Northern European short-tailed sheep

Northern European short-tailed sheep are a group of sheep breeds and landraces from the British Isles (including the English Channel), Scandinavia, Greenland and the area around the Baltic. They are thought to be derived from the first sheep brought to Europe by early farmers. They are hardy sheep, adapted to harsh environments, but they are small and have been replaced in most areas with later types of larger, long-tailed sheep.

These sheep are generally small and have characteristic short "fluke-shaped" tails, broad at the base and tapering to a hair-covered tip; the tails typically have 13 vertebrae compared with over 20 for other sheep; in most types the tail vertebrae are also shorter than those of long-tailed sheep. Their faces and legs are free of wool. The horns vary between breeds and often within them: they may be horned in both sexes, horned only in the male or in both sexes. Some types (such as Manx Loaghtan and Hebridean) can have more than one pair of horns.

They may be solid-coloured (commonly white, black or moorit – reddish-brown) or patterned, and white markings may also occur over other colouration. Some (such as Shetland and Icelandic) include a very wide range of colours and patterns. Some types moult naturally in spring, allowing their fleece to be rooed (plucked) rather than shorn. Twin births are frequent, with some (such as the Finnsheep, Romanov and Icelandic) often giving birth to litters of three, four or even more lambs. Breeding is usually seasonal, with lambs being born in spring or early summer.

Most types are very hardy and agile, being adapted to grazing rough vegetation in wet and cool climates, and they often have a strong preference for browsing. The North Ronaldsay is adapted to living largely on seaweed.

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