Sheep Color Genetics References

• Color Genetics
  Terms
• Sheep Color
  Genetics Primer
• Shetland Color
  Genetics
• Other Colored
  Sheep
• References

The best resource for information about sheep color genetics that I've found has been sheep-color-genetics@yahoogroups.com. This is a group of breeders and researchers who are interested in the subject and are trying to both genotype their sheep and figure out patterns of heritability in color. Nice folks, very patient with newbie questions and crackpot theories.

The next best reference is the landmark study published by the Journal of Agricultural Research in Iceland, Colour Inheritance in Icelandic Sheep and Relation Between Colour, Fertility, and Fertilization, by Dr Stefan Adalsteinsson. I have relied heavily on this book to understand color genetics of primitive breeds such as Icelandic and Shetland. It is, I believe, out of print at the present time. I encourage everyone interested in this subject to borrow a copy from another breeder and become familiar with the material.

The proceedings published by the World Congress on Colored Sheep are very worthwhile, both for their information on color genetics and their focus on other aspects of breeding colored sheep, such as marketing colored wool.

Black Sheep Newsletter is a quarterly publication devoted to subjects related to colored sheep. Frequently color genetics are the subject of articles in this newsletter.

One of the more complete listings and explanations of color genetics is found at the Australian National Genomic Information Service. Comprehensive, it can be intimidating at first glance, but is well worth visiting and revisiting as your understanding of color genetics grows. To access additional pages, change the "1" at the end of the address in your browser's location window to the next number in sequence.

If you are interested in showing colored sheep, you might be interested in joining the National Colored Wool Growers Association. They produce a quarterly magazine with show information.