Purebred Icelandic sheep in Virginia’s heartland   

Spotting

 

Any color or pattern of Icelandic sheep can also come in a spotted variation.  The gene for spotting is a separate gene that overlays white markings on top of whatever other colors and patterns the sheep carries.

 

A sheep must carry two copies of the spotting gene to be spotted.  Sheep who carry only one copy of the gene don’t have spots, but they can still pass the gene on to their offspring to produce spotted lambs.

 

The extent and shape of the spots varies widely.  Some spotted sheep, are mostly colored, with minimal white markings.  Some have big bold patches of white and color.  Others are almost entirely white, with just small amount of color remaining visible.

 

Even white sheep can be spotted, although you usually can’t see the spots against the sheep’s already white fleece.  In Iceland, some farmers breed for white sheep with extensive white spotting, because it is said to make the fleece extra white.

This sheep is spotted?  She sure is.  See the tiny little white mark on her left hind ankle?  It’s not much, but it still counts as a spot.

This gray-mouflon ewe is also minimally spotted, as evidenced by her white ankles and the white mark on her forehead.

This spotted black lamb exhibits one of the classic spotting patterns often seen in sheep with leadersheep bloodlines.

Depending on their shape, spotting patterns may look like white patches on a colored sheep, or colored patches on a white sheep.

On sheep with very extensive white markings, it can sometimes be tricky figuring out exactly what colors and patterns the sheep carries under the spots, because there is so little colored area left unspotted.

Even white sheep can be spotted—you just normally can’t see the spotting pattern against the white fleece.  But this white lamb has heavy phaeomelanin that makes her fleece be a rich tan color, allowing the spotting pattern of her white hind socks to show up vividly.

Main Color Genetics Page

The Two Basic Colors

The Six Patterns

Spots

 

Back to Resources page.

 

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