Rare Breeds Canada Rare Breeds Canada Rare Breeds Canada (RBC) is a Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to preserving rare breeds of Canadian livestock. The organization was founded in 1987. It focuses on the rare breeds of livestock originating in Canada, including varieties of horses, sheep, pigs, chickens and cows. RBC publishes a Rare Breeds Priority List that separates livestock breeds into "critical", "endangered", "vulnerable", "at risk" and "recovering" categories. To assist with the preservation of these breeds, RBC coordinates a breeding program which uses host farms to manage small breeding groups which are used to build new flocks of animals. As the new
Shetland animal breeds which was also the ancestor of the Hebridean and North Ronaldsay sheep). Shetlands are classed as a landrace or "unimproved" breed. Although Shetlands are small and slow-growing compared to commercial breeds, they are hardy, thrifty, easy lambers, adaptable and long-lived. The Shetland breed has survived for centuries in difficult conditions and on a poor diet so they thrive in better conditions. Shetlands retain many of their primitive survival instincts so they are easier to care for than many modern breeds. Shetland was the last surviving locality for a type of domestic pig known as the "grice." Small in size yet