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((Short description|Breed of sheep))
((Infobox sheep breed
| name          = Hog Island sheep
| image         = Hog Island Sheep USDA ARS.jpg
| image_alt     = A ram with a thick tan coat of hair and large white horns that curl back on themselves forming a loop, in a large grassy field. Two more sheep are in the background.
| image_caption = Hog Island sheep kept at [[George Washington]]'s [[Mount Vernon]] estate
| status        = Critical
| country       = United States
| maleweight    = ((convert|125|lb|kg))
| femaleweight  = ((convert|90|lb|kg))
| woolcolor     = most individuals white (about 10% are black)
| facecolor     = white with black speckles
))
'''Hog Island sheep''' are a breed of [[sheep]] descended from animals first brought to [[Hog Island (Virginia)|Virginia's Hog Island]] in the 18th century. During the 1930s and 1940s, storm conditions forced the island's residents to evacuate, leaving some sheep behind. These sheep adapted to the environment free of human intervention, becoming [[feral]].<ref name="crews" />

The breed is preserved by various organizations because of its relevance to American history and its resemblance to historical American sheep. It also possesses some traits that have been somewhat lost in more modern breeds.<ref name="harman" /><ref name="star" /><ref name="Dohner" />

==Breed characteristics==

The Hog Island sheep is a feral breed, descended from sheep abandoned on Hog Island in the 1930s and 1940s.<ref name="crews">((cite journal |last=Crews |first=Ed |title=Rare Sheep from Hog Island and Leicester |journal=Colonial Williamsburg |url= http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/summer07/sheep.cfm |issue=Summer 2007 |publisher=Colonial Williamsburg Foundation |access-date=October 20, 2011))</ref> It is believed that the breed was descended from the [[Merino]] breed, among others, possibly the [[English Leicester (sheep)|Improved Leicester]] or other English breeds.<ref name="harman" /><ref name="Dohner" />
The sheep is relatively small but tough and hardy. Rams weigh on average ((convert|125|lb|kg)) and ewes ((convert|90|lb|kg)).<ref name="crews" /> Lambs are born with spotted or speckled fleece; about 90% of adults have white fleece and 10% black.<ref name="albcbreedinfo">((cite web |title=Hog Island Sheep |work=Breed Information |publisher=[[The Livestock Conservancy]] |date=2015 |url= http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/hog-island |access-date=June 29, 2015))</ref><ref name="SheepMag">((cite news |url=http://www.sheepmagazine.com/issues/25/25-2/Rosemarie_Colombraro.html |title=Hog Island Breed: Goats In Sheep's Clothing |last=Colombraro |first=Rosemarie |work=Sheep Magazine |date=March–April 2004))</ref> Both males and females can have horns, and about half the total population do.<ref name="Dohner" />

The Hog Island sheep is not commonly used in modern agriculture, largely because of its endangered status and because more modern breeds have been bred for other characteristics, including maximum size and fleece yield. It is nevertheless considered important to preserve because of the insight it may give into American history and the traits it has that modern sheep might lack such as its toughness, foraging skill, efficient use of food, and easy [[Domestic sheep reproduction#Lambing|lambing]].<ref name="harman">((cite news |last=Harman |first=Alan |title=Hoarding Faded Genes: Feds & Non-profits Team Up to Store Rare Breed Remnants for Future |work=Sheep Magazine |location=Wisconsin |publisher=Countryside Publications |date=May–June 2011 |url=http://www.sheepmagazine.com/issues/32/32-3/hoarding_faded_genes-feds_+_non-profits_team_up_to_store_rare_breed_remnants_for_future.html |access-date=November 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006001129/http://www.sheepmagazine.com/issues/32/32-3/hoarding_faded_genes-feds_+_non-profits_team_up_to_store_rare_breed_remnants_for_future.html |archive-date=October 6, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all ))</ref><ref name="svf">((cite web |title=Hog Island Sheep |publisher=[[SVF Foundation]] |url=http://svffoundation.org/animals/hog-island-sheep.html |access-date=November 15, 2011 |archive-date=November 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104011535/http://svffoundation.org/animals/hog-island-sheep.html |url-status=dead ))</ref>

==History==
[[File:Dark Hog Island sheep.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph|right|Most Hog Island sheep are white, but there are black individuals.]]
Hog Island was colonized in the 17th century.<ref name="star">((cite news |first=Laura |last=Moyer |title=Rare sheep with a history |url=http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2003/082003/08172003/1064594/ |work=[[The Free Lance-Star]] |date=August 17, 2003 |access-date=31 January 2008 |archive-date=23 January 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130123114323/http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2003/082003/08172003/1064594/ |url-status=dead ))</ref><ref name="okie">((cite web |url= http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/hogisland/index.htm |title=Hog Island Sheep |work=Breeds of Livestock |publisher=[[Oklahoma State University]] Dept. of Animal Science |access-date=31 January 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110707022845/http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/hogisland/index.htm |archive-date=July 7, 2011<!--Latest archival date at which the images in the page will load.--> |url-status=dead))</ref> The sheep that colonists would have been using at the time would have been the contemporary English breeds, but Merinos were known to roam the barrier islands, having swam ashore from Spanish ships that wrecked along the coast. The colonists would have used some combination of these sheep in their flocks.<ref name="Dohner" />

