross-breeding, leading to a decline in wool quality. To combat this, in 1927 the Shetland Flock Book Society was formed, and this remains the body responsible for the sheep on their native islands.

By the time the Rare Breeds Survival Trust

Rare Breeds Survival Trust

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation charity, whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the United Kingdom’s native farm animal genetic resources...

 was set up in the 1970s, the Shetland had become rare, and it was listed by them as Category 2 (Endangered). Since then the breed has become popular with smallholders, and it is now classified as Category 6 (Other native breeds), with a UK population of over 3000. On the mainland the breed is governed by the Shetland Sheep Society.

Breed characteristics

The Shetland is one of the smallest British

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

 breeds. The ewes are usually polled

Polled livestock

Polled livestock are livestock without horns, of species that normally have them. The term refers both to breeds or strains which are naturally polled through selective breeding and also to naturally horned animals which have been dehorned...

 (hornless) and the rams usually horn

Horn (anatomy)

A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae and Bovidae...

ed. 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 (40.8 to 56.7 kg) and ewes about 75 to 100 lb (34 to 45.4 kg).

Shetland wool

The wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

 produced by the Shetland has historically been a valued commodity. Shetlands produce numerous shades of wool colours (see below), and this variety was commercially important to the wool industry of the Shetland Isles, where natural wools are often used undyed

Dyeing

Dyeing is the process of adding color to textile products like fibers, yarns, and fabrics. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular chemical material. After dyeing, dye molecules have uncut Chemical bond with fiber molecules. The temperature and time controlling...

. Tweed

Tweed (cloth)

Tweed is a rough, unfinished woolen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is made in either plain or twill weave and may have a check or herringbone pattern...

 is also produced from the coarser Shetland wool but the Isles are best for their multi-coloured knitwear (made using Fair Isle knitting

Fair Isle (technique)

thumb|Fair Isle [[sweater|jumper]] done in the traditional style, from Fair Isle.Fair Isle is a traditional knitting technique used to create patterns with multiple colours. It is named after Fair Isle, a tiny island in the north of Scotland, that forms part of the Shetland islands...

) and for the traditional knitted lace shawl

Shawl

A shawl is a simple item of clothing, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, that is often folded to make a triangle but can also be triangular in shape...

s which are so fine they will pass through a wedding ring

Wedding ring

A wedding ring or wedding band is a metal ring indicating the wearer is married. Depending on the local culture, it is worn on the base of the right or the left ring finger. The custom of wearing such a ring has spread widely beyond its origin in Europe...

. Fleeces usually weigh between 2 and 4 lb (0.90718474 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

Glossary of sheep husbandry

The raising of domestic sheep has occurred in nearly every inhabited part of the globe, and the variations in cultures and languages which have kept sheep has produced a vast lexicon of unique terminology used to describe sheep husbandry...

 is about 130%. However, when the ewes are on better pasture

Pasture

Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...

, 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 (1.8 to 3.2 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

Shetlandic

Shetlandic, usually referred to as Shetland by native speakers, is spoken in the Shetland Islands north of mainland Scotland and is, like Orcadian, a dialect of Insular Scots...

 names – these derive from the Norn language

Norn language

Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken in Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Caithness. After the islands were pledged to Scotland by Norway in the 15th century, it was gradually replaced by Scots and on the mainland by Scottish...

 formerly spoken in Shetland, and similar names are also used in at least one other Nordic language

North Germanic languages

The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages, the languages of Scandinavians, make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages, along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages...

: Icelandic

Icelandic language

Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...

.

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).

External links

• Shetland Sheep Society (for sheep outside the Shetlands): see links to pages showing colours and patterns.
• North America Shetland Sheep Association (for sheep in North America)
• Shetland Flock Book Trust (for sheep on the Shetlands)