While my children wanted to see pigs and hold chicks, I was fascinated by the elusive herd of goat like soay sheep that lived in the woods at the edge of the park. Hint: flushing is no more complicated than making and then following a chart of ramped-up food for your soon-to-breed ewes. Because they are a small sheep they are … This equates to 15 sheep eating approx. Besides anecdotes on these little guys’ progress, you’ll find a post or two with data on averages, hopefully to ease your mind. But there are a few recurring issues that can and should be dealt with: bummer lambs, coccidia, eye crud. First-time mothersIn many ways they are our favorite ewes, not the least for their “oh my, what did I get myself into” looks and behavior. I’d get it done but it is more fun to be out with the lambs as they figure out how to eat hay and pasture grass. The eight subcategories under “Lambing” are displayed roughly in chronological order. They never seemed to … WeightWe used to think weight was a good indicator of health until Peanut and Tiny Tim came along. During the spring and early summer they grow a new horn increment and put on condition. The Soay sheep is an old breed of sheep that descended from feral sheep on the small island of Soay in the St. Kilda Achipelago. And no, I did not do that on purpose. Tasting Notes: Gamey, Clean, Lean Soay sheep. Sheep as God intended. The Soay always gave me plenty of warning prior to lambing – moping around, fidgeting, not eating – before launching into labour with lots of strenuous heaving and grunting. Ewes can be polled, scurred or horned and rams are either horned or scurred. The Soay sheep is a breed of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) descended from a population of feral sheep on the 100-hectare (250-acre) island of Soay in the St Kilda Archipelago, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) from the Western Isles of Scotland. Here are our first eight heritage sheep — four sets of twins — captured by another worthy visiting photographer. The lives of sheep are dictated by the seasons. Taking temperatureA lamb’s temperature is an important indicator of its health and there are benchmarks for what range you should see, with overlap on how to deal with low body temperatures in lambs. Their name comes from the island of Soay off the coast of Scotland. Soay sheep have a much longer history. Soay sheep come from the remote islands of Soay and Hirta, sixty miles off the northwest … The Soay is a small (45 to 90 pound), hardy domestic sheep. Breeding During a breeder’s chosen 7-to-9 week span within October, November and December. In our 14 years of Soay shepherding we often have been lucky to have really really good photographers on-site to help record the irresistible new lambs. Tails are not docked. TwinsPairs of lambs provide a surprising number of blog-worthy topics, from flushing to bummer lambs to wandering first-out lambs, nosy aunts, you name it. Baby eartagsThese slick little identification mechanisms are mentioned in lots of posts; here you will find the why and how to use them. Most or all of these […] Soay sheep and lambs in and around Village Bay The records show that the islanders kept a different breed of domestic sheep. Soay sheep are small and easy to deal with. Our sheep are bred in the tranquil and unspoilt Peak National Park which ensures a perfect temperament. For those who don’t like “fatty lamb” soay meat is a good option. Feed stores sell sheep … They're one of the oldest She known breed of sheep in the world, and one of the smallest. Soay sheep eat 2-5% of their body weight in hay per day. At maturity, ewes generally weigh 50 – 60 pounds and no great strength is required to handle or work them. Problems Encompasses birth through weaning. This year is no exception. Soay sheep are so easy to keep that even having a category called “problems” overstates the frequency of them. They are the oldest European sheep, and predate the division of Wool and Hair Sheep. Naming lambsLast but by no means lowest in priority at lambing time, choosing a yearly theme, selecting which names in that theme to use, and in what order, is great fun and if you can bring yourself to be orderly about it, the naming theme can help you keep track of your flock. With Dalton’s wonderful little tags no longer available, options are limited. Soay ewes produce a single lamb, twins or triplets. Just as lambing is at the heart of what raising Soay sheep is all about, so is the LAMBING category the heart of my blog. I continue to agonize about what to call this collection of posts. The Soay sheep pedigree is a starting point for studies of the mating system and variation in breeding success, the genetic basis of trait variation and understanding microevolution in the population. What to expect, both visually and behaviorwise, from your pregnant ewes and, more important, what they should expect from you before lambing. The Soay sheep is a small (45 to 90 pound), hardy domestic sheep. For much of the year, males live in bachelor groups occupying particular home ranges and feeding hard. Over the many years we have honed the genetics of our flocks to provide some of the widest diversity of sheep to be seen in Soay and Boreray flocks anywhere. […], Nothing we do to keep our sheep healthy is as basic and simple as putting iodine on every newborn Soay lamb’s navel. umbrella category for everything about lambing (at least that I can think of), It’s been five years since I agonized over, and then wrote about, the nail-biting wait each spring to see whether our pregnant ewes offer up an acceptable percentage of ewe lambs. This year is no exception. Gestation time for a ewe is approximately 