“The sheep is small, not often horned, ears pointed and erect, face, back, and tail short, fine-boned, legs long; naturally wild, active, and hardy, and little liable to disease. The colour generally white, sometimes ferrunginous, grey, black or piebald; the wool very soft and often fine.”
– Dr. L. Edmonston, General Observations on Shetland (1840)
Copper Tree Farm is home to NASSA flock number 2711 and the FFSSA flock number 90. We are also involved in the National Scrapie Eradication Program. We strive to raise a hardy Shetland with good conformation, easy lambing ability and disease resistance.
Shetland sheep found in the U.S. have a variety of fleece types, colors and markings. Our breeding program focuses on developing a fine, crimpy lock with good staple length as a single coat. We are also incorporating genetics for horned ewes into our flock and have made great progress despite the lack of scientific study on inheritance.
With our sheep, we have implemented a pasture rotation system that keeps our parasite loads low and our forage healthier. Regular FECs are done in-house to check general parasite loads and anthelmintic effectiveness. We are also trained and certified to use the FAMACHA© anemia scoring system.