MrsCedarstone
Ridin' The Range
Considering these 2 sheep breeds. Does anyone have experiences with these two they would like to share? Stories, advice, pictures, etc.
Thank you so much for the information. I will definitely do the grain training for sure. Love your pictures. I am interested in the genetics and coloring but probably won't experiment with that for a little while yet. I love colors and spots. That musket one is beautiful. I'm looking at probably getting 3 to start out so they won't be lonely, probably a mix of ewes and wethers.Ok....
All of my Shetlands have been very healthy and have required very minimal "extra" care. They are wormed less often than the other breeds we have and if we have a worm overload, the Shetlands are the least likely to be affected.
They require annual shearing, but I like to shear mine twice a year. The fall fleece is usually a lot cleaner than the spring one. Hoof trimming and whatever vaccines you want to do (we do CD&T mainly).
The lambs, although weighing in at only 3-6lbs at birth, are lively and tough. They are up and nursing within minutes.
The ewes are more often than not EXCELLENT mothers. I had a ewe lamb at 14 months old (we don't normally breed our ewe lambs the fall that they are born, but she had other ideas. She got bred through a fence) this spring. She did everything by herself and has been the best mother ever.
The "teen mom", Eskimo
With her baby
Personality-wise, there is a large range. I have super crazy, bounce off the walls if you get too close (the teen mom, actually) all the way to a Shetland that will crawl into your lap for attention (Teen Mom's half sister).
Freyja
Some are naturally more friendly, but most of them can be won over with some treats and chest scratches.
Shetlands do not have a strong flocking instinct which can make moving them around difficult. Training them to follow a bucket of grain is strongly advised!
Shetlands come in a variety of colors and patterns. If color genetics intrigue you, there is lots of fun to be had puzzling everything out.
For example - this ram lamb is black, but he carries moorit (brown) because of his sire and his fleece is going to turn grey. He is also spotted.
This one is fawn (a modified shade of moorit) with a pattern called "katmoget".
This one is musket (moorit with the greying gene) and spotted.
And this one is just cute!
Things to look for when buying Shetlands:
Horns - generally speaking, only the rams have horns, BUT there are some polled rams and horned ewes. When selecting a ram to buy or breed to, check his horns. You want them to be well away from his face, like this....
Not like this. This ram had to be put down because his horns were so close to his face that you could barely slip a halter between horn and head. The horns would have continued to thicken and cause problems.
That being said, if you love everything else about the ram, use him. Not every case of bad horns is genetic and sometimes you get spectacular horns from one with bad horns.
Tails - Shetlands are supposed to have short, fluke shaped tails with hair instead of wool. There is a little variation in length and wooliness and in most cases it's ok. The tail should not be longer than 6 inches.
There is so much more about Shetlands that I don't have time to go into right now, but feel free to ask more questions.
I have Icelandics, also one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep. They are bigger than Shetlands or Finns, but smaller than most of the 'modern' breeds. Icelandics are double-coated, with a short inner coat of soft wool, and a long outer coat of sturdier wool. It can be separated and spun for different uses, or kept together and spun up fluffy for things like sweaters or hats. It grows fast - over an inch a month - and is usually shorn twice a year (many mills can't process 16" long wool) and as purplequeenvt said, the fall clip is usually cleaner.norseofcourse-What kind of sheep do you have?