In the past few years, I have had Finnsheep breeders (new, experienced or wannabe) email me with questions regarding color and color genetics in Finnsheep. They may have purchased a sheep or lamb and not know for sure what color it really is. Or they may have had a "different"colored lamb born in their flock and not be sure how to register it. So here is a little quiz and some information to get you started in learning more about color genetics in Finnsheep.
(Allthe photos in this current blog post are of my own sheep or sheep Ihave bred and all are purebred Finnsheep (aka Finnish Landrace Sheep). Jot down what color you think they are. Answers will be given at theend. Hint: choices are white, black, brown, grey, fawn and piebald (spotted). Sorry, there is no prize other than patting yourself on the back for being such an informed friend of Finnsheep.
Quiz - #1 What color?
Knowledge of color genetics is just
one of the reasons why selection of a trustworthy and knowledgeable breeder is so important. This is someone who you feel really understands color genetics, wool, and other traits in the breed and keeps scrupulously careful records of breeding groups and parentage. Find a breeder who is trying to preserve the breed and improve it. Not just someone whois a good salesman or has the lowest prices.
Raising a healthy ewe and healthy baby lambs cost money. No breeder is going to sell lambs at a loss. If they are selling their lambs dirt cheap, what kind of feed and care has been invested in that baby? One you get your purchase home, a poor quality sheep and an excellent quality sheep are going to eat the same amount of feed. And a healthy sheep is going to cost you less in vet bills or potential losses than a poor keeper that you bought out of pity. Don't think that you are going to get some"starter sheep" (like a "starter home") for little money and later upgrade. You will become attached to the sheep you buy. Finns are charming and they will get under skin and into your heart. I promise you. The legacy of your original purchases will live on to haunt your breeding program for many years to come. You are better off buying a small number of the best quality sheep you can afford and taking your time to learn how to be the best shepherd you can be.
If you can't find the exact ewes you want (the breeder is likely keeping the best ewe lambs back as replacements for her own flock), then get good healthy ewes and invest in one or two really excellent quality rams. There is a saying that "the ram is half of the flock". That is because one ram can produce many, many babies in one year. (Finn rams have a serious work ethic.) But a ewe is only going to produce about 3 babies(on average) in a year.
Finns have lots of babies. So growing your flock in numbers is easy. Growing your flock in quality is the challenge because there is no perfect sheep. While a lot of progress has been made in wool quality in the past 10 years, there is still improvement needed in the quality of the natural colored sheep if we are to reach the levels that they have in Finland. (And if you have problems in the wool of your white Finns, then you have big trouble!) While Finns are a lightly boned breed, that does not mean spindly like a toothpick.
Superior conformation, friendly personality,good udders and milk production, attentive mothering, and lovely wool are all traits which may be stronger or weaker in each line of your sheep. And although the US Finn breed standard favors maternal traits above all else, who wants tons of healthy lambs that all have Brillo pads for wool? What good is a friendly sheep who doesn't have the structure to carry a load full of babies? (Ever seen a pregnant woman carrying twins? A full term pregnant Finnsheep is at least that big!) Balancing these important qualities and never doubling up on a fault isthe art of being a good breeder. You owe it to your sheep to make them the healthiest and best that they can be.
Quiz - #2 What color?
If you are going to breed colored sheep (or even white ones), the buyer must also educate him/herself so that he/she can recognize all the colors and how they are inherited. Then when someone tells you that the grey lamb you are buying has a black dam and a brown sire, you will know that can't possibly be true. If you only want white sheep (which are just colored sheep with a white pattern masking the color) then understanding color genetics will help you avoid producing colored lambs in your flock.
In the United States, we have no genetic testing to prove our sheep are pure Finnsheep. In Finland, their breed association allows registration based on DNA profile. This allows them to preserve rare bloodlines which sometimes crop up in very remote parts of the countryside, but which may not be registered. And they can get genetic testing to do so, though it is expensive. Even if we were to get genetic testing of Finnsheep accepted in the U.S., it is
possible that our North American Finnsheep
might not test as pure anyway.
Whenthe original Finnsheep were brought into Canada in 1969 and subsequently into the United States in 1969, some were kept pure. Others were out-crossed to other breeds (to widen the genetics) and then"bred up" to be 15/16ths Finn. It was felt that 15/16ths Finns were genetically indistinguishable from purebred Finns and they were allowed to be registered as purebred until 1991. At that point, it was decided that the genetics in the U.S. were sufficiently diverse to prevent the problem of inbreeding and the "breeding up" program for any animal born after January 1, 1991, was discontinued. The Finnsheep Breeders Association (US) still allows the registration of cross-bred Finnsheep as Class II and this is useful for people who are trying to breed Polypays or other composite breeds which contain Finn.
The practice of "breeding up" is not unique to Finnsheep. It is actually common in the history of most breeds. For example, I was told that the Blue-faced Leicester was originally brought into the U.S. by using imported semen on Border Leicesters in the U.S. and then breeding them up until they were considered "pure". The USDA will not allow the importation of live animals (livestock, not cats and dogs) into the U.S. from other countries, except in rare cases of university and government research programs, due to fear of bringing in disease. So at this point, your options for importing new genetics from foreign countries are frozen semen and in some cases embryos.
Quiz - #3 What color?
In1998, frozen semen from 10 rams (white, black, brown and grey) was imported into the U.S. from the state flock at Pelso, Finland. Thanks to improved veterinary technology, artificial insemination is now possible to allow purebred Finn genetics to be brought into the U.S. I hope we will be able to continue to bring in new genetics from Finland. The average Finnsheep I saw in Finland are still far superior in quality to the average Finnsheep in the U.S. And they are still discovering rare genetic lines in isolated parts of the country. Although Finland is a very modern country, where you can be on an island accessible only by boat and still get 4 bars on your mobile phone (!), there are still older people who have been living "off the grid", and in some cases away from roads, raising their sheep. As these older people retire or die, there is an effort by some breeders in Finland to rescue and continue these very old bloodlines.
#4 What color?
ANSWERS to the quiz:
#1:BLACK. Elias is a black wether (neutered male). Note the black hair on his head and legs and the black pigment on his nose and lips. This is a bit of a tricky one because he has faded through out the years(i.e. what is known as a "fading black") to grey. His first fleece ata year of age was coal black. After that his fleece started to lighten till they reached a medium grey and have remained that color for years. He is now 8 years old. In this photo the tips of his wool are sun-bleached to a brownish color. But if you would part his wool, it is grey other than the very ends.
#2. WHITE. This ram lamb has a peach appearance due to the presence of pheomelanin (reddish brown pigment) in the hair (but not the wool). It has
nothing to do with the wool color. (It is not a fawn color.) They still have pink pigment and a pink tongue like other white Finnsheep. When all baby lambs are born, they have a combination of hair and wool fibers on their bodies. Even in very fine wooled sheep, when you can't see any hair. As they grow up, the % of wool fibers increases, that is why the reddish color fades.
#3 BROWN. Kahvi is a brown ram. Notice the brown hair on his legs and face. Brown Finnsheep have a liver colored nose and lips (like a chocolate Lab or red Doberman).
#4GREY This is Taivo as a young ram lamb. Grey (and Fawn) Finnsheep are born black (or brown). Often you can see a few lighter hairs coming in on the flanks. The dilute color will always appear by age 8 months and usually does by age 6 months. The pigment and tongue color in the greys are a bluish pink. (Eat a blue popcicle and look at your tongue.)