# Shetland Icelandic crosses



## lisarichards (Dec 6, 2004)

I'll start a new thread so I don't derail the other one about herding dogs.

When I got my Shetlands in 2005, they came with a 3/4 Shetland 1/4 Icelandic cross, a wether named Leon. He's my best buddy. He's a cranky old guy, but smart as can be, and lives up to all the stories I've heard about bell wethers.

I'm not sure how to describe his fleece. It's a cross between Shetland and Icelandic, more Shetland, but different. Really pretty, really soft, very crimpy. Everything sticks to it, though. He walks around with hay all over him all the time.

He is slightly smaller than my Icelandic ewes.

Here are some pictures of him.


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## Ozarkquilter46 (Jun 5, 2002)

My girlfriend has a black shetland ewe. She bred her to a jacob ram and she has a snow white ewe lamb that has beautiful crimp to her fleece even as a new born. Aslo that little lamb is build like a tank. She is thick through the sholders and chest. It was a really good cross. My girlfriend raises only jacobs but got this shetland as hers for spinning the fiber


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## lisarichards (Dec 6, 2004)

BlueJuniperFarm: I meant to add that if you'd like some of his fleece to check out, let me know. I'm skirting fleeces this week, and would be happy to send you some.


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## Patty0315 (Feb 1, 2004)

I have an icelandic /jacob ram with beatiful fleece. I am hoping to sell him because if he stays here he will be eaten. His twin sister looks 100 % jacob and has more of a Jacob fleece. Funny how genetics work.


Patty


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

Genetics *are* funny. When we were in NH, we got some Shetland/Merino crosses from our neighbors, who raised both breeds and discovered that Shetland rams were great fence jumpers! The first generation crosses had really nice fleeces for the most part, but second generation were wild! Some of them had Shetland fleeces on the front and hair on the back! We could see why attempts to crossbreed the Shetlands in their home islands had nearly ruined the breed at one time! 

Lisa, I've worked with both Shetland and Icelandic fleeces a bit -- is his fleece more similar to one than the other? I'd be curious to know the weight of it -- one of the biggest drawbacks to Shetlands is the light weight of the fleece, IMO. I've wondered if there was a good cross to get the weight of the fleece up, and maybe the size of the animal a bit, but keep the quality of the fleece.

Kathleen


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## ShortSheep (Aug 8, 2004)

BlueJuniperFarm said:


> I've wondered if there was a good cross to get the weight of the fleece up, and maybe the size of the animal a bit, but keep the quality of the fleece.
> 
> Kathleen


 BJF, I'm hearing *RAVE* reviews of shetland mules, both for incredible handspinning fleece, and larger carcass size. Micron counts in the mid-twenties, crimp, and good staple length. 
A purebred BlueFaced Leister (sp?) ram is put over larger shetland ewes. This is a popular cross in the UK. 
The narrow BFL head doesn't seem to cause stuck lambs (big head, small birth canal) the way the cheviot or southdown ram put over a purebred shetland can.


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