Sheep
Sheep have been kept on the Shetland Isles for at least a thousand years. They are one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds, and were regarded as a local type of the extinct Scottish Dunface, which was found throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (and which was also the ancestor of the Hebridean and North Ronaldsay sheep). Shetlands are classed as a landrace or "unimproved" breed.
Although Shetlands are small and slow-growing compared to commercial breeds, they are hardy, thrifty, easy lambers, adaptable and long-lived. The Shetland breed has survived for centuries in difficult conditions and on a poor diet so they thrive in better conditions. Shetlands retain many of their primitive survival instincts so they are easier to care for than many modern breeds.
Read more about this topic: Shetland Animal Breeds
Famous quotes containing the word sheep:
“Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou ow’st the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume. Here’s three on’s are sophisticated. Thou art the thing itself; unaccommodated man is no more than such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The metaphor of the king as the shepherd of his people goes back to ancient Egypt. Perhaps the use of this particular convention is due to the fact that, being stupid, affectionate, gregarious, and easily stampeded, the societies formed by sheep are most like human ones.”
—Northrop Frye (b. 1912)