Gotland Sheep

Origins Of The Breed

The breed was first established on the Swedish island of Gotland by the Vikings with Karakul and Romanov sheep brought back from expeditions deep into Russia and crossed with the native landrace sheep. The Vikings were great seafarers as well as sheep farmers and took these animals on their extensive voyages to provide meat and skins along the route. Hence the spread of these Northern short-tailed sheep and the development into related breeds such as Goth sheep, Icelandic, Finnsheep, Shetland, North Ronaldsay and Manx. Primitive horned Gotland sheep still exist on the island of Gotland today. The Gotland Peltsheep (paelsfar) or modern Gotland has been developed in Sweden since the 1920's through controlled breeding and intensive selection, producing a true multipurpose long wool sheep, yielding good flavoured close-grained meat, furskins and soft silky lustrous fleece. In Britain they are refered to simply as Gotlands.

Introduction To Britain

The pelt characteristics particularly attracted W. Macdonald so that in 1972 he imported 110 Gotland into Scotland to produce furskins for his Antartex Sheepskin Co. Lars and Anna Rooth made another importation, when they moved from Sweden to Sussex in 1984, also for producing furskins.

Gotlands Find A Niche

As well as producing furskins and beautiful fleeces for spinning or felting, Gotlands are easy to lamb, prolific, milky and very motherly. Their lambs are active and fast growing form birth. These qualities, together with their hardy and adaptive nature, also make the Gotland half-bred ewe suitable for extensive/rough grazing commercial systems, as practiced, for example, on the Scottish Islands.

In Britain, the original importation and eventual dispersal of the MacDonald flock, plus the importation by Lars and Anna Rooth has led to the establishment of about 30 pure bred Gotland flocks throughout Britain, with a concentration in the South West.

Breed Description

Fine-boned and of medium size. Hornless black head sometimes with white markings and free from wool. Bold eyes, alert medium sized ears. Small neat muzzle with even jaw and teeth set squarely on the pad. Slender neck and shoulders set smoothly into a level back with generous length, good depth and reasonable breadth of body. Slender black legs well spaced and upright. Short hair tipped tail. Dense, long, lustrous grey fleece, occasionally black, white or brown. Clearly defined even curl and staple, soft to the touch. Calm and friendly disposition.

Characteristics

A bright, active and friendly sheep full of curiosity. Ewes generally weigh from 55 to 70kg. Rams are heavier weighing in at 75 to 85kg. Lambs are born with a lush black birth coat and are very active and quick to suckle. They make rapid summer growth: 30 to 50kg at 6 to 7 months old dependent on litter size. Gotlands are not normally an early lambing breed but have been known to lamb on New Years Eve! Most British flocks lamb in March or April.

Gotland are great sheep. They are friendly, inquisitive and attractive sheep that deserve a great future. This website is dedicated to achieving this future. It gives you information about the BRITISH GOTLAND SHEEP SOCIETY that exists to support and encourage Gotland sheep breeding in Britain.

Gotland Fleece

Today Modern Gotland sheep are prized for their lustrous curly fleece, which grows naturally in shades from a pale silver to a dark steel grey. The fine fleece, silver grey, lustrous and curly, is versatile and very warm. Spun yarn can be used to make soft, delicate garments or weatherproof outdoor wear. If dyed, very subtle modified shades are obtained. The fleece is also one of the few that is excellent for felt making.

Gotland Furskins

Curl, lustre and size make the Gotland furskin unique. Skin quality is at its best, with fleece showing true character and style, when the lambs are 6 to 7 months old and ideally ready for slaughter. Soft suede textured, factory-processed furskin with short, silky astrakhan-like curls is produced from the best 6 to 7 month old lambs. It is used to make luxurious Gotland sheepskin garments - waistcoats, jackets, hats and soft toys. Full and half-length fleece pelts from older sheep, factory or home produced, make decorative, practical and warm snuggle rugs, furnishing and floor rugs.

Gotland Meat

Lambs have a rapid growth rate and are capable of achieving at least 30 to 50 kg by 6 to 7 months old dependent on litter size. The meat is lean, tender, close textured and delicious, with a rich flavour. Left to run through the winter, as stores, the yearling hoggets of 45 kg or more give a higher yield of well-flavoured meat and also larger pelts.

Handling

Gotlands are easy to manage. Their docile, friendly, inquisitive nature makes them easy to handle in a small flock without a dog. They are larger and quieter than other more primitive or wilder Northern short-tailed breeds.

Hardiness

Although a hardy breed meeting the requirements of a "specially qualified flock" under the Hill Farm Allowance Scheme, Gotlands should not be regarded as true hill sheep as they need good quality herbage. They are winter housed in their native Sweden and respond well to winter housing in Britain and in the run up to lambing. This makes a good opportunity for winter shearing.

Feeding

To realize their full potential, Gotlands need good quality varied grazing and browsing if available. In the run up to lambing they will need trough feeding, especially those bearing twins and triplets. To finish lambs for slaughter by November (particularly triplets) they will require a small amount of ideally coarse mix concentrate feeding from September onwards.

Breeding

Gotlands reach peak fertility in late October and this is maintained for about three cycles of 15-19 days. If not bred, ewes may continue to cycle until late spring. Healthy well-grown ewe lambs become fertile, mate and lamb successfully in their first year.

Lambing

Gotlands lamb easily and complications are uncommon, The black lambs are exceptionally quick to rise and suckle and the ewes are most attentive and maternal. They often have triplets and although fit, healthy ewes can successfully raise all three. It is prudent to bottle feed one if a foster mother is not available.

Foot Care

As with all sheep, Gotlands need regular foot care. On some soils there is a tendency towards soft peeling feet. Zinc mineral blocks can effectively control this, or in some flocks footbaths are used.

Fleece

As mentioned earlier the modern Gotland and its beautiful fleece have been produced through careful breeding and selection. This is still going on today in the Breed Societies of Sweden, the other Nordic countries and Holland. The process used is "On-Farm Judging" of all lambs at 4-5 months of age. A points system is used where a maximum of 6 points is given for each of colour, curl, hair quality and fleece density. Conformation is also assessed. Only the best lambs with a total score of 16 or more are used for breeding. The best of the ram lambs are taken to a ram judging meeting where they are assessed again using an even more rigorous system to select the best of the best. An auction of the top ram lambs usually follows.

Colour

• Grey is a blend of black and white fibres.
• Black and pure white fibres give blue-grey.
• Black and off-white gives a smoky brownish grey.
• In some cases weathering will fade tips to brown.

Top colour points are given to lambs with uniform shades of blue-grey over the whole body. Symmetrical colour variations are common such as a dark neck and spine with lighter flanks.

Curl

Small: 5/6mm diameter; Medium: 7/8mm diameter: Large: 9/10mm diameter. Top curl points are given for a regular S-shaped wavy appearance over the whole fleece in will defined locks of about 20mm. After drawing out a lock, it should spring back into shape. It is common to find small tight curls on the neck and spine and large soft curls on the flank.

Shearing

The best fleece grows through summer and autumn, while winter and early spring growth may be soft, fluffy, unpigmented fibres. Winter shearing therefore will produce the best fleece. A second clip in spring of the fluffy fibre leaves the skin clear for the new long wool growth.

Fibre Quality

Wool should have a good tensile strength: test part of a lock from the upper mid flank. Top hair quality points are given for smooth silky locks with a clean feel and appearance. Fibre diameter averages 35 micron, with black fibres slightly thicker than white. Top density points are given if a handful of fleece feels full and weighty.

Source: www.gotlandsheep.com The British Gotland Sheep Society