[Fleecewife]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26882203


I wonder how far away the Soay farm is 

[Brucklay]

Or that escaping Castlemilk Moorit 

[ballingall]

Exactly my thoughts! Didn't look like half goat to me.... Prob not the dad he was wanting though. Mind you we got our own surprise this year.....


Beth

[roddycm]

Cheviots are usually dominant so probs a foster lamb!

[jaykay]

I’m not sure I believe in sheep-goat crosses, naturally. Most species have significant behavioural traits that keep them from cross-mating, together with the genetic mismatch.


Irish blarney? What was the date??

[suziequeue]

Mmmmmmmmm - although the date of the BBC news story is 4th April, I wonder what date the story was first published in the Irish Farmers Journal?

[kelly58]

When you say chevs are dominant, do you mean in a bossy way with the other sheep ?

[kanisha]

accroding to the standard the owner states   He added: "It was moving a bit too quickly for a lamb, its legs were very long and he even has horns like a goat."
Mr Murphy said he noticed a goat mating with his sheep on the mountainside but assumed nothing would come of it."

all could be explained by a mating with a soay,   minimal spotting on the lamb with a black and tan pattern is interesting.



 

[jaykay]

Lol, and no-one's ever seen a fast, long legged, horned lamb then. Describes my Shetland tup lambs pretty well - so Soay lambs too, and most other primitives I expect.

I couldn't say I've noticed a difference, either, in the speed or long-leggedness of my lambs and kids.

Billy goats get blamed for all sorts of things.....Paddy McGinty's goat

[in the hills]

Yes, Soay lambs are definitely fast  .

I read somewhere that Soay do share a lot of genetic material with goats.

I've never heard of a cross like this. Wonder if it can happen 

[Fleecewife]

My husband was posted to Cyprus some time ago and took pics of the sheep and goats being flocked together.  He said they had plenty of geeps and shoats, but that was before we knew the first thing about sheep.

[shygirl]

I was thinking its an april fool.

[roddycm]

When you say chevs are dominant, do you mean in a bossy way with the other sheep ?

I dominant genetically.... I suspect this is just a pure soay foster lamb otherwise theoretically it would look more like the mother.

[Fleecewife]

Head too wide, ears too big, mini mutton chops very like the dam, and quite some curly fleece, so not a fostered pure Soay.   Seeing the tail would help although not conclusive as Soay crosses can have either short or long tails.

[kanisha]

Tail can be seen on the video. it is noticeably shorter than the cheviot ( prior to docking) more primitive like.