Guest Author - Beth Firme

While doing research on “primitive” sheep breeds, I found some interesting information on the Manx Loaghtan sheep. This Northern Short-tailed type of sheep is found on the Isle of Man off the coast of Great Britain and is descended from the primitive sheep found throughout Scotland and the British coastal islands.

This breed shares many of the characteristics of other primitive sheep breeds. As with most breeds, the ewes are smaller than the rams, with the ewes weighing approximately 85 pounds, and both genders having no wool on the face or legs. Like the Shetland, this breed is fine-boned and slow maturing. They survive well on a poorer diet, like the Hog Island, Shetland, and Soay sheep. Additionally, the Manx Loaghtan will sometimes shed its wool in the spring.

This hardy breed of sheep has a long history, over 1,000 years, on the Isle of Man. They are believed to be native to the island, since no evidence places them as imports with Norse settlers.

This breed is somewhat similar to the Jacob sheep in that it has multiple horns. It can have as few as two, but can have as many as six. Four horns are preferred. The horns are smaller on the ewes, but larger and stronger on the rams. Occasionally the horns are curled.

I think what originally drew me to this sheep was the name, Manx Loaghtan. Loaghton is a combining of the Manx words “lugh dhoan”, which means “mouse brown.” This is probably a color reference, since most of the sheep are this shade of brown. This color change begins about two weeks after they are born, since the lambs are born black.

The wool is a nut-brown color, and fades with exposure to the sun. Soft, with some luster, it is left undyed. Hosiery, knitted garments, undyed woolens, tweeds, and Manx tartans are made from this wool. Lightweight garments are also woven from this fiber. The wool is 3 – 4 inches in length and has a Bradford count of 46 – 54. Each sheep yields approximately 5 pounds of wool per year.

In addition to wool, this particular breed is prized as a meat sheep. The sheep are usually butchered at approximately 15 months old. They have an average carcass weight of approximately 36 pounds and the meat is lean, low cholesterol, high quality, and full of flavor. Their meat is considered a delicacy.

As a sidenote, where there are sheep, there are generally dogs. There is what was once known as the Manx sheepdog. It was what was called a “holding” dog, meaning that it kept “to heel” that is, back beside the handler, and could hold any sheep that was pointed out to it. It would grab the sheep behind the neck, throw it down, and hold it with its paws, not hurting the sheep. The dogs didn’t work sheep the way collies and other herding dogs do. They were apparently smooth coated, roughly the size of a Scottish deer hound, and black, grey, and tan.

While this breed is considered rare, it has made much progress since the 1950’s. It almost went extinct, because it was not believed to be viable and commercially usable. Since then it has made something of a comeback, but it is still considered rare and is monitored carefully.