Background Bloodlines Characteristics Classification Life Stages Terminology Care See the Herd

The Soay Sheep is a primitive, ancient breed of sheep.  Some consider the Soay  to be among the first 'breed' of sheep to have been domesticated, with other modern sheep descending from them.  Sheep domestication is thought to have begun  around 11,000 years ago, amazingly enough.   Soay Sheep were re-discovered on the island of Soay in the St. Kilda islands.    They were in a  little time capsule, left on their own for thousands of years.   How the Soay sheep came to be on the Islands appears to be somewhat a mystery.   Maybe as some sort of self sustaining meat cache by early Viking sea farers. For whatever reason, these sheep ended up surviving, unprotected and isolated,  in a harsh and unforgiving environment.    Living alone and feral, natural selection at it's best (or worst) forced Soay Sheep to be a hardy and self sufficient breed; a Landrace.   Scientists still  continue to study this amazing sheep on their native islands.

Exhibiting typical primitive markings, a mouflon color ewe, Sound Soays Cachia.   Photo by J. Rachau

Obviously the Soay sheep had been started down the road to domestication before being abandoned to their own devices on a tiny island in the Northern Atlantic Ocean.  They had wool by that time (wild sheep have hair).    But their coat cycle was still primitive enough to allow them to shed naturally each spring/summer.    It's interesting how as more  domesticated a species becomes, how more interdependent they are of man for their survival.    Hat's off to the tiny Soay Sheep, that made it against all odds on their own.

Conservation efforts have benefited the Soay Sheep, though specific bloodlines might be in danger of being lost.   The Rare Breeds Canada conservation list notes Soay Sheep as critical.   The Rare Breeds Survival Trust in the UK list Soay Sheep as at risk.    Soay sheep were first imported into North America  about 1970 with a second importation in 1990.  Both came by way of Canada from Britain.   Interesting enough, the 1970's groups spent many years as a zoo exhibit in Canada before being dispersed to the United States.

 

 The horn section of Ram Soay Sheep gallery.  Photo by J. Rachau

Bloodlines of Soay:  When gene pools are  small, it is important to maintain various strains within the breed for out crossing between bloodlines to maintain diversity, integrity and vigor of the breed as a whole.   See the American Livestock Breed Conservancy  "Conservation Breeding Handbook";  and by Carol J. Elkins "Making new Bloodlines"

The  original American Soay Sheep Blood Lines:  

• Driscoll - white markings, medium fleece with polled or scurred ewes

• Lewis - of good size, coarse fleeced, ewes are scurred or horned, rams have wide horns

• MacRae -  fine to medium fleece, light to dark mouflon, ewes are polled, scurred or horned.  Rams generally have wider horns

• Phalen  - soft, fine fleece, ewes are polled or scurred, good rams horns

• Westwood  - medium to dark mouflon, fine fleece, ewes are horned and they carry black genetics

• Johnson - various fleece types, ewes primarily horned but some scurred

The British Soay Sheep Blood Lines from the 2000 USA importation:  
Aphrodite, Basil and Quantum

Breed characteristics: Size:  Quite small , 50 - 85lbs Naturally short tails Soay sheep are included in the group of Northern European short tailed sheep.  They have naturally short tails that do not require  docking, as modern sheep often do for hygienic purposes. Meat carcass -  normally produces small, lean, healthy meat of good flavor. Self shedding wool.   Most Soay Sheep naturally shed their wool in the summer.  Some bloodlines will skip a season, depending upon their given age and situation.  If your sheep are too wooly and hot, by all means, clip them, though normally it's not required.  Wool texture varies depending upon bloodline and individual sheep , ranging from fine to coarse.

Ewe's having a bad hair day Margo?    Soay Sheep self shed their wool, but no one said it had to be a graceful process!   Photo by J. Rachau

• Colors: Soay sheep  are primitively marked like the wild sheep they appear to be descended from.  This  color is referred in the Soay Sheep breed as "mouflon" or wild coloration.  This is normally a medium to dark brown body color with a light belly and rump, often with various lighter markings on the face, jaw and legs.  Most wild animals show these light and dark patterns on their bodies which break up their outlines and make them harder for predators to focus on.  There are also solid colored black and brown phases (called self, meaning no light markings) as well as white marked or white spotted that shows up occasionally.

