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North Ronaldsay sheep

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North Ronaldsay Sheep

The North Ronaldsay or Orkney is a breed of domestic sheep from North Ronaldsay,
the northernmost island of Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. It belongs to
the Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds, and has evolved without
much cross-breeding with modern breeds. It is a smaller sheep than most, with the
rams (males) horned and ewes (females) mostly hornless. It was formerly kept
primarily for wool, but now the two largest flocks are feral, one on North
Ronaldsay and another on the Orkney island of Linga Holm. The Rare Breeds Survival
Trust lists the breed as "vulnerable", with fewer than 600 registered breeding
females in the United Kingdom.
The semi-feral flock on North Ronaldsay is the original flock that evolved to
subsist almost entirely on seaweed – they are one of few mammals to do this. They
are confined to the shoreline by a 1.8 m (6 ft) tall drystane dyke, which
completely encircles the island, forcing the sheep to evolve this unusual
characteristic. The wall was built as kelping (the production of soda ash from
seaweed) on the shore became uneconomical. Sheep were confined to the shore to
protect the fields and crofts inside, and now subsisted largely on seaweed.
This diet has caused a variety of adaptations in the sheep's digestive system.
These sheep have to extract the trace element copper far more efficiently than
other breeds as their diet has a limited supply of copper. This results in them
being susceptible to copper toxicity, if fed on a grass diet, as copper is toxic to
sheep in high quantities. Grazing habits have also changed to suit the sheep's
environment. To reduce the chance of being stranded by an incoming tide, they graze
at low tide and then ruminate at high tide.
A range of fleece colours are exhibited, including grey, brown and red. Meat from
the North Ronaldsay has a distinctive flavour, described as "intense" and "gamey",
[3] due, in part, to the high iodine content in their diet of seaweed. The meat is
protected by the UK Government, so only meat from North Ronaldsay sheep can be
marketed as Orkney Lamb.

Contents [hide]

References
History[edit]
Origin[edit]

A North Ronaldsay sheep with twin lambs on the beach, with seals in the background
The sheep are descended from the Northern European short-tailed sheep. Their
arrival onto North Ronaldsay is not known precisely but it may have been as early
as the Iron Age,[4] which would make them potentially the earliest ovines to arrive
in Britain. Because of their isolated location, they have evolved without much
admixture from imported Roman and European breeds.[5][6] They share some
characteristics, including their colour range and short tails, with Scandinavian
sheep introduced when the islands were under Norse control, between the 9th and
15th centuries.[7]
Enclosure[edit]
In 1832, a drystane dyke (dry stone wall) was erected on the island. Its
construction was part of the response to the collapse of the kelping industry,
which was the production of soda ash by the burning of seaweed. To provide a
livelihood for those previously employed in kelping, the inland farmlands were
reorganized, and the sheep kept away from the fields or crofts.[8] Since then, the
flocks on the island have been feral.[9][10][11][12] The wall also unintentionally
reduced the chances of crossbreeding, which would have diluted the gene pool of an
already vulnerable breed.[13] The wall circles the entire coast of the island,
19 km (12 mi), and is 1.8 metres (6 ft) high, making it one of the largest dry
stone walls in the world. In 1999, Historic Scotland described it as a "unique and
important structure" and designated it an 'A'-list site requiring conservation.[14]
[15] This status affords it special protection; any development has to be approved
with conservation in mind.[16]
Since the wall was erected, the population of North Ronaldsay has fallen from 500
to around 50, and current residents lack the skills to maintain the wall.[17]
Successive storms, the most damaging of which was in December 2012, have created
large holes in the structure and the cost of repairs has been estimated at £3
million, in part due to the lack of natural material and skilled labour.[18] (In
1902, it cost only 4 pence per hour to repair the wall, using stone taken from the
shoreline.)[19] Stone is now imported for small repairs, but it was estimated in
September 2015 by Historic Scotland that 4.9 km (3.0 mi) of the wall's 19.2 km
(11.9 mi) needs repair and that the rate of damage is outstripping the pace of
repair.[15]
Punds[edit]

