This flock of RBST-registered Soay was dispersed to 6 different farms by the autumn of 2000; two farms in Canada and four farms in the USA; one of which was ours! It was an exciting project and not only are we proud to have participated in this importation, but also of the fact that Ronda of Greener Pastures Farm designed the breeding program that created 3 bloodlines from this tiny import that descended from only 2 rams and 4 ewes. This breeding program was determined prior to the import and helped decide which sheep went to each of the 3 original importers. These lines were named in the summer of 2000 after the founder sheep they were based on; the Aphrodite line, the Basil line and the Quantum line, each with their own page found in the links below.
While some USA breeders have touted British Soay sheep as superior in lineage to American Soay sheep, the fact remains that both the American Soays and British Soays have been crossed with other breeds in their history. Name a breed of anything that has not!
As one of the very few breeders who kept large flocks of both American Soay sheep and British Soay sheep, we are in a unique position to give unbiased, factual information about the comparisons between them.
After 6 years, and a huge investment in time, buckets of tears and many thousands of dollars, we decided not to keep British Soay sheep because they are not as hardy as our American Soay sheep. During the six years that we kept British and American Soay sheep under the very same conditions, the American Soays flourished, while the British Soays had one problem after another accompanied by a long string of vet bills. While we were very attached to our British Soay sheep in our hearts, we are practical farmers rather than zoo keepers, and consequently decided to get out before we lost any more money on them. As a conscientious and ethical breeder, I was diligent about informing each buyer of all of my concerns about these sheep before allowing each sale. We sold all of our British Soay ewes in 2006.
British Soay sheep are beautiful as you can see by our photos. If a pedigree from England is high on your list of requirements, then British Soay sheep might be the breed for you.
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