147 days. Soay are seasonal breeders, generally breeding in the Fall and lambing five months later, in the Spring. With a huge pat on my own back, here’s where you can find a very helpful, unedited and uncensored video of Steve working a lamb. It’s the umbrella category for everything about lambing that I can think of and have time to write about. Just when the poor newborn is staggering around trying to figure out where on earth that udder and nipple are that it so urgently needs to find, the lamb’s moist umbilical is dragging […], Will the search never end? Unlike modern white […] Although the joints are small, Soay meat is unlike any other breed, being soay & boreray. This is also where you can learn how to make, and why to use, lambing cards, one of my favorite “tools.”, The joys of keeping small sheep in southern Oregon. They will guide you to the posts and also serve as a handy reminder of the order of things in the lambing cycle, something like this: Flushing Mostly a September activity, flushing is a process used for centuries by shepherds wanting a higher yield (i.e., more twins). Fortunately, there are solutions for these … Sheep of the day - The SOAY The Soay is a primitive rare breed isolated on the island of Soay off the west coast of Scotland - where they have been left to fend for themselves. Introducing Soay Sheep. No one is certain of its origins, however, it is thought to be the remnant of a prehistoric semi-domestic sheep brought to Britain prior to However, understanding the lambing process can help you understand when a ewe is ready to give birth and when it may be necessary to lend a helping hand. It is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep breeds. Thousands of years ago, Neolithic man settled the isolated four-island archipelago we now call St. Kilda, located 41 miles off the west coast of Scotland. The meat from the Soay sheep is considered lean, tender and low in cholesterol. Most posts about lambing also include something about supplies pertinent to the topic. By now even the charts in the old post are unreadable, for which I apologize. Ewes can be polled, scurred or horned and rams are either horned or scurred. Gestation The five months spanning roughly November through March. These sheep descend directly from the Miller and Dambacher herd and included a ewe, a lamb-wether, an enact ram and an adult wether. They were a common livestock during the Bronze Age, but became less favored when the economies demanded larger carcasses and fleeces. Lambs are born all shades of brown, from light to dark, even black but this is no guarantee they will grow up to be the same colour. Birth About 148 days after conception, usually in within March, April and May or thereabouts, chock full of posts — hence the need for a few sub-categories (below) to keep track of all of it — not in any particular order since most birthing issues either manifest themselves immediately, or they pop up a few days later and in any event are unpredictable. Soay meat is lean, very tender and has a good flavour. Sometimes it seems lambs will never get here, but when they finally do they remind us why we keep these wonderful little creatures. Easy to keep, pleasing to look at & unbelievably tasty & low in fat. Soay require reliable fencing, shelter from rain, adequate shade, and a safe-for-sheep (no copper) mineral supplement. But there are a few recurring issues that can and should be dealt with: bummer lambs, coccidia, eye crud. The ewes weigh 50-to-60-pounds, rams 65-to-75-pounds, and newborn lambs are the size of a bag of sugar. Soay Lamb Coat Colours One of the most intriguing aspects of Soay is the variety of colours of the lambs and how those colours change as the sheep mature . One of these days I will take the time to finish a post about “stink-eye,” and that’s not a disease; it’s a behavior. In 2014, we were fortunate to make contact with the wonderful Judy Lathrop of Geneva Wynn Farm in Accokeek, Maryland who was kind enough to provide AGCS with Soay breeding stock during a flock reduction. Breeding for Conservation The history of Soay Sheep is where to begin learning more about the small, primitive sheep. As a matter of fact, it is not necessary to handle Soay sheep much at all. Even the rams, which can get to be 70 to 80 pounds, are manageable by one person. Soay means “sheep island” in Norse which suggests that there have been sheep on the island since at least the time of the Vikings. Here are our first eight heritage sheep — four sets of twins — captured by another worthy visiting photographer. In the mid- nineteenth century the Hebridean blackface was introduced. Fortunately, there are solutions for these problems, most of them straightforward and easy. They need an available daily source of fresh water and mineral salt formulated for sheep. Flushing is 100% optional. Most or all of these […], Before Soay lambing starts in earnest around the country, I thought you might get a kick out of some of the naming pairs our ordinarily serious and conservation-minded colleagues have chosen for their twins. They are descendants of a feral population of primitive sheep living for at least hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years in complete isolation on the island of Soay in the St. Kilda archipelago located off the northwestern coast of Scotland in the North Atlantic Ocean, some 4581 miles from here. Even the round white adult USDA tags […], The joys of keeping small sheep in southern Oregon, The case for all-wether Soay sheep flocks, 2017 Soay lambs at Saltmarsh Ranch: the first wave, Iodine applicators for small heritage sheep: a DIY solution, Yet another update on ear tags small enough for Soay lambs, Our ranch website – contact me and send comments here. I would like to breed from my sheep, when is the best time of year to breed? Lambs intended for meat take longer to mature than modern commercial breeds of sheep, but the meat is very tasty as is the case with most ancient breeds. Providing good quality hay and augmenting forage with alfalfa or commercial sheep ration during late pregnancy and lactation will keep ewes in good condition and help lambs to thrive. 