Northern European short-tailed sheep

Last updated October 17, 2024

The Northern European short-tailed sheep are a group of traditional sheep breeds or types found in Northern Europe, mainly in the British Isles, Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, and the area around the Baltic. They are thought to be derived from the first sheep brought to Europe by early farmers. They are hardy sheep, adapted to harsh environments, but they are small and have been replaced in most areas with later types of larger, long-tailed sheep.

Characteristics

These sheep are generally small and have characteristic short "fluke-shaped" tails, broad at the base and tapering to a hair-covered tip. Their tails typically have 13 vertebrae compared with over 20 for other sheep; in most types the individual tail vertebrae are also shorter than those of long-tailed sheep. Their faces and legs are free of wool. The horns vary between breeds and often within them: they may be horned in both sexes, horned only in the male or polled in both sexes. Some types (such as Manx Loaghtan and Hebridean) can have more than one pair of horns.

They may be patterned or solid-coloured (commonly white, black or moorit – brown), and white markings may also occur over other colouration. Some (such as Shetland and Icelandic) include a very wide range of colours and patterns. Some types moult naturally in spring, allowing their fleece to be rooed (plucked) rather than shorn. Twin births are frequent, with some (such as the Finnsheep, Romanov and Icelandic) often giving birth to litters of three, four or even more lambs. Breeding is usually strongly seasonal, with lambs being born in spring or early summer.

Most types are very hardy and agile, being well adapted to eating rough vegetation in wet and cool climates, and they often have a strong preference for browsing trees and shrubs rather than grazing shorter vegetation. The North Ronaldsay is adapted to living largely on seaweed.

History

The first sheep brought to Europe by the earliest farmers are thought to have been short-tailed sheep. Initially, in the Neolithic Age, these were small, double-coated, naturally moulting, brown sheep, of which the Soay sheep is believed to be a relict. By the Iron Age, these had been replaced throughout northern and western Europe by somewhat larger sheep, still short-tailed, but with a fleece of more uniform texture and variable in colour.

Sheep brought later from southern Europe were long-tailed, white-fleeced and larger. These displaced the short-tailed sheep in most areas, and by the early nineteenth century, short-tailed sheep remained only in remoter parts of the west and north, including Scandinavia, the area around the Baltic, Ireland, Cornwall, the Highlands of Scotland, and various islands. Long-tailed sheep then spread into most of these areas too, and by the early twentieth century short-tailed sheep were restricted to very remote islands and mountains.^[1]^[2]

From the mid-nineteenth century (and especially after the middle of the twentieth century), many of the surviving short-tailed breeds became recognised as worthy of preservation for curiosity, for cultural reasons, as ornamental animals, or for conservation of genetic diversity.

Breeds

While some have become extinct, more than thirty of these breeds survive. They include:^[3]^{: 1278–1280}