"Barkeep!  Another round for me and my buds please!" 
Soay lambs investigate an old tub.  Photo by J. Rachau

• Lambing problems are uncommon, with  the ewes normally being excellent mothers of vigorous and quick starting young.   Single and twin births are common, triplets are rare.
  

• Horns (or lack of):  Both the ram and the ewe may have horns (only two each though).  Rams normally are horned and rarely scurred.  Ewes naturally may have either:  horns, scurs or be born polled.   This horn diversity is manifested in the  original feral population on St. Kilda.  According to "Soay Sheep, Dynamics and selection in an island population"  the feral population of Soay Sheep naturally have rams with 85% with normal spiral horns, and 15% of rams have small or misshapen horns (scurred).  Ewes may also have horns, though smaller than the ram's horns.  30% of ewes are polled and 35% are scurred.   It appears that in the Soay sheep population that has been removed from St. Kilda and bred by man, that the normal horn genetics diversity is being lost.   This could a red flag, that human selection could be overriding natural evolution of 4 to 5 thousand years!   This genetic diversity may be what helped the small island population survive inbreeding for millennia and retain it's health and vigor.

Classification: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum:  Chordata  Class:  Mammalia  Order:   Ungulata Family:   Bovidae Subfamily: Caprinae Genus:  Ovis Species:  Aries

Scurred mahogany ewe, Happy Valley Maddie, Westwood line breeding.   Photo by J. Rachau

Life Stages:

• Gestation:  average 147 to 150 days (approximately five months).

• Weaned:  approximately 3 to 4 months.

• Sexually mature:   some rams as early as 3 to 4 months, and ewe lambs  5-7 months.

• Rut:   Rams begin rut just prior to the ewes heat cycles that begin in the fall,  as the weather starts cooling.  Higher testosterone levels encourage dominance displays and head butting bouts for breeding rights.

• Heat cycles:  Ewes are seasonal short-day length breeders in temperate climates.  Once commenced in the fall, heat cycles are every 17-24 days for  24-36 hours duration. 

• Physically mature:  approximately  4 years when they have all their adult teeth.

• Life Span:  Approximately  10 - 12 years more or less, depending upon genetics and care.  Some sheep have been reported to live as long as 20 years.

 Terminology:

• Bag - see udder

• Bloat - sudden dangerous swelling of the rumen, the first stomach in the sheep

• Breeding Methods:

  • In Breeding:   The mating of very close related animals, i.e., father to daughter, half-brother to half-sister, brother to sister, mother to son, etc.  Inbreeding quickly intensifies characteristics, but may also bring out genetic faults, so discretion must be used.
    

  • Line Breeding:   The mating of animals that have common ancestors or to a slightly removed relative, i.e., granddaughter to grandsire, uncle to niece, etc.  It is a looser. slower form of In Breeding.  The benefit of line-breeding is generally to obtain consistent uniformity of offspring with less concentration of faults or weaknesses.  Line breeding is a useful tool when managing small genetic populations. to See Out Crossing.
    

  • Out Crossing:   The mating of two animals that are line bred; but of two separate distinct lines within the same breed.  It is used to bring certain traits from one line to another or to increase genetic diversity in a line.  Out crossing every third or fourth generation will generally keep Line bred blood lines healthy.

Anika at 3 1/2 months, with her dam, Uma.   Photo by J. Rachau

Crimp - a wool fiber's waviness Dehorned - animal had horns but they were removed, either surgically or chemically Dock - remove or shorten the tail of an animal for hygienic reasons Ewe - a mature female sheep.  Ewe Lamb - a young female sheep under one year of age. Felt - a fabric made of matted wool Fiber - wool strands

 

• Fleece - the wool from one sheep.

• Flock - a group of sheep

• Fly strike -  flies lay eggs on a sheep, resulting in flesh eating maggots

• Hand Spinner - someone who spins wool by hand.

• Horned - animal was born with horns

• Lamb - sheep under one year of age, meat term for young market animals

• Lambing - ewe giving birth

• Mobs - large groups of sheep

• Mutton - term for meat of mature sheep over one year of age

• Polled - animal was born without horns

• Ram - a mature intact male sheep

• Ram Lamb - an intact male sheep under one year of age

• Rooing - self shedding wool, plucking wool from naturally seasonal shedding sheep.

