A Breed Under Threat

Few minority breeds have faced such challenging conditions as those from the northernmost isles. Meg Mearns highlights the plight of Shetland geese

- Meg Mearns

It’s not surprising that Shetland breeds are becoming so popular – they are hardy, they do well on rough ground and have very few health issues. Usually smaller than their mainland counterparts, all the breeds from Shetland cattle to Shetland geese, Shetland ducks and Shetland hens make very good choices for smallholders. In addition, people who choose to keep these breeds are making a positive contribution in helping in the conservation of these rare breeds – another brilliant reason to choose Shetland!

We have kept Shetland geese and Shetland ducks for many years now – they have such quirky characters that make them so much fun to be with and in their little family groups so much more entertaining than any soap. Getting to understand their ‘language’ through their vocal calls and displays is one of the fascinating things about keeping geese.

Shetland geese are a breed so rare it’s getting to the point where it is almost too late to save. When we met our first pair there were only a couple of breeders in the country, and there were under 50 individual geese in the whole of the UK. Over the last eight years we worked hard to get these numbers up to spread them further around the country, and now there are more people keeping Shetland geese than there have been for a long time. Part of the reason why they are so rare is that they are very difficult to get to breed - an indicator that the gene pool is desperately small.

Shetland geese are smaller than the big white farmyard types, with the males being mainly white and the females grey and white – so it is easy to tell the sexes apart. They have gorgeous blue eyes and the adults have a pinkish tinge to their beaks and legs.