Hog Island Sheep

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Domestic Life

Devon Cattle

Hog Island Sheep

Wikipedia Article

Discussion

The Hog Island sheep descends from sheep imported to America in the 16th Century at Hog Island, near Jamestown, Virginia. The are probably a mix of Merino and other breds. Descendants of these sheep of our earliest Virginia settlers. Present stock descend from specimen that were abandoned on Hog Island during the 1930's and 40's, and in the absence of predators adapted to feral life. The bred was rediscovered in the 1970's when Nature Conservancy purchased Hog Island. Today there are less than 200 registered specimen of this bred.

Hog Island sheep resemble the small, short-fleeced sheep that would have been raised in colonial farms for meat and wool. As a result, they (or a cross between them and Dorset sheep, are used in exhibits to recreate the look and feel of a historical farm. They are stocked, for example at the historic Ingles Farm on the New River in Montgomery County Virginia. Another breed, the English Leicester, dating to the early 1700's, is also used to represent colonial era sheep at some historical farms, including Colonial Williamsburg.

Hog Island Sheep

English Leicester Sheep