the Åland or Ålandsfår – From Åland, an archipelago forming part of Finland; originally brought from Gotland. Horned or not in both sexes, various colours including white and grey. Very rare.^[4]
the Boreray – Survivors of the sheep kept by the crofters of the St Kilda archipelago off the west coast of Scotland, now living only on the island of Boreray but formerly also kept on the larger island of Hirta. Horned in both sexes (formerly often two pairs of horns), usually creamy white with dark face and legs, but may also be dark all over. Descended from earlier short-tailed Hebridean sheep, crossed with Scottish Blackface.
the Castlemilk Moorit – From the Castlemilk estate in Dumfriesshire in Scotland. Horned in both sexes, moorit (reddish brown). Bred as ornamental parkland animals from Manx Loaghtan, Shetland and wild Mouflon.
the Dala Pälsfår – From Sweden, one of the Swedish Landrace group of breeds. Males mostly horned, females polled. Usually white. Very rare.^[4]
the Estonian Ruhnu – From the Estonian island of Ruhnu. Some males horned, white or cream with grey head; some individuals have one or two wattles beneath the head; tail short or medium-length.^[4]
the Faeroe Sheep or Føroyskur seyður – From the Faroe Islands ("Sheep Islands"). Similar to Icelandic sheep: usually horned in males, many different colours and patterns.^[5]^: 806^[4]^[6]
the Finnsheep – From Finland. Horned in males only, usually white in North America, other colours in Finland. Multiple births frequent (up to seven or even nine live lambs).
the Gestrike Sheep or Gestrikefår
the Gotland – From the island of Gotland, a Swedish island in the Baltic. Polled in both sexes, usually grey. Descended from the horned Gute sheep, also from Gotland.
the Greenland – From Greenland. Mostly horned, but may be polled in either sex. Descended mainly from Icelandic and Faroes sheep transported to Greenland in the early twentieth century.^[4]
the Grey of Kainuu Sheep or Kainuun harmaslammas
the Gute or Gutefår – From Gotland, one of the Swedish Landrace group of breeds. Horned in males, and often in females. Many colours and patterns.
the Hebridean or St Kilda – Derived from remnants of sheep of Scottish Dunface type from the Hebrides archipelago off the west coast (but not necessarily St Kilda itself). Established as an ornamental animal in northern England in the late nineteenth century, becoming extinct in the Hebrides. Horned in both sexes, often with two pairs of horns. Originally varied in colour, but nowadays always black, usually fading to brown in sunlight and often greying with age. May moult naturally.
the Heidschnucke – a group of three breeds from northern Germany. Includes:
- the German Grey Heath – Grey, horned in both sexes.
- the White Polled Heath – White, polled in both sexes.
- the White Horned Heath – White, horned in both sexes.
the Helsinge Sheep or Helsingefår
the Icelandic or Íslenska sauðkindin – From Iceland. Either horned or polled, many different colours and patterns. Multiple births common. Includes the Leader Sheep, a strain bred to lead flocks of other sheep to and from their pastures.
the Klövsjö Sheep or Klövsjöfår
the Manx Loaghtan – From the Isle of Man. Usually two pairs of horns in both sexes, but may have only one pair or as many as three pairs. Originally variable in colour, but now always mouse-brown (lugh dhoan in Manx).
the North Ronaldsay – From the island of North Ronaldsay in the Orkney archipelago off the north coast of Scotland. Horned in males and often in females, many different colours. For much of the year forage mainly on seaweed, outside a wall which surrounds the island just above the high tide mark.
the Norwegian Pelt Sheep or Norsk Pelssau
the Norwegian Spaelsau or Moderne Spælsau
the Old Norse Sheep or Gammelnorsk Sau, from the coastal districts of Norway. Small, horned in males and some females.^[7]
the Old Spael Sheep or Gammelnorsk Spælsau
the Ouessant, Mouton d'Ouessant, Ushant or Breton Dwarf – From the island of Ouessant off the coast of Brittany, France. Very small, usually black or dark brown, horned in males.
the Polish Heath or Wrzosówka – From north-eastern Poland. Horned in males, grey.^[5]^: 950
the Romanov or Romanovska Ovce – From the Volga Valley, northwest of Moscow in Russia. Either horned or not in both sexes. Born black, turning grey, often with white markings on head. Multiple births normal.
the Roslag or Roslagsfår – From Roslagen, Sweden, one of the Swedish Landrace group of breeds. Usually white, horned in the males.^[4]
the Russian Viena or Viena Ovce – From western Russia. Either horned or not in both sexes. Variable in colour, with various patterns of grey and white.^[4]
the Rya Sheep or Ryafår
the Shetland – from the Shetland archipelago, off the north coast of Scotland. Usually horned in males only, small. Many different colours and patterns. Very fine fleece, often moulting naturally.
the Skudde – From Prussia and the Baltic states. Large spiral horns in males; females may be polled, or may have scurs or small horns. Fleece white, brown, black or grey.^[5]^: 913
the Spaelsau – From Norway. Either polled or horned in both sexes. Most often white, but many other colours also occur.
the Soay – From an ancient feral population of sheep on the island of Soay in the St Kilda archipelago off the western coast of Scotland; now also found on the nearby island of Hirta. Horned in both sexes, very small, brown with white belly (the "mouflon" pattern) or sometimes all black, sometimes with white markings on head; moults naturally.
St Kilda – A name formerly used for sheep reputed to be from the remote Scottish archipelago of St Kilda, especially those with two pairs of horns. For types associated with St Kilda see Hebridean, Boreray and Soay.
the Svårdsjö Sheep or Svårdsjöfår
the Swedish Finewool or Svenskt Finullfår – has a soft, glossy, silky and fine fibrous wool. The sheep appears in the three colour variants: white, black or brown. The breed is characterized by good maternal ability, a high milk yield and high fertility.
the Värmlandsfår [ sv ] – From Värmland in Sweden, one of the Swedish Landrace group of breeds. Males and some females horned. Lambs born dark, but become grey, brown or white as adults; often has white markings on head.

