spotted sheep and hst

Photo of polka....black and white yuglet flecket...from a spotted grey ewe and a plain black ram....polka had two siblings...both black...neither has had a lamb....Polka had a perfect hst black ewe lamb this spring..bred to an hst moorit ram. I don't know why she has scurrs!

Good morning,
I hope the temps are nice where you live...we are again expecting 99...or better. Since I got a touch of heatstroke yesterday...if it gets hot today I am heading in my air-conditioned car to an air-conditioned place to eat...or bookstore....this is as bad as cabin-fever in the cold north country.

We had maybe a break through on the subject of spots yesterday. Breeders on the regular shetland list...can you believe it...we used to get thrown off of there! A breeder mentioned having a "double" hst ram....And it got me to thinking about hst and flecket again.....What if there is REALLY an hst ram....or a double flecket!!!! We don't know yet because there haven't been enough folks breeding repeatedly for spots yet.
I repeat....yet! Nancy K has been speading hst through out the north american continent....and we may have enough folks breeding with spots to get some sort of idea how it works soon.
So...what I want you to look for....is spotted sheep who have one type of spotting in their pedigree.....can you trace hst or flecket in the pedigree of one sheep on your farm? Then breed that sheep to another one with JUST THAT TYPE of spotting in their pedigree too....I don't care....to quote another breeder...if you get green lambs....do one for us!
May be we can get enough of an idea at the end of this season to know if there really ARE two forms of spotting.
It occurs to me that I cross back ewes to other rams who may carry flecket....and maybe I have mixed the two in my own flock...so I can't tell that the two forms are actually different.! Yes, I get hst from flecket...and hst and fleckets who are twins....but maybe I STARTED that.
You can contact me if you need another ram...I still have some of each who don't want to get shipped...they told me so.

HEY!!!!!! maybe there are two forms of spotting in shetlands!!!! Maybe there are more than two.
Let's get out there and find out....let me know if you find anything...and I would love to post photos here too.
bopeep in a quest for the unknown.