Whether the long hot summer of 2018 goes down as a one-off heatwave or if it’s revealed to be part of a trend of hotter summers driven by climate change, there’s no doubt that for shepherds the need to keep our flocks shorn and cool has been more important than ever this year. If you’re fortunate enough to keep one of the self-shedding breeds, you do have an in built advantage of course. There’s been no anxious waiting for the shearer to be able to fit in a few sheep, nor has there been any setting-to for the hard graft of DIY shearing, with all the sweat and toil that involves.
The traditional self-shedding breed in England is the Wiltshire Horn sheep and those of us who keep them have grown very used to visitors leaning on the gates and asking “When did you get them sheared then ?”. (I even had a vet ask me that question one December). They naturally shed their coat very cleanly each spring without any help or intervention from me. The other question that people always ask is : “Where does it all go ?”. The simple answer is that I don’t know. I do know that we don’t have fields covered in moulted wool, although there’s always a bit on the fence as there is with all sheep. And whenever we find a bird’s nest here, it’s always Wiltshire Horn lined. I suspect that the reason it seems to vanish is that it’s a short hairy coat and comes off gradually, rather than in one piece of thick woolly fleece which is how we usually think of wool off a sheep’s back. So there’s time for it to disperse naturally and without being a nuisance.
After shedding, the coat does grow again for protection next winter but through the summer months there’s no more need for shearing, crutching, dagging or dipping, plus the reduced risk of flystrike or of a ewe getting stuck on her back with a heavy fleece. And of course they stay much cooler in hot weather, although like any sensible animal they will help themselves to any available shade during the hottest part of the day.
This ability to shed their coat, reduce their need for maintenance and tolerate warm weather has led to Wiltshire Horn sheep being exported all over the world, typically to countries with hotter climates : Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, the Gold Coast, the West Indies, the Bahamas and Zimbabwe. As well as to Venezuela, Argentina, Sri Lanka, Ghana and the Persian Gulf and more recently to Portugal, Canada, and the U.S.A.
However, if hotter summers do become more frequent in the UK, the hot weather tolerance of the Wiltshire Horn could also become more appreciated at home. If you’re interested in the potential of this breed, the Wiltshire Horn Sheep Society Shows & Sales are advertised elsewhere in this magazine and the breed society website is online at www.wiltshirehorn.org.uk
This article first appeared in the Country Smallholding magazine, September 2018
