About Soay Sheep
Fun Facts About
Soay Sheep
Soay is a rare breed dating back to Paleolithic times.
Soay sheep are the second smallest naturally-occurring sheep.
The breed survived as an isolated, feral herd discovered by Vikings over
2,000 years ago living on the Island of Soay, a tiny single-mountain point of land that is part of the St Kilda
Archipelago about 40 miles (64 km) further west from the western islands ("Outer Hebrides") of Scotland.
Nobody knows who put them on that remote island in the first place, but it seems probable that feral Soay sheep are a relict population of the first sheep brought to northern Europe around 5000BC.
Wild Soay continue to live on that protected island today.
Wild Soay continue to live on that protected island today.
Soay as an island is owned by the National Trust for Scotland,
is managed by NatureScot
as a nature reserve
and is included it the
St Kilda World Heritage Site.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soay,_St_Kilda
The island's name is from Old Norse Seyðoy, meaning 'island of sheep', or "sheep island".
This island is the westernmost point in the United Kingdom (if disputed Rockall is excluded).
There happens to be another island in Scotland named “Soay” that is just off the coast of Skye, in the "Inner Hebrides"
of Scotland.
That island is not the homeland of Soay Sheep despite what shows up on flawed internet searches.
During the early 1900's, a few captured Soay sheep were taken to other countries for the purposes of establishing "exotic flocks".
All domesticated Soay have their roots in sheep removed from
the tiny mountain island.
Soay sheep are listed as "Category 4: At Risk" with the RBST (Rare Breeds Survival Trust)
https://www.rbst.org.uk/
having a varying population of only 900-1500 registered breeding ewes.
They are very small, agile, and intelligent.
Soay sheep are a hardy breed requiring no grain, just grazing, hay, and appropriate minerals.
They birth without assistance!
They birth without assistance!
They are excellent at clearing brush, provide a
very fine wool, and can even be kept as a registered wild breed.
They
resemble the European Big Game sheep Mouflon in that they retain many
primitive characteristics such as having a white belly with dark brown
or blonde coloring, both sexes have horns, they have natural short
tails, their wool naturally sheds, and they form a herd not a "flock".
Soay
can not be effectively worked with dogs as the herd scatters, not flocks together.
Because of the scatter response, Soay are used in training sheep dogs to a much higher level because they are such a challenge.
Soay meat is lean, lower in cholesterol, similar to wild game.
Not only do they have very fine fleece, they are easy keepers!Below are some reasons why:
Disease and parasite resistant.
Self birthing.
No grain required.
No tail docking.
Minimal if any hoof trims.
Self shedding. Toss those sheers into the yard sale pile!Extremely hardy.
Excellent brush clear-ers.
In fact, they can eat plants such as ferns which are toxic to other ruminants.
Goats and large sheep cannot eat everything Soay can eat.
Tiny sheep!