• Sheep  - term generally used for animals over one year of age.

• Scurs - naturally occurring horns that are small, misshapen.  Not a fault in Soay Sheep

• Tupping - breeding season

• Udder - milk producing mammaries between the hind legs of ewes.  They normally have only two teats

• Wean - a lamb discontinues nursing from its dam, either by separation (recommended for ram lambs before they become sexually mature) or the ewe discontinues nursing the lamb(s) on her own

• Wether - a castrated male sheep

• Wild Flock - a breeding herd that is managed close to nature's parameters, allowing the ewes and rams to run together and select their own mates.  Individual pedigrees cannot be tracked, however.

• Yearling: an animal over 1 year, but less than two years of age.

Ailmaer loves his mummy, Persephone, a scurred ewe. Photo by J. Rachau

Vital Signs (adult): Temperature:  102 - 103 degrees Fahrenheit Respiration:  12 20 breaths per minute Pulse:  60 - 90 beats per minute

 Digestion of food:  Sheep are ruminants that have four-chambered stomachs. The first chamber is the large rumen. The next two are the reticulum and the omasum.  The last chamber is the abomasum, which corresponds to the stomach of other mammals.

Ruminants evolved bolting large quantities of forage quickly  and then going some place safe to chew it again more thoroughly.   The meal is stored in large quantities in the rumen, where it softens. This material is then regurgitated and is now called cud.  The ruminant chews the cud again and again which helps break down the difficult to digest plant cellulose. The action of regurgitation and chewing of the cud is called rumination. The re-chewed cud is swallowed again and is directed to the other chambers of the stomach to continue digesting.   

 Care basics:

• Water:  Clean unfrozen water available 24/7

• Pasture/Hay:  Allow to graze in pasture with rotation of fields being ideal.  Feed hay free choice (appropriate feeders are necessary to reduce waste) when natural resources are low in dry or winter months

• Minerals:  Salt/mineral mix  formulated for sheep that has adequate selenium if residing in a deficient area.  Stay away from copper

• Shelter:   Availability 24/7 to provide shade, avoid insects, windbreak or protection from weather year round

• Fencing:  Keep sheep in and predators out.  Four foot high mesh with a top and bottom hot wire is often ideal.

• Rams:  In nature, other than breeding season, the rams and ewes stay in segregated flocks.  The boys stay together, they like it that way - posturing and butting heads.  They stay in their sports bar paddock telling bad jokes and comparing horns.  Size does matter.    Keep a couple of rams for breeding or at least a ram and a wether as a companion.  Sheep don't like to be alone.  Don't hand feed or make a pet out of a ram for safety sake.  Your ram needs to have healthy respect for humans.  Bottle rams normally are not good breeding prospects.

• Ewes:  The girls appreciate peace and tranquility.  Which doesn't include being chased and teased by rams year round.   I think they are very happy to see the boys go bye-bye at the end of breeding season.

• Lambs:  Ram lambs should be weaned and separated from their dams by 3 months.  You don't want them breeding back their own mothers or the other ewe flock.  I keep ram lambs separated until they are big enough to not be injured by the mature rams, usually putting them together the following spring.   I leave the ewe lambs with their dams and let the mom's wean them themselves usually done by the end of 4 months.

• Hoof trimming:  Frequency depends upon rate of hoof growth and terrain/wear

• Vaccinations:  Done annually - check with your local veterinarian for his recommendation for your location and situation

• Worming:    Normally a couple times a year. Check with your veterinarian for his recommendation for your location and animal situation

• Scrapie testing programs are required in the United States, check with the USDA for further information

 

Two blonds and a brunette L to R; Molly (blonde), Cachia (mouflon) and
Manfield (blonde).  Photo by J. Rachau

Support the registries.  Registries are more than just accumulations of bloodlines and papers.  They police the breed standard, do testing, maintain records and statistics, keep people informed and educate the public, which in turn helps you market your animals.  Registration assists everyone!  Currently there is no registry that American Soay owners can agree upon.  Most use the Open Flockbook Project which allows pedigrees to be recorded and viewed:

Open Flockbook Project
Steven and Priscilla Weaver
PO Box 900
Jacksonville, OR 97530
Phone: 541-899-1672
http://www.openflockbook.com/