Today, I'm going to briefly go over the characteristics of the Scottish Blackface sheep.
The SBF is a hardy breed with medium to coarse double coated, long to very long, straight to slightly wavy wool that is used for matteresses, carpets and tweeds. There are at least 4 strains of SBF, the Perth, Lanark, Galloway (Newton Stewart), and Lewis. They all differ in fleece and meat qualities. The Lanark is the largest and the Perth and Lanark have the heaviest and coarsest fleeces. The Lewis is the smallest and leanest and of more historical importance.
The history of the SBF is somewhat fuzzy, with the breed thought to have originated south of Scotland. The SBF started "taking over" the sheep industry a few hundred years ago, trading positions back and forth with the Cheviot over time as to which breed was the "in" breed, and finally coming out on top as the leading sheep of Scotland. The SBF is a fast growing breed and used to supply the demading meat market.
The above points are noteworthy because the establishment of this breed is responsible for the wiping out several of the indigenous Northern Short-tailed sheep around the Scottish Islands, most notably the Scottish Dun-face. (The Scottish Dun-face was a small, slow growing hardy breed of various colors and finer wool than the SBF. It is thought to be part of the foundation of the Shetland. It was wiped out completely by the SBF.) If it didn't wipe out a breed, it contributed to the mixing of blood in several of these NEST's. As the SBF was imported to various Islands around Scotland, including Shetland, the Blackface gradually replaced or was at least extensively crossed into the native flocks. As most of the native flocks had finer wool, this led to a decline in the quality of the wool in that area. But, it increased the size and growth rate of the animal, which was the intended goal.
In striving to understand the difference between the SBF and the Shetland, one must take into account more and more variables which can differentiate the two. One that may not have been looked into before is the wool growth. The growth of the wool, i.e. what time of year the wool grows the fastest, is one aspect that must be taken into consideration. This has been discovered of SBF wool: All three strains (of SBF, the Lanark, Galloway, Lewis) showed a considerable reduction in follicle output during the winter and spring months. (Doney) This means that the SBF wool doesn't grow very much in the winter.
It also means that much of the wool growth in SBF takes place in the summer and fall months.
For my Shetland flock, I've noticed that the most growth of wool DOES occur in the fall and winter months, usually at least half or 2/3rds of the growth occurs from Sept to March. This means that my Shetland flock looks as if it doesn't have much wool in the summer. This is the same that is seen on Shetland and in the UK photos. Lots of wool in late spring right before shearing and not much at all during the summer to early fall. Of course, not much growth occurs around the time of the break/rise which normally on Shetland would be March through June. This is what I see in my flock as well. It depends on if it is a ram or lamb or lactating ewe. Rams are earlier usually in late March/early April, lambs/yearlings sometimes don't have a break, and ewes vary.
So, my question to the rest of you is this: When do your sheep normally grow the most wool? Spring, summer, fall, winter? And what type of wool does your flock have, single coats or double coats?
References, pictures, history of the SBF:
Doney: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=A2222FE552983AE8B165E19DF5A73AB4.journals?fromPage=online&aid=7365596#
Nordin Farms: http://www.nordinfarms.com/wool.htm
SBF history: http://www.ramshornstudio.com/id145.htm
Wiki picture of Lewis SBF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sheep_on_the_isle_of_Lewis.jpg
Just for kicks, the Island of Lewis, located on the NW side of Scotland, has a yearly temperature range of 44-61 degrees day, and 35-50 degrees night with 54" of precipitation. A cool, moist climate, not cold at all. Scotland's temperature, of course, varies considerably, especially in the mountainous regions.
Shetland has a yearly temperature range from 41-57 degrees day, and 34-50 at night with 39.5" of precipitation. A cool, not as moist climate, slightly cooler than Lewis.
My shetland fleeces are pretty much grown out to where they will be for the winter. I really don't notice much growth on my shetland fleeces after September-October. My single coated shetlands have always been this way.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! My very first Shetland had such a long coat that I sheared her twice one year, but was not at all happy with her spring clip after shearing her in the fall. Me thinks she may have had some SBF genetics back there somewhere....
ReplyDeletemine seem to grow more wool in the fall/winter. That being said the Shetland lambs seem to grow a lot of wool their first summer. I sheared all the lambs who are going to market and even the super fine crimpy ones (those lambs were wethers and rams I didn't like the growth rate and or conformation on) have about 2 in. the longer ones range to about 4 in.
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