The Gotland is a motherly, curious sheep with lustrous, long, curly grey wool and a fine black face. They were first imported into the UK in 1972 especially for their unusual and beautiful pelt.
Born with a dark black coat, lambs will develop a grey uniform wool by 3-8 months which is highly sought after for spinning into yarn. The lambs are also born with naturally short tails, tipped with hair.
Adult Gotland wool will usually fall between 29 and 33 microns, whereas a Gotland lamb will be closer to 20. The wool from these wonderful animals was used to make “The Magic Elvin Cloak” in Lord of the Rings- that’s how exceptional it is!
A Gotland ewe will weigh, on average, between 55-70kg. Gotland are a little heavier at 75-85kg. The breed is slender in shape and fine boned. However good Gotland lambs can easily reach 40-55kgs in the summer months.
The British Gotland Sheep Society was formed in 1992 by fellow Gotland enthusiasts to improve the breed and breed awareness. The first Gotland flock book was published in 1983, and now in 2020, the flock book is here online at CloudLines!
The BGSS Flockbook is now enhanced with CloudLines tools to give a better picture of breed diversity.
British Gotland Sheep now have the advantage of these CloudLines tools, such as Mean Kinship and Coefficient of Inbreeding, to aid decision making in their breeding programs.