Welcome to the Walnut Rise Shetlands site!
PUREBRED SHETLAND SHEEP NASSA FLOCK #172

To hear a Shetland Fiddler tune press play!

A group of Walnut Rise ewes.

Our farm is located in mid-Michigan, about 20 miles south of Lansing. We (Lee McIntosh, Sarah Jane Gilmour and our son, Angus Robin McIntosh) live in an old farmhouse (circa 1908) on 35 acres along with our flock of purebred Shetland sheep, a small herd of Dexter cattle, a flock of Dominique chickens, several dogs, and a couple of barn cats. Our Maremma livestock guardian dog, Tosca, lives with the sheep and keeps predators away. Our border collie, Nikki, a herding dog, rounds up the sheep for us when we need to catch them for hoof-trimming, worming, shearing etc. Sometimes a bucket of corn will serve the same purpose. We have owned Shetland sheep since 1993, starting out with a small flock of only three sheep. We now maintain a flock of somewhere around 30-40 sheep.

We sell breeding stock to other breeders; visitors are welcome to stop by and see the flock. We also sell fleeces for handspinning in a range of colors - we have black, white, greys, browns, and very light fawn fleeces available from both mature sheep and from lambs after their first shearing. This lamb's wool is the softest of all and a delight to spin. Sarah is a handspinner and knitter, and has been knitting since she was a small child in England where she grew up. Wool and knitting is a way of life there. We send out samples of what we have available to anyone interested in buying a fleece.

We are dedicated to preserving the quality and numbers of the Shetlands, along with other members of the North American Shetland Sheepbreeders Association (NASSA). We particularly want to emphasize fleece quality, a trait for which Shetland sheep have been noted for hundreds of years. Shetland wool, one of the finest and softest of any breed, is sought after by handspinners, and knits up to garments so soft they can be worn next to the skin. The famed "wedding ring" shawls, so fine they could be drawn through a wedding ring, were traditionally spun from Shetland wool almost to the fineness of a human hair, then knitted into a shawl six feet square weighing only 2-3 ounces. 

We have recently used semen imported from the United Kingdom on some of our best ewes in order to introduce genes producing extremely fine crimpy wool into our flock. The prizewinning rams from which this semen was obtained are some of the best specimens of Shetland sheep anywhere. We both visit England frequently and have been able to meet some of the Shetland breeders there and see some of the donor rams and feel their wool; indeed they are truly splendid animals.

SHETLANDS

SHETLANDS IN THE US

   FOR SALE

   LAMBS BORN FROM ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION
 
 

Shetland Flock Book Society

North American Shetland Sheepbreeders Association

Oklahoma State University Livestock Breeds

Elite Genetics

Shetland Wool Brokers

The Shetland Times

                        You are guest number since February 17, 1998!
                                This page was updated July 28, 1998.
 

This Sheeps R Us site is owned by Walnut Rise Shetlands..  [ Prev 5 Sites | Prev | Next | Next 5 Sites | Random Site | List Sites ] Want to join the ring? Get the info