The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: Còir78 on October 07, 2021, 02:32:52 am
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I'm Justin Campbell. Just bought a small 5 acre plot with house in southwest Pennsylvania. Grew up on my family's dairy farm in Sterling NY. Now starting a hobby farm. Want hebridean sheep. Are there any Hebs breeders in the USA?
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Hello and welcome. [member=4333]Fleecewife[/member] is a Hebridean sheepbreeder
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Hello and welcome @Coir78 . Yes I keep and breed Hebridean sheep here in Scotland. As far as I know there are not yet any Hebrideans in the US. There are however many flocks of Shetland sheep and importations of live animals and genetic material take place from time to time so perhaps you could find breeders locally ie in the States, who have experience of the process to help you decide if it is a possibility for you to go down that route with Hebrideans. It takes time, money and dedication to import sheep into another country. We did once export a flock to N.Ireland which is just a few miles away across a narrow strip of water, but with strict health checks and rules. The hoops we had to jump through for that ::) . A few years ago there was someone who lived on an island off the coast of southern Australia who wanted to import embryos of Hebrideans to implant into his ewes of a local breed, which is another option. His aim was to provide a nucleus of the breed as far away as possible from the UK in case of a disastrous disease wiping out the whole breed. (Now we have a gene bank run by the RBST which has the genes of many tups (rams) of the rare breeds of our country stored hopefully for perpetuity so the need for actual sheep somewhere else has reduced). However, be warned it's expensive and a whole lot of bother for those involved on both sides of the pond to import animals, and to avoid drastic inbreeding you would need to import at least semen if not living ewes or embryos every few years.
On the upside, there is quite an interest from people in the States, especially for Hebridean fleece so you could be ahead of the game.
If that's all too much, you do of course have a similar breed native to the US - Navajo Churro. I think they are very much desert sheep though and Pennsylvania sounds quite woody and wet to me so perhaps they might not suit. If they are truly like Hebrideans though they will be very adaptable so could be a possibility for you.
You do have another British breed in your country which is very striking and beautiful, that's the Jacob. There are a large number of Jacob flocks over there and they make a wonderful smallholder's sheep, with meat, fleece, horns and showability if you want to join the showing fraternity.