Shropshire ram lamb 82S

Shropshire page

We are relatively new to raising Shropshires. They came to my (Patric) attention through Judy Fitzsimons of Rimridge Farm. Upon looking at the breed more closely, I became more interested due to the characteristics they exhibit. They are a moderate sized sheep that produce a heavy fleece and well muscled lambs for market. Mothering and milking ability is good, which coupled with longevity made them a natural choice to complement our Horned Dorset flock. Being very similar to the Horned Dorsets allows them to be ran together except at breeding time. Our flock is based on genetics either directly or indirectly from Muriel Burnett from Ontario. Our current goals are to select for traditional type Shropshires, not the modern show ring type. To this end we are planning on using semen from the United Kingdom and select individuals from traditional bloodlined flocks. If the time returns when we can import live sheep from the USA, then we will look there, until then we will look within Canada where we already know there are some fantastic traditional Shropshires.

I (Lorri) became interested in the Shropshire breed when I felt compelled to do my part to preserve a rare breed. A few years prior, I had asked my father what breed of sheep he used to raise, and he replied Shropshire. So it was also family heritage that made the decision for me.

2021 has seen a virtual explosion in demand for Shropshire sheep. We were sold out of ewe lambs April 1. There are more coming in September!

History and breed information: The Shropshire breed originated in the counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire in central western England. 1848 is the year that the breed became known as Shropshires. In 1855 the first importation to the USA was made. By 1880 the Shropshire sheep had spread through most of the colonies. This was due to their adaptability to all kinds of pastures, hardiness in winter, their prolificacy and longevity. They soon became the most popular breed of sheep in the USA and became known as the farm flock favorite, boasting wool from the tip of their nose to the tip of their toes. Ironically this boast is a major factor contributing to their decline in popularity. A fad started to develop extremely wool covered sheep and at the same time making them more compact. This resulted in the Shropshire losing much of its size and needing trimming around the eyes to prevent wool blindness. Once again a fad almost led to the disappearance of a breed. Some progressive breeders started selecting for size and more open points. This coupled with more imports from the United Kingdom started the Shropshire on the road to recovering its once prominent place in the North American sheep industry. Shropshires are a medium sized sheep known for being a dual purpose farm flock sheep. Ewes will produce close to 10 pounds of dense fleeece. They will also produce hardy, vogorous lambs with excellent meaty carcasses. The ewes are also known for their mothering and milking ability as well as prolificacy and longevity. The rams are noted for siring lambs that will grade excellent at a young age making them suitable for both the light and heavy lamb markets.The Shropshire's appearance is somewhat variable due to variations in the head and leg coloring ranging from a grey-brown (usually they get this way with age)and the more common dark brown (but not black). Also variations occur in the wool covering, often dependent upon the bloodlines and how much selection has been made for openness of face and points. Regardlesss of the variations due to color and wool cover, the Shropshire should always be a well muscled medium sized sheep with a dense white fleece.