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Moorit/Badgerface |
Black/Mouflan |
Moorit/Solid |
(Photos above of freshly shorn
colors/patterns)
Icelandic sheep are a true example of versatility. For the hand-spinner, weaver,
knitter, felter, gourmet cook, milker, or cheesemaker, all will share delightful
enthusiasm for the Icelandic breed of sheep. They are a rare breed of sheep,
which have remained basically unchanged during 1,000 years of isolation on the
island of Iceland. They are possibly the oldest and purest domesticated breed of
sheep in the world today.
Icelandics are a medium-sized sheep with ewes weighing an average of about 130-150 pounds, and rams weighing 150-200 pounds, of course depending on body conditioning. Either sex can be polled or horned. They belong to the short-tailed race of sheep, which means no tail docking is necessary on the lambs--a feature shepherds really appreciate. Their double-coated fleece sometimes grows as long as 12-16 inches a year if left unshorn, and comes in a wide variety of gorgeous natural colors and patterns. Natural colors vary from snowy white, cream, through several shades of grey, to pitch black, as well as several shades of moorit (brown) to brownish-black. Spotting is also a delightful possibility. Shearing can be done twice a year if desired, for good staple-length for hand-spinners, or if left unshorn the sheep can shed their fleece naturally. Once the shedding has begun, the shepherd can "roo" (pluck) it directly off the animal. It can be processed together, or separated into "tog" (longer outer hairs) and "thel" (fine inner coat). The tog has a spinning count of 56-60, equivalent to 27-30 microns, and the thel has a count of 64-70, equivalent to 19-22 microns. Icelandic sheep have fewer hair follicles per inch than other commercial breeds, which makes their pelts softer and more supple than others. While fleeces of breeds can lose up to 50% of their weight during washing, the Icelandic fleeces lose only about 25-30%. Fleece customers appreciate not paying for that extra "grease." The long time world-famous "lopi" yarn is 100% Icelandic wool. Now this wonderful Icelandic sheep fiber is available to fiber enthusiasts from locally raised Icelandic sheep!
Icelandic sheep are not particularly tall, but broad and have excellent conformation as a meat breed. Their meat has a fine texture and light delicate flavor. Although Icelandics are famous for their wool around the world, in Iceland they are bred almost exclusively for meat. Dressing percentage is about 45%.
Here in North America, we register our purebred lambs with the CLRC (Canadian Livestock Records Corporation) located in Ottawa, Canada. Registration papers show a 3-generation pedigree of ancestors for each sheep, making purebred record-keeping and genetic choices relatively simple tasks.
Icelandic