An example of a pund
The punds, or pounds, also listed with Historic Scotland,[15] are nine small
enclosures situated across the island to contain the sheep for shearing, counting,
lambing and slaughtering.[20] The sheep are herded inside these punds twice a year,
the only time they have access to grass feed. Even at these times, many of them
prefer to consume seaweed.[21] Between February and August, the sheep are brought
into the punds, once for lambing and once for shearing.[12] The lambs are born on
the grass between February and May. At this time, the sheep are counted, lambs are
given ear-tags, and records are entered with the island's sheep court to record
ownership.[22][23] Shearing takes place in July and August, and the whole island
community is involved in herding and shearing the sheep.[24] Slaughtering takes
place only in winter when the meat is needed, and when the animals are fatter and
yield more meat, since seaweed is more abundant in winter.[22]
Sheep court[edit]
In 1839, just after the wall was erected, the North Ronaldsay sheep court was
created. A group of eleven appointed islanders were responsible for the maintenance
of the wall, the health of the sheep flock, and recording ownership of the sheep.
[25][26] Today, the sheep court remains the regulatory body responsible for
organising ownership of the sheep, but European Union legislation has suggested
that it may have to be reorganised into a Grazing Committee.[6]
Conservation[edit]
The North Ronaldsay Sheep Fellowship is the primary organisation concerned with the
survival of the breed. They maintain the flock book, established in 1974, which is
the breed registry containing all purebred animals.[27] This book reports that
there are fewer than 600 breeding females and roughly 3700 sheep in total.[28][29]
The Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) lists the North Ronaldsay as "vulnerable".
[29]
There are only two main populations of the breed. One is on the island of North
Ronaldsay itself; the other was established in 1974 when the RBST took 178 sheep
off the island to establish new populations. One group of sheep was sent to the
mainland, and 150 were relocated to the uninhabited island of Linga Holm, which was
purchased by the RBST. The relocation was meant to protect the sheep from potential
natural disasters, such as an oil spill; North Sea oil extraction was expanding at
the time.[30][31]
Modern DNA analysis has shown little crossbreeding with other sheep breeds from
mainland Britain. Testing carried out under the National Scrapie Plan looked for
the ARQ allele, which protects against the scrapie disease and is present in modern
selectively bred sheep, and found it in only 1.3 per cent of North Ronaldsay sheep.
[32][33][34]
Further DNA studies comparing the bones of the North Ronaldsay with remains of
North European short-tailed sheep found on a Skara Brae site dating from around
3000 BCE have shown a very close match, suggesting that the North Ronaldsay has not
genetically mixed with other breeds.[35]
Characteristics[edit]
Physical[edit]
North Ronaldsays are very small sheep, an adaptation to the harsh, cold
environment. Rams typically weigh around 30 kg (66 lb), and ewes rarely exceed
25 kg (55 lb), both standing around 41 cm (16 in) high at the withers (shoulders).
[32] The sheep are slow growing and a full-size carcass may weigh only 13.6
kilograms (30 lb).[36]
The North Ronaldsay is a descendant of the primitive European short-tailed sheep
breed. As the name of the descent parent would suggest, they have naturally short
tails. Their bones are finer than other breeds and their head is dished (sloping
inwards).[32] Rams are all horned; these horns are typically ridged and spiraled.
[27] Only 20 percent of the ewes are horned; the rest are polled (hornless).[22]
Diet[edit]
North Ronaldsay sheep have a highly unusual diet consisting almost solely of
seaweed. This has evolved due to their unique location, confined to the shoreline
by a 1.8 m (6 ft) high dry stone wall, leaving only seaweed for food. Apart from
the marine iguana, native to the Galápagos Islands, it is the only land animal
known to have such a diet.[12][37] Studies have shown that, due to preference and
availability, the sheep eat mainly brown kelps. This discovery led to suggestions
that kelp may be of use as an alternative food source for other livestock.[38]
The grazing habits of the sheep have also adapted to their unusual diet: instead of
grazing during the day and ruminating (digesting) at night as other sheep generally
do, the North Ronaldsays graze as the tide uncovers the shore (twice in 24 hours),
ruminating at high water.[39] Feeding begins around 3.5 hours after high tide as
the areas of kelp and seaweed are exposed. Four hours later, which is just after
the low tide, feeding ends, allowing rumination to begin. This cycle reduces the
chance of the sheep becoming stranded at sea by the incoming tide.[40]
Unusually for sheep, the North Ronaldsay fattens in winter when storms throw larger
amounts of kelp and seaweed onto the shore and food is abundant.[41]
The sheep's source of fresh water is limited to the few freshwater lakes and ponds
along the seashore.[42] This has led them to become very salt tolerant, as their
diet is salt-rich, and access to fresh water is limited. Compared with other breeds
of sheep, they can far better handle elements present in the sea salt.[43] These
empirical conclusions were drawn in a 1997 study, but the underlying biological
mechanism has yet to be understood.[44][45]

A herd of North Ronaldsay sheep on the beach

Scientific analysis[edit]
The sheep have evolved a somewhat different physiology from other sheep, due to
their unusual diet – their digestive system has adapted to extract the sugars in
seaweeds more efficiently.[22] A 2005 study at the University of Liverpool found
that they have a greater susceptibility to copper toxicity, when compared with a
more traditional breed such as the Cambridge.[46] This is because seaweed has a
chemical which inhibits the absorption of copper, so the sheep have to absorb
copper more efficiently to obtain the required amount.[22] The levels of copper
found in typical sheep feed, including grass, are toxic for this breed.[32][47]
Studies at the Universities of Liverpool and Minnesota suggest that they can
extract four times more copper from their diet than more traditional breeds.[46]
[48]
Accelerator mass spectrometry has shown a higher ratio of carbon 12 to carbon 13
(δ13C) in this breed than in any breed of grass-fed sheep, 13 parts per thousand.
[49] In a 2005 study, enamel samples were taken from the sheep and analysed for
this ratio, to determine the diet of the sheep. This study showed that some sheep
fed exclusively on seaweed, whereas others had a diet half consisting of grass in
the summer months.[21]
Use[edit]
Meat[edit]
Lamb meat and mutton from the sheep have been specially designated by the European
Union, meaning that only pure-bred lambs can be marketed as "Orkney Lamb".[50] The
meat has a unique, rich flavour, which has been described as "intense and almost
gamey",[3] and has a darker colour than most mutton, due in part to their iodine-
rich diet.[3]
Wool[edit]

An example of the face of North Ronaldsay sheep

Despite their slight size, North Ronaldsay sheep were historically raised for their
wool. It comes in a variety of colours and is very similar to the Shetland breed,
due to their common ancestor. More common typical colours are the whites and greys,
but browns, beiges, reds (also called tanay) and blacks, with coarser hair, are all
exhibited.[51][52] A full fleece weighs about 1 kg (2.2 lb).[32][53][54]
The North Ronaldsay is a double-coated breed, meaning they have a wool undercoat
and overcoat.[35] The undercoat tends to be finer and soft, suitable for garments
that would touch the skin, whereas the overcoat is coarser, with long hair that
protects the sheep from the cold, wet weather of their natural environment. This
fibre is more durable and tends to be used in overgarments.[55]
See also[edit]
• List of Scottish breeds
References[edit]
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