Extinct breeds may include:

the Cladagh – From Ireland, now probably extinct. Survived longest in the Aran Islands and a few were still in existence in the early 1970s. Mostly polled, white-faced, mostly with white body but some of other colours.^[2]^[8]
the Kerry Mountain or Kerry (not to be confused with the long-tailed Kerry Hill from Wales) – From the south-west of Ireland, became extinct in the early twentieth century. Horned, both white and other colours.^[2]^[9]
the Lítla Dímun – Lived feral on the island of Lítla Dímun in the Faroe Islands, becoming extinct in the mid-nineteenth century. Similar to the Soay; perhaps derived from the earliest European sheep, very small, black, with horns in the male only. Now replaced on the island by Faroes sheep.
the Scottish Dunface or Old Scottish Short-wool. Formerly found all over the Scottish Highlands and Islands, and probably similar to sheep kept earlier throughout the British Isles. In some areas horned in males only, in others horned in both sexes, in which case often with more than one pair, brown face, coloured streaks in short, fine wool. The Shetland, North Ronaldsay, Hebridean and Boreray probably derive from it, and perhaps other types.

Related Research Articles

St Kilda is a remote archipelago situated 35 nautical miles west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom; three other islands were also used for grazing and seabird hunting. The islands are administratively a part of the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar local authority area.

The North Ronaldsay or Orkney is a breed of sheep from North Ronaldsay, the northernmost island of Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. It belongs to the Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds, and has evolved without much cross-breeding with modern breeds. It is a smaller sheep than most, with the rams (males) horned and ewes (females) mostly hornless. It was formerly kept primarily for wool, but now the two largest flocks are feral, one on North Ronaldsay and another on the Orkney island of Auskerry. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust lists the breed as a priority on its 2021–2022 watchlist, and they are in danger of extinction, with fewer than 600 registered breeding females in the United Kingdom.

The Manx Loaghtan is a rare breed of sheep native to the Isle of Man. It is sometimes spelled as Loaghtyn or Loghtan. The sheep have dark brown wool and usually four or occasionally six horns.

The Soay sheep is a breed of domestic sheep 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. It is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep breeds.

Soay is an uninhabited islet in the St Kilda archipelago, Scotland. The name is from Old Norse Sauðey, meaning "island of sheep". The island is part of the St Kilda World Heritage Site and home to a primitive breed of sheep. Excluding Rockall, it is the westernmost point of the United Kingdom.

The Jacob is a British breed of domestic sheep. It combines two characteristics unusual in sheep: it is piebald—dark-coloured with areas of white wool—and it is often polycerate or multi-horned. It most commonly has four horns. The origin of the breed is not known; broken-coloured polycerate sheep were present in England by the middle of the seventeenth century, and were widespread a century later. A breed society was formed in 1969, and a flock book was published from 1972.

The Hebridean is a breed of small black sheep from Scotland, similar to other members of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group, having a short, triangular tail. They often have two pairs of horns. They were often formerly known as "St Kilda" sheep, although unlike Soay and Boreray sheep they are probably not in fact from the St Kilda archipelago.

Polled livestock are livestock without horns in species which are normally horned. The term refers to both breeds and strains that are naturally polled through selective breeding and also to naturally horned animals that have been disbudded. Natural polling occurs in cattle, yaks, water buffalo, and goats, and in these animals it affects both sexes equally; in sheep, by contrast, both sexes may be horned, both polled, or only the females polled. The history of breeding polled livestock starts about 6000 years BC.

The Shetland is a small, wool-producing breed of sheep originating in the Shetland Isles, Scotland, but is now also kept in many other parts of the world. It is part of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group, and it is closely related to the extinct Scottish Dunface. Shetlands are classified as a landrace or "unimproved" breed. This breed is kept for its very fine wool, for meat, and for conservation grazing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shetland animal breeds</span> Animal breeds of the Shetland Islands of Scotland

The Shetland Islands of Scotland have long had their own distinct animal breeds, due to the remoteness of the archipelago. Below is a list of Shetland's domesticated animals.

The Castlemilk Moorit is a rare breed of domestic sheep originating in Dumfriesshire in Scotland.

The Boreray, also known as the Boreray Blackface or Hebridean Blackface, is a breed of sheep originating on the St Kilda archipelago off the west coast of Scotland and surviving as a feral animal on one of the islands, Boreray. The breed was once reared for meat and wool, but is now used mainly for conservation grazing. The Boreray is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flora and fauna of the Outer Hebrides</span> Plants and wildlife of Scottish island chain

The flora and fauna of the Outer Hebrides in northwest Scotland comprises a unique and diverse ecosystem. A long archipelago, set on the eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean, it attracts a wide variety of seabirds, and thanks to the Gulf Stream a climate more mild than might be expected at this latitude. Because it is on the Gulf Stream, it also occasionally gets exotic visitors.

