Care of Shetland Sheep

Shetland Sheep

General Characteristics

Shetland Sheep are a small, calm docile easy-to-manage breed of sheep -- ideal for a small flock! Most respond well to attention and some even wag their tails when petted!

The Shetland is the smallest of the British breeds and it retains many of the characteristics of wild sheep. The Shetland's roots go back over a thousand years, probably to sheep brought to the Shetland Islands by Viking settlers. Today, they are considered a primitive or "unimproved" breed. This means that although they are small and relatively slow growing, they maintain natural hardiness, thriftiness, easy lambing, adaptability and longevity. Shetlands survived for centuries under harsh conditions and on a meager diet, although they do very well under less rigorous conditions. Having retained most of their primitive survival instincts, they are easier to care for than many of today's "improved" breeds. Shetland sheep are very hardy, good mothers, easy lambers and produce plenty of milk. Purebred Shetland meat is highly regarded on taste.

Rams usually weigh 90 to 125 pounds and ewes about 75 to 100 pounds. Rams usually have spiral horns, whereas the ewes are typically polled. They are fine-boned and agile, and their naturally short, fluke-shaped tails do not require docking.

General Care

Shetland Sheep have evolved over the centuries in less than hospitable conditions on the Shetland Islands in the North Sea, north of Scotland. As a result, they are hardier than most other breeds of sheep. This means that, for the most part, they do not need (and may not even take advantage of shelter if provided), assistance in lambing, daily grain to supplement their hay rations. They are also not susceptible to many of the diseases that other breeds are susceptible to.

Nutrition

My farm is carved out of a bit of woods and I have no pasture. I purchase hay year round. For my flock of 19 adult sheep and 11 lambs, I give them two bales of hay a day. I think this is overfeeding them, but since two ewes are in late gestation, and 8 others are lactating, I prefer to "waste" my money for the extra nutritional security. Although some Shetland breeders get good results with no grain at all, year round, again I prefer the extra security of offering about 1/2 pound of grain per ewe for the last 5 weeks of gestation and the first 8 weeks lactation. At 8 weeks, I wean the lambs by discontinuing grain for one day and removing the ewes from the "nursery" pen. I then continue feeding grain to the lambs until about 3 months of age, sometimes longer depending on their growth rate. After that, lambs and all the adult sheep will get only hay until the following period of late gestation.

Water and a sheep mineral mix should always be available. However, in the winter, Shetland are quite happy eating snow rather than drinking water. In some cases the sheep prefer snow and the shepherds rely on it. This past winter, the extreme snowfall has made all farm chores so difficult that I depended on their eating snow and have only periodically, weather permitting, offered fresh water. Their water consumption increases drastically during the last six weeks of gestation and by that time the weather has generally warmed up sufficiently to provide daily fresh water again.

Vaccinations/Worming/Hoof Trimming

I shear the all the sheep at least one month prior to lambing to facilitate a clean, complication-free delivery. At the same time I vaccinate them all with for CDT and rabies, and the ewes get a selenium/vitamin E supplement (BoSe). Shetland sheep are not susceptible to the same foot problems that other breeds are, and rarely have infected hooves. Hooves are trimmed twice a year, once at shearing time and again in the fall. Worming is recommended 4x a year alternating among two or three different worming medications (Panacur, Ivomec, etc.,) to avoid drug resistence. There is some controversy regarding worming and I have had no problems worming them only twice a year: at shearing time and again when trimming hooves in the fall.

Breeding

Shetland Sheep are seasonal breeders, and although exceptions (and unplanned pregnancies) occur, their sexual activity is triggered by decreased daylight. As a result they are generally sexually active only from October through May. I separate rams from ewes by mid to late September and only re-introduce them in breeding groups again in mid to late November. On my farm in southeastern New York State, breeding has generally occurred in December of each year, with lambs arriving approximately 150 days later in April/May of the following year.

Lambing

Shetland sheep rarely, if ever, need assistance in lambing. At shearing/ vaccination time, I again separate the rams from ewes, with the ewes remaining in the main paddock, and rams going to a side paddock. Lambs are generally born quickly and easily within an hour of the onset of labor. This can be encouraged by avoiding supplemental grain early in gestation to avoid excess early lamb growth. Shetlands are exceptional mothers and I've heard of few stories of problem deliveries. After the mother has licked her lamb(s) clean, they can both be easily brought into a "lambing pen" by picking up the lamb and carrying it low to the ground, in view of the mother, into the pen. (Some breeders put pregnant ewes into pens prior to lambing based on estimated or observed breeding dates.) I hold mothers and lambs in this lambing pen for at least 3 days until I know that the mother has accepted and is nursing the lamb. They are then released into a contiguous, common "nursery pen" until weaning. Lambs should be vaccinated for CDT and wormed for the first time at 8 weeks; for rabies not before 3 months.