351 likes. Its origins are in the wilds of western Scotland and its most important characteristic is its variety – variety in size, shape, wool and temperament. Rather than trying to figure out how the 2020 […], Over a decade ago I posted about the pros and cons of castrating some of your Soay rams: in a nutshell, no worries about accidental breeding, more mellow fellows in the fields, more flexibility in butchering, and having a companion for non-breeding rams left behind or injured rams or ewes, versus losing the statuesque horns […], In our 14 years of Soay shepherding we often have been lucky to have really really good photographers on-site to help record the irresistible new lambs. The Soay are small framed, good legs and a fleece varying from light to dark brown and sheds naturally in the summer. Here I’ve put whatever posts focus on a specific piece of equipment or specific medication, etc. Lambing would usually take place in April/May (Soay), March/April (Boreray), although my earliest lamb arrived on 23rd February. The only time we really handle the Soays is when we are worming them or gathering them to take to slaughter. The Soay (Ovis aries) is a small Scottish wool sheep which is often grouped with the northern short-tailed breeds but it is in fact more primitive. As I’ve said repeatedly on this blog, it is nearly impossible to find ear tags small enough and light enough to work in a lamb’s ear as small as heritage Soay sheep. Soays are a delightful little sheep to own, although not a breed for the faint-hearted! “Working” lambsA priority category with lots of posts (and links to the main website) about how we tag, weigh, vaccinate, and otherwise deal with our newborn lambs. Infancy Defined here as weeks 1-6, so far includes posts about castration and playtime. Lambing supplies New year’s resolutions always include an earnestly-expressed plan to inventory and restock during winter downtime, well before lambing starts. Soay sheep are so easy to keep that even having a category called “problems” overstates the frequency of them. Soay Sheep are a very rare, very hardy, landrace sheep. Soay and Boreray naturally lamb later than most of the commercial breeds. 145 Day Sheep Gestation Table and Lambing Calculator, Information by Treasure Valley Sheep Producers Our relationship with the Soay breed of sheep started with a visit to a kid's wildlife park. JuggingThe ritual of maneuvering newborns and their mothers into a quiet, private place, straightforward once you get the hang of it, and of course no self-respecting blogger could omit at least a couple of posts about the very best category name. These animals were a cross between the Scottish Tan Face and the Scottish Blackface. In 1932 this island was evacuated and, in 1932, 107 Soay sheep (20 rams, 44 ewes, 22 ram lambs and 21 ewe lambs) were brought from the island of Soay and released. They are a small short tailed breed of sheep that naturally shed their wool coat in the spring months. It’s all well and good to use place names, flower names, national park names, girl scientist names, and similarly earnest themes. Soay fleece has a short staple and some hairs as well as wool. The lambing process has evolved over thousands of years and most ewes will lamb normally without any trouble or need for assistance. Gestation and lambing It is a long five months between breeding season and lambing (Soay gestation is about14 8 days give or take a couple of days). 1.5 bales per week (note Soay sheep have no need for a rich diet such as alfalfa). The fleece is normally 'roo'ed', or peeled from the sheep, and this leaves the hairs behind to fall out later, while the soft wool can then be spun without pricky bits. It has a strong flavour with a gamey taste in comparison to more common sheep breeds. This category will include links to more extensive treatment of conservation breeding on our farm website. But some of them don’t quite “get it” so they warrant extra attention. Adverts will be displayed in chronological order (most recent first) for no less than one month and will then be removed after three months, unless … BreechAn almost unheard of problem in Soay sheep, but we had one and I wrote about it in hopes it will help other breeders who might encounter a breech birth. Flushing posts focus on philosophy and techniques. They tend to look like miniature Bighorn Sheep. Soay sheep munch on weeds as well as grasses. 1) The Soay sheep pedigree Not only do we know every sheep in the study population, but we also know who their relatives are. AdolescenceRoughly weeks 7-12, a place for posts about weaning once I take time to write about it. Its origins are in the wilds of western Scotland and its most important characteristic is its variety - variety in size, shape, wool and temperament. Origins. Soay and Boreray Sheep Society members can advertise free of charge on this site as part of their £12 annual membership fee. Soays are probably the most primitive sheep in the world. The main focus during the first two weeks is, after all, marveling at your adorable lambs and showing them off to whoever you can persuade to stop and admire your growing flock.
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