As an island, Hog Island had open space and lacked predators, therefore the colonists allowed their livestock to roam free, rounding them up only to mark them or to use them for meat or wool. In 1933 a [[hurricane]] destroyed most of the island; the inhabitants abandoned the settled areas and many sheep were left to fend for themselves, reverting to a feral state. [[The Nature Conservancy]] bought the island in the 1970s, rounded up the sheep, and removed them to prevent [[overgrazing]].<ref name="star" /> The breed is extremely rare today; with fewer than 200 registered animals it is listed as "critical" by [[The Livestock Conservancy]].<ref name="albcwatchlist">((cite web |url= http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/conservation-priority-list#Sheep |title=Conservation Priority List |publisher=The Livestock Conservancy |access-date=29 June 2015))</ref>

===Research and conservation (after rediscovery)===
When the Nature Conservancy bought Hog Island, most of the sheep were bought by private owners.<ref name="Dohner" /> Some were taken to [[Blacksburg, Virginia|Blacksburg]], where [[Virginia Tech]] researchers studied the sheep to determine why they were relatively free of parasites; the researchers concluded that the sheep had no special resistance to parasites but were simply isolated from them by their habitat. The sheep were then sent to institutions such as [[George Washington Birthplace National Monument|George Washington's birthplace]], [[Mount Vernon]], as well as [[Colonial Williamsburg]] and the [[Piscataway Park|National Colonial Farm at Piscataway Park]] for preservation and increasing public awareness of endangered livestock breeds.<ref name="crews" /><ref name="star" /><ref>((Cite web|url=https://accokeekfoundation.org/livestock-conservation/|title=National Colonial Farm: Heritage Breed Livestock Conservation|last=|first=|date=2016|website=Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511161807/https://accokeekfoundation.org/livestock-conservation/|archive-date=11 May 2020|access-date=9 April 2020))</ref> The [[United States Department of Agriculture]]'s [[National Animal Germplasm Program]] has [[collected semen]] samples from several of the sheep as part of a program that aims to preserve the genetic material of animals significant to American history.<ref name="usda">((cite journal |last=McGinnis | first=Laura |title=Collaboration Brings Colonial Sheep Collection to Colorado |journal= Agricultural Research |issue=March 2009 | pages=20–21 |publisher=[[US Department of Agriculture]] |url= http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/31859/1/IND44210098.pdf |access-date=9 November 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120425091432/http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/31859/1/IND44210098.pdf |archive-date=April 25, 2012 |url-status=dead))</ref> Because Hog Island sheep resemble the small, short-fleeced sheep that would have been raised in colonial farms for meat and wool, they (or a cross between them and [[Dorset sheep]], a combination called "American Site sheep") are used in exhibits to recreate the look and feel of a historical farm.<ref name="Dohner">((Harv |Vorwald Dohner |2001 |pp=142–143))</ref>

[[File:HogIslandSheepLamb.jpg|thumb|A young Hog Island Sheep at the Accokeek Foundation]]

Because the Hog Island sheep population is so small, the preservation of the breed through a pure, inbred line would threaten the breed's health by an increased risk of pairing of "bad genes". Stillbirths and atypical-looking sheep have been reported by some breeders. In response, some breeders have crossed Hog Island sheep with other breeds, including [[Gulf Coast Native sheep|Gulf Coast Native]] sheep, and then bred the offspring with pure Hog Island sheep, producing almost pure Hog Island sheep except for the addition of some genetic diversity.<ref name="Dohner" />

==See also==
* [[Santa Cruz sheep]]

==References==

===Notes===
((reflist|30em))

===Bibliography===
*((cite book |last=Vorwald Dohner |first=Janet |title=The Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry Breeds |publisher=Yale University Press |date=2001 |page=143 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WJCTL_mC5w4C |isbn=978-0-300-08880-9 ))

==External links==
((Commons category))
* ((Cite web |url=http://hogislandsheep.org/index.html |title=Hog Island Sheep Association |access-date=January 31, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330142956/http://hogislandsheep.org/index.html |archive-date=March 30, 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |df=mdy-all ))
* [http://www.mountvernon.org/visit-his-estate/plan-your-visit/heritage-animals Hog Island Sheep] at George Washington's [[Mount Vernon]]

((Good article))

((Sheep breeds of Canada and the United States))

[[Category:Sheep breeds originating in the United States]]
[[Category:Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy]]
[[Category:Sheep landraces]]

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