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Our Sheep
RareFindFarm
Committment to Excellence
Shetland sheep were most likely brought to the Shetland Isles over 1000 years ago by the Viking settlers. They belong to the European short tailed group. The Shetlands are the smallest of tlhe British breeds, and are considered an "unimproved breed". The rams weigh 90 - 125 pounds and the ewes are about 75 - 100 pounds. Rams have spiral horns and the ewes are usually polled, however polled rams and horned ewes do occur. They are fine boned and have a naturally fluke short tail, requiring no docking.
Shetland wool has a Bradford count in the upper 50's to lower 60's and a fiber diameter of 20 to 30 microns. Fleeces usually weigh 2 - 4 pounds. Our sheep generally shear off between 2 and 4 pounds and have a staple length of 3 to 5 inches. Shetlands come in the widest color variety of any breed. Besides white, their are several shades of wool including moorit (reddish/brown) shaela (silvery grey) fawn, greys ranging from very dark to almost white with black fibers, dark brown and black. There are 11 main colors and 30 markings, many still bearing their Shetland dialect names.
Shetlands can vary greatly in their fleece types. We are striving to produce very fine and very soft fleeces. Our average micron for our adult ewe flock is now 27.1 and that is total of 66 ewes. We don't send fleece samples in for testing on lambs as we don't think that value is indicative of what the adult fleece will be. Our fleeces are more of the single to intermediate type fleeces. Shetlands can be considered a dual purpose breed, most are kept for their wool and are shown as a wool breed classes at fairs and sheep competitions. Shetland meat is mild tasting and has been well received our our area by the Ethnic community. The wool can be a true double coat, meaning that the fleece can be separated into two components the soft undercoat and the longer harsher outercoat. In the double or dual coats the fiber still must be fine and have avery soft handle. There are also animals with a fleece that is more single coated and they may be finer and crimpier then the more primitive double coated animals.
Diva's twin ewes, both Champion ewes at NC State Fair 2010 Diva above
Some of our original flock 2003
