Understand the intricate biological processes that dictate sheep coat color, explaining the prevalence of white and the appearance of black. Fortunately, there are a few sheep breeds that don't need shearing, collectively known as "hair sheep." The coats of wild sheep, like that of most animals, does not grow continuously. It is shed each spring as the weather warms.
Sheep can come in a number of different shades of various colors including white, black, red, cream, gray, and brown. They can be solid or have an interesting pattern of colors on their coats of wool or hair. It really all depends on their breed, bloodline, and genetics.
Genetics play the main role in determining what color a sheep will be and, over the years, sheep breeders have finely tuned. Bighorn sheep possessing white, or extremely light-colored pelage, have been described in the literature as albinistic, leucistic, or simply as 'white'. Isabellinism is a genetic anomaly that manifests as sandy.
My interest in sheep color genetics started when our first lambs hit the ground in 1999. We bred our ewes to a moorit (brown--see color terms for definitions of color genetics terms as I use them.) ram and had six moorit lambs, apparently. But on closer observation, Shaltz Farm Allana had nearly white wool at the skin under brown tips, when she was born.
Needless to say, Allana was a puzzle. I. Sheep coat color genetics part 2, the spotting genes.
The highly unpredictable wild cards that make each of our sheep unique individuals. A sheep's wool color is determined by genes controlling pigment production. In most common sheep breeds, white wool is a dominant trait, meaning a sheep needs only one copy of the dominant gene to display a white fleece.
Note: If you have no background in genetics, it would be a good idea to review the Color Genetics Terms and the Sheep Color Genetics Primer before continuing on this page. In basic Shetland (meaning most primitive breeds) color genetics, most wool color is determined by two pairs of genes: Agouti and Black/brown. Clipart library offers about 47 high-quality Sheep Transparent for free! Download Sheep Transparent and use any clip art,coloring,png graphics in your website, document or presentation.
Fiber tips retain the birth color, as the new wool growth becomes paler in color until the process is complete, usually after the 6th to 8th month of age. Please note, there is a difference between this form of gray and the age.