Tanning Soay Sheep Pelts

Tanning Pelts

Soay sheep make wonderful pelts; their primitive fleeces produce a pelt that is interesting to the touch as well as to the eye. In our experience, the finer fleeced sheep are great for spinners, while the sheep with coarser fleeces make for the most beautiful, tactile pelts. These tanned pelts from coarser fleeced Soay sheep also hold up to laundering without the matting associated with finer fleeces.

The best time for butchering is during cool weather for several reasons. Flies are less bothersome or nonexistent during cooler weather, the carcass will cool more quickly, and in regard to the pelt, it will have better condition. Autumn and winter are the best times for butchering if the pelt is important to you; the fleece will be longer, and the guard hairs will have grown long enough to make it interesting.

Waiting until spring to butcher often produces disappointing results in a tanned pelt; the spring/summer moult will cause much of the fleece to pull out easily before or after tanning, producing bald spots on the pelt. We usually dispose of the hide from a Soay butchered in spring.

At the time of butchering, you will need to have non-iodized salt (also known as pickling salt) on hand. A 2 pound container is usually adequate for one pelt, but don't skimp; it's better to have too much than too little. We often keep 25 pound sacks of non-iodized sea salt on hand for this purpose, which is inexpensive.

Spread the pelt out, hair side down, and liberally cover the interior with salt, making sure none of the crevices or edges are missed. Let dry thoroughly. This can keep for some months as long as it is kept dry, but should be sent to a tanner within a year or less.

If you want to try this yourself, listed below are a few books on butchering and tanning:

Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game, by John J. Mettler, Jrn., D.V.M.

The Ultimate Guide to Skinning and Tanning, by Monte Burch

The Legal Guide For Direct Farm Marketing, by Neil D. Hamilton