Welcome to the NASSA website!
The mission of the North American Shetland Sheepbreeders Association is to preserve, promote, and protect the Shetland breed in its full diversity of colors, patterns, and fleece types.
Shetland sheep roots go back more than 1,000 years, probably to sheep brought to the Shetland Islands by Viking settlers. The North American Shetland Sheepbreeders Association, or NASSA, assists breeders of Shetlands in maintaining the purity and quality of this unique and colorful breed. NASSA provides registration and pedigree records for informed breeding decisions. If you are a current Shetland Sheep breeder, you’ll find resources on this page including NASSA forms and the breed standard.
If you are considering purchasing sheep, now is the time to take a closer look at the colorful Shetland sheep breed. Shetland wool is soft, fine, silky, and durable and a delight to spin, knit or crochet. Shetland sheep are considered a primitive or “unimproved” breed. This means that although they are small and relatively slow-growing, they maintain their natural hardiness, thriftiness, easy lambing, adaptability and longevity. Having retained most of their primitive survival instincts, Shetlands are easier to care for than many of the “improved” breeds seen today.
How to Buy a Shetland Sheep
Sample Bill of Sale
Use the navigation links above to find more information about NASSA and Shetland sheep. Our latest articles are shown below. Enjoy your visit!
Popular Forms, Pages and Links
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by Site Admin on October 1, 2022
The Fall 2022 issue of NASSA News is now available to download from the Members Area of the Online Database website. If you are a NASSA member and have already set up your Members Area account, go to the NASSA News page and log in to see the link for downloading the latest issue. Or if you are a current NASSA member without an account for the Online Database site, go to the Membership Info page and click the “… become a Search Site member” link near the bottom of the page to set up your account. You will need to have a valid email address in your NASSA member information in order to set up your account.
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by Site Admin on July 11, 2022
Join us for the virtual NASSA 2022 Annual General Meeting
Saturday November 12, 2022
12 p.m. – 5 p.m. EST
12:00 p.m. Dr. Christian Posbergh, Montana State University, Application of Commercial Management Techniques for the Heritage Small Flock Shepherd
1:00 p.m. Lydia Christiansen, Abundant Earth Fiber Mill, Yielding the Best Results From Small Batch Processing
2:00 p.m. Marceline Smith, Hey Brown Berry, Connecting Through Farm Wool for Intentional Making
3:40 p.m. NASSA Business Meeting, Angela King, NASSA President
4:00 p.m. Clara Parkes Wool Advocacy
Register online here.
Thank you to our 2022 AGM sponsors!
Battenkill Fibers
Winterstrom Ranch
Oklahoma Mini Mill
Round Barn Fiber Mill
Click the image below for the AGM Flyer:
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