why are sheep differennt colours???

[Oranges]

i was with my parents the other day driving round scotland, and i noticed the sheep were unusual colours, i seen yellow ones blue ones pink ones and brown ones, whats with dying them? kinda hoping someone who knows something about sheep might be able to enlighten me

[Red]

If they are running with a ram you will often find that the ram has a harness on him with a dye block on his tum so that when he covers the ewes the farmer will know which ones he has covered.

Also with the different colours you will find different rams running around the area, so again the farmer knows which ram has been where.

Hope this helps!

[Oranges]

i see, thats pretty clever,
i thought it was maybe a competition between the farmers who can get the wierdest coloured sheep

[Guest]

They also apparently dye them for showing up there. I went on holiday to an orange sheep place - the whole of the sheep(s) were orange, not just the back where the mating die goes.

[fin]

All of our Welsh ones are just boring old sheep colour.... a bit of blue dye occasionally, which runs in the rain and makes them look like pensioners with blue rinses--but nothing more inventive than that!

[sarak]

Rainbow coloured sheep! Whatever next? ;D

[aberlemno]

It's probably a new EU directive, so that the countryside doesn't look so monotone green . . . and to stop sheep being bored.

[berylsmum]

Wow, the things you learn on here.

[karen]

come to devon all the sheep are orange ~ (due to the red soil we have in abundance here)-it is also a stoopid idea to have a grey horse and white feathers are a no go my skewbald is permanently brown and pink)

[copper]

i want a purple one!

[Oranges]

i'd love a orange sheep ;D

[rust]

well sheep are natturally green just like my pony, i would like an all over purple sheep without raddle marks please.

wonder where the local sheep salon is?

[maisiemoo]

hay

I dont know but i think its so the shepards can tell wot sheeep are theres if they are other shepards sheep i the same land xx

[Finn but not logged in]

Well, I saw some orange ones today! North Wales too is moving into the 21st century with trendy rainbow sheep!

[HeatherA]

Some of the orange Scottish sheep may just be because the dipping fluid dyes them that colour. Most of them are boring old grey or whte, honest they are

In East Lothian they are sometimes pink as the soil is red and dyes them that way.