After you have purchased a set of clippers, now you are ready to get started shearing your own sheep! The nose and tongue are black. These sheep are slow maturing and are not inclined to carry excess condition; mature adults, even on good keep, rarely have a body condition score greater than 3. These sheep are relatively small and fine boned, with black or dark brown wool. The light gray, gray and black sheep each have a 5% chance of spawning. Both ewes and rams have horns - ram lambs are born with horns. In polled, scurred or multi-horned animals, the upper eyelid is sometimes notched or even split. A workday starts at 7:30 am and the day is divided into four “runs” of two hours each. In 2-horned rams, the horns sweep upwards from the head before spiralling backwards and outwards; more than 1 1/4 spirals is rare. Shearing keeps sheep cool in the warmer months and reduces the risk of parasitic infestation and disease. See what the Society does to promote Hebridean sheep, Find out about this wonderful native breed, © 2010-2021 | The Hebridean Sheep Society | All Rights Reserved, Get in touch with the Hebridean Sheep Society. 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. Hebridean Sheep. For starters, sheep don’t need to be sheared. There are many benefits in purchasing sheep at one of the official sales, especially for those new to the breed: Because sheep are auctioned, you are guaranteed to pay the fair market price. Pedigree and cross-bred flocks producing high quality meat. It might be worth PM'ing Morris, he's a shearer and just joined TAS, he might come your way?? Machines with slotted screws for the comb are less frustrating than those with internal hex drives which get clogged & strip. The annual shearing most often occurs in a shearing shed, a facility especially designed to … Without human interference, sheep would produce just enough wool to protect themselves from temperature extremes. Last but not least, you need to shear the back and right side of your sheep. How do you set those combs and cutters? Then shear along the right side of it’s head, neck and shoulders. Our own small flock of pedigree Hebridean sheep – on The Big Garden Croft, in Eriskay – produce a wool that is naturally dark brown. A sure sign of spring. The face and legs are largely free of wool and are covered with glossy black hair. Brown sheep have an uncommon 3% chance to spawn. The Birlinn Yarn Company is quite a long title for what is actually quite a small family run enterprise. A sheep’s coat can become so thick that it can cause the sheep to hold in too much heat. Probably get better life with sheep shearing than alpacas due to the lanolin in sheep wool and less sand/grit. The legs are slender and the feet are small, with hard, black horn. You need to swing your right leg around so you are standing upright with the sheep’s nose between your knees. The breed of Hebridean sheep is a small primitive type. By continuing to use our site, you are agreeing to use our cookies. Although an 'Ancient Breed', what follows is the breed description that was revised and adopted by the HSS Committee in August 2010. Some animals have tails which are well covered in wool, whereas others have the lower tail covered in coarse hair. In ewes the face is slightly dished; in rams the facial profile is straight but not 'Roman-nosed'. Obviously many of these physical characteristics are also affected by environmental factors. Their distinctive black fleece, which turns grey with age, marks them out in the landscape, and the younger wool of the lambs tends to bleach brown in the clean bright sunshine. The wool (called the fleece) of a sheep needs shearing at least once a year. Domesticated sheep need to be sheared because their wool coats grow so quickly and so thickly that they can cause problems for the sheep if they are not sheared off regularly. Hebridean sheep are an economic and attractive primitive breed.Their distinctive attributes mean that these small, hardy sheep are highly valued by a wide range of individuals including those involved in extensive sheep farming, smallholding and environmental …