There is much controversy among North American breeders about Shetlands,
mostly surrounding their wool. Shetland, being a "successful"
endangered breed, suffers the usual issues of such
critters--indiscriminant breeding to bring numbers up, then a collapse
of the market and selling for $50 to anyone who will take it--and you
won't believe this, but I just got a call, as I was typing this, from
someone who wants to give away 4 Shetlands because she's tired of having
sheep.
The trouble with Shetlands is the split personality among the possible
conservation approaches. One approach is to breed for commercially
viable sheep (meaning commodity marketing)--that seems to be the
approach taken in the UK dating back to about 1920, and tends to result
in what some of us call the "Big White Sheep" or BWS for short. The
breed society that formed in the Shetland Islands then focused on saving
the breed by making it viable as a branded item--white sheep mostly,
with a few black or brown sheep with NO white fibers, so many natural
colors and patterns were selected against and nearly bred out of
existence. The wool type had to be processable by commercial yarn
mills, which limited the type as well as color. Many people believe in
this goal today, though I think most don't seem to understand the origin
of the goal, and how incompatible, at least in the US, it is with
today's marketing realities.
The other approach, which doesn't eliminate the BWS approach but
complements it, IMO, is to allow the natural variability of Shetlands
shine out. We love all the natural colors they exhibit--why can we not
also enjoy the natural variability of wool type? We started with 6
foundation ewes, cast-off from one of those hobby flocks that started
with ewes from an early, established NA breeder. With the addition of a
total of 4 rams from various flocks, we have had 5 colors and 4 or 5
wool types, all in a compact, hardy little sheep that rarely gives us
any problems of any kind. Niche marketing is ideal for Shetlands'
variability, and nets all the sale dollar, not just a fraction of it
like commodity marketing. But, OTOH, the shepherd does have to put some
work into marketing; she can't push it off onto a marketing board. Same
sheep, different marketing styles--why should there be a problem with this?
Of course, when buying Shetland wool (or sheep, for that matter), this
means the buyer *and* seller should be educated, know what they're
looking at, and be able to make an informed decision. Not all Shetland
is super soft (and, let's remember, "soft" is a VERY relative term--soft
compared to traditional British breeds--well it didn't have to be all
that soft, certainly not like modern Merino :) but every Shetland wool
type has a range of suitable end uses, just like any other breed.
And let's remember, too, that EVERY breed has some variability. Look at
the differences between traditional Romney wool, long, wavy, and
somewhat coarse, and Romney wool today that's been selected for crimpier
and softer wool. Shetland varies a little more than that, but that's to
be expected when it wasn't commercialized until less than 100 years ago.
Shetlands are really the ideal homestead sheep--exactly as they were on
the Islands before commercialization. Hardy, easy lambers, good
mothers, thrifty--provided, of course, that the shepherds are willing to
cull rather than pamper. As a bonus, wonderful colors and textures, and
some very tasty lamb roasts :)
Holly
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