Sheep are to be seen everywhere on Coll -on the roadsides. in the fields. on rough grazing, even on the seashore. If you spend your summer holiday on Coll you can be sure you're sharing the island with around nine thousand sheep, including lambs.

The predominant breed, chosen mainly because of its hardiness and ability to survive on low quality grazing is the Blackface. The B1ackface is also crossed with other breeds including the Cheviot and Border Leicester to produce a ewe capable of making better use of the island's more fertile parts. Sheep on Coli, as elsewhere in Britain, suffer from a wide range of diseases, internal and external parasites and in some places mineral deficiencies. Much of the sand-dunes or 'machair' parts of Coll are deficient in cobalt which leads to a condition known as pine in sheep that are kept there for long periods. Another major problem is the liver fluke, a little parasite which spends part of its life in a type of snail found in many of the island bogs and another part in the sheep's liver where it can do so much damage as to kill the sheep. Both these conditions can be corrected however by regular drenching during the winter.

Coll weather is also an important factor affecting the farmer's business. A cold wet winter can mean that the ewes are in poor condition at lambing time which leads to a high mortality rate in the lambs. High winds can mean that the ferry to Oban is unable to call at the pier when lambs are going to market and this further disrupts the farmer's plans.

The sheep farmer's year begins around October/November when the ewes and gimmers are mated with the tups. It's important that the sheep are in good condition then to ensure a high proportion of twin lambs. A lean ewe is more likely to produce a single lamb or may not mate with the tup at all. Many Coll sheep are given supplementary feeding in the weeks prior to lambing to ensure that they are in reasonable condition and have a good supply of milk for their newborne.

Lambing starts around mid-March and continues into May. This is the busiest time of the year for the sheep farmers when they can be observed trudging around the fields and hills with crook in hand and dog at heel. Depending on how the lambing is going it mayor may not be safe to approach them! Their problems include ewes which need assistance at lambing, ewes with no milk but with twin lambs, ewes with plenty of milk but dead lambs, ewes which won't accept their own lambs but try to adopt other lambs, and also feeding "pet" or orphan lambs. However this last chore can usually, with careful management, be transferred to the lady of the house.

A short time after lambing has finished the lambs' tails are 'docked', i.e. about half is cut off, the owners' earmark is put on the lambs and the tup lambs are castrated. The lambs are also counted and the 'lambing percentage' calculated by comparing the number of lambs with the number of ewes and gimmers put to the tup. This whole operation is known as 'the marking'. Percentages of 100% and over are quite common on Coll which is generally recognised to be good for this part of Scotland.

Clipping of all sheep takes place during June and July, the hoggs and yeld ewes in June and the milk ewes in July. Much of the clipping on Coll is now done by a gang of clippers made up of islanders and mainlanders using electric shearing machines, though some farmers still shear their own. Dry weather and a good 'rise' are essential to the clipping. 'Rise' means the soft new wool close to the sheep's skin and grown that year and a sheep with little or no 'rise' is very difficult to clip. The wool is packed into large sacks and sent to wool merchants on the mainland where every fleece is graded and priced accordingly.

Marketing of lambs takes place from August onwards, many being sold for immediate slaughter, the remainder to mainland farmers for further fattening. Ewe lambs suitable for breeding are kept and put to the tup two years later as gimmers. Once all the lambs have been 'spained' (i.e. separated) from the ewes the whole cycle starts again in October and November with the ewes and tups being joined once more. In spite of the sheeps' attitude to life, which seems to commit suicide by drowning in a water-filled ditch or to contract some rare and mysterious disease and a desire to be as awkward and unco-operative as possible, most farmers actually enjoy keeping them, although they'd be hard put to tell you why. It might be something to do with the challenge of actually making money out of them -especially on Coll!

Some hints and advice to the visitor on Coll wishing to keep the peace with the local sheep-farmer: Shut all gates behind you and keep dogs under control. When driving and sheep are on the road, drive carefully. When you encounter a shepherd with a flock of sheep on the road, stop and let the sheep go round you unless otherwise directed. Do not lift that little lost lamb by the roadside to take to the farmer - its mother is probably close by. Approach with caution any sheep farmer who is in difficulties with his sheep, even the most mild-mannered can become violent at times!

Glossary:
ewe... female sheep
hog...l year sheep
gimmer...2 year sheep
yeld ewe... barren ewe
milk ewe...ewe rearing lambs
tup... ram or male sheep
drenching... oral administration of medicine
clipping... shearing