The Heidschnucke is a group of three types of moorland sheep from northern Germany. Like a number of other types from Scandinavia and Great Britain, they are Northern European short-tailed sheep. The three breeds of Heidschnucke are:

Boreray is an uninhabited island in the St Kilda archipelago in the North Atlantic.

The Scottish Dunface, Old Scottish Short-wool, Scottish Whiteface or Scottish Tanface was a type of sheep from Scotland. It was one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group, and it was probably similar to the sheep kept throughout the British Isles in the Iron Age. By the mid-nineteenth century it had mostly been displaced by the Scottish Blackface and it became extinct on the mainland of Scotland in the late nineteenth century. However, several local types of Dunface survived on islands around Scotland, giving rise to or contributing to existing breeds including the Shetland, North Ronaldsay, Hebridean and Boreray.

An ornamental animal is an animal kept for display or curiosity, often in a park. A wide range of mammals, birds and fish have been kept as ornamental animals. Ornamental animals have often formed the basis of introduced populations, sometimes with negative ecological effects, but a history of being kept as ornamental animals has also preserved breeds, types and even species which have become rare or extinct elsewhere.

The Lítla Dímun sheep (Dímunarseyðurin) was a type of short-tailed sheep endemic to Lítla Dímun in the Faroe Islands. It became extinct in the mid-19th century.

Polycerates are animals with more than two horns.

References

↑ Ryder, M L (1964), The History of Sheep Breeds in Britain, Agricultural History Review, 12 (1), pp 1–12 Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine , 12 (2), pp 65–82
1 2 3 Ryder, M L, (1981), "A survey of European primitive breeds of sheep", Annales de Génétique et de Sélection Animale, 13 (4), pp 381–418.
↑ Ó. R. Dýrmundsson, R. Niżnikowski (2010). North European short-tailed breeds of sheep: a review. Animal4(8):1275-1282. doi:10.1017/S175173110999156X. (subscription required)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 North Shed: Origin and diversity of North European sheep breeds. North SheD. Archived 25 October 2018.
1 2 3 Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
↑ Amanda M. Thomson, Ian A. Simpson, Jennifer L. Brown (2005). Sustainable Rangeland Grazing in Norse Faroe. Human Ecology. 33 (5): 737–761. doi:10.1007%2Fs10745-005-7596-x.
↑ Gammelnorsk sau (in Norwegian). Norsk Institutt for Skog og Landskap. Archived 10 January 2016.
↑ Noddle, Barbara A.; Ryder, M.L. (1974). "Primitive sheep in the aran Islands". Journal of Archaeological Science. 1 (1): 109–112. Bibcode:1974JArSc...1..109N. doi:10.1016/0305-4403(74)90021-1. (quoted in Ryder, M L, (1981), "A survey of European primitive breeds of sheep", Ann. Génét. Sél. Anim., 13 (4), pp 381–418.).
↑ Malden, W J (1920). Sheep and Shepherding, London p 59

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[1] Ryder, M L (1964), The History of Sheep Breeds in Britain, Agricultural History Review, 12 (1), pp 1–12 Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine , 12 (2), pp 65–82

[Ryder1981-2] 1 2 3 Ryder, M L, (1981), "A survey of European primitive breeds of sheep", Annales de Génétique et de Sélection Animale, 13 (4), pp 381–418.

[animal-3] Ó. R. Dýrmundsson, R. Niżnikowski (2010). North European short-tailed breeds of sheep: a review. Animal4(8):1275-1282. doi:10.1017/S175173110999156X. (subscription required)

[northshed-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 North Shed: Origin and diversity of North European sheep breeds. North SheD. Archived 25 October 2018.

[cabi-5] 1 2 3 Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.

[he-6] Amanda M. Thomson, Ian A. Simpson, Jennifer L. Brown (2005). Sustainable Rangeland Grazing in Norse Faroe. Human Ecology. 33 (5): 737–761. doi:10.1007%2Fs10745-005-7596-x.

[skog-7] Gammelnorsk sau (in Norwegian). Norsk Institutt for Skog og Landskap. Archived 10 January 2016.

[8] Noddle, Barbara A.; Ryder, M.L. (1974). "Primitive sheep in the aran Islands". Journal of Archaeological Science. 1 (1): 109–112. Bibcode:1974JArSc...1..109N. doi:10.1016/0305-4403(74)90021-1. (quoted in Ryder, M L, (1981), "A survey of European primitive breeds of sheep", Ann. Génét. Sél. Anim., 13 (4), pp 381–418.).

[9] Malden, W J (1920). Sheep and Shepherding, London p 59

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