Only one third of the ewes on Hirta are horned; the remainder are either polled or scurred. (It is generally accepted that a scurred animal carries less than 50% of normal horns, which can mean it has very small horns or just small stumps. A polled animal has no sign of horn what so ever.) Historically Soay ewes brought to the mainland from Soay were selectively bred for horns. This has led many to the mistaken conclusion that all true Soay ewes are horned.

A British Soay is a Soay sheep living in North America which is registered with the Combined Flock Book of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust in Great Britain. It is reciprocal with Soay in Britain*. British Soay are descendents of a flock exported from England to Montreal in 1990 and then imported to Oregon between 1998 and 2000.The term British Soay is used only in the US and Canada to distinguish these sheep from North American Soay which are registered in the United States.

No. However, they can lamb outside the traditional lambing season of March and April and many keepers have experienced "surprise" late lambs, some as late as October. Even on St. Kilda we saw a week old lamb the end of August. Gestation for Soay Sheep ranges between 142 and 152 days with a mean of 148. [Ryder, 1983]*5

US British Soay breeders are participants in the USDA scrapie program and to date no scrapie has been identified in the national flock. Prior to admission into the United States the entire foundation flock was held in quarantine in Canada for a decade to insure that it was disease free. Interestingly, while the Soay is genetically susceptible to scrapie it does not seem to occur.

No. Very often ewes that have not lambed do not shed. The current thinking is that hormones and body condition control shedding. In our own flock we have found ewes that did not lamb, sometimes did not shed. For their comfort in the summer heat, where our temperatures often reach 100 F or higher, we roo (hand pluck) them or have them shorn. The removal of retained fleece is also advisable in areas where fly-strike is problem.

I've always thought that Wicca was about balance, balance between the Goddess and the God, and it was disheartning to see a total lack of information out there about old Horned Head. What little info there is circulating out there is usually out of date or completely wrong. We've got this deity and most people have only a vague understanding of his past and where he's going.

No one can say for certain if the sheep on St. Kilda have been crossbred over the course of their long history. Put any breed of sheep under the microscope and you are apt to find infusion of other breeds, but because of the isolation for thousands of years of the remote and inaccessible island of Soay, the sheep on Soay have arguably been pure breeding for longer than is the case for any other breed of sheep. Its isolation has guaranteed this purity like no other breed.

When they appear with THE BUCKS, the horn guys for 2002 are Carlo Isabelli, Chuck Morgan, and Jim Kaczmarek.

No. Both male & females have horns but when they are calves, most of the time the horns are removed so the cows don't hurt anyone or each other.

This is age and animal dependant with additional variables. Ram lambs can serve 15-20 ewes. Mature rams can cover 75 ewes. See the Ewe Settler biography for an example of a productive, Dorper ram.

No. While the majority of SPW's overseas volunteers are British, an increasing proportion are from continental Europe, Australasia and the Americas. Applicants from overseas are encouraged where possible to attend one of the selection/assessment days in London; they will also have telephone interviews. And half of our volunteers are recruited locally, in the countries we work in. If you are from Australia then check out our new website www.spw.org.au

Middle aged Soay ewes often twin. Triplets have been recorded but are quite rare. Of approximately 150 births in fifteen years only one set of triplets has been produced in North America. In 1995 a set of quadruplets was documented in the UK. [The ARK, 1996] Intensive studies on Hirta have led researchers to conclude that there is a correlation between twinning rates and body weight, heavier ewes have a higher percentage of twins than lighter ones.[Clutton-Brock, 2004].

The Soay is a relatively hardy animal and requires minimal care when compared to modern specialized breeds, but this does not mean it can just be left on it own completely unattended. It thrives best when provided with shelter from winter rains just as it does on Hirta in the hundreds of cleits found there. Because it has a thin fleece with proportionally less lanolin, the Soay benefits from shelter more than any other breed.

No. None of the Soay on Soay and only very few on Hirta have access to the sea and the rich kelp beds that surround the archipelago. The Islands of St. Kilda rise nearly perpendicularly from the ocean and only at Village Bay on Hirta can one reach the shore. But even there the sheep do not eat seaweed.* Many people in the US confuse the seaweed eating sheep of Orkney (North Ronaldsay) with the Soay Sheep of St. Kilda.

The Urban Forestry website has information at www.toronto.ca/trees. More detailed information can be found contacting the Canadian Food Inspection Agency at 1-800-442-2342 or visiting their website at www.inspection.gc.ca.

The horns are very well developed in the two species in Africa (black and white rhinos), but much smaller in the three species in Asia (Sumatran with 2 very small horns, Indian and Javan with one horn). The Asian species certainly do not use the horns to fight or to defend themselves, they use their incisors (sharp front teeth for the purpose). The horns have come about in evolution and they had (have) a general function to impress members of the opposite sex.

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Maybe. Ewes are creatures of habit. Recent experiments suggest that shepherds can take advantage of the ewe's conditioned diurnal cycle to concentrate lambing at a convenient period of the day or night. There are two parts to the program: 1) feeding the ewes at a consistent time every day; and 2) not providing any stimuli during the night that will confuse the cycle. Some research studies suggest that shifting feeding to mid-morning will minimize the number of midnight to 6am lambings.

A good ewe pours so much of the nutrition she consumes into producing milk that it is difficult for her to maintain her weight. You want to give her energy- and protein-rich (16%) grain, a pound a day per lamb per ewe (ewes with singles get one pound, twins two pounds, triplets three pounds if they are nursing all three), along with free-choice of the highest protein hay you have, such as good leafy alfalfa or early-cut timothy, and plenty of clean fresh water.

From time to time we will offer bred ewes. Call for availability. Since ewes are bred in late fall, they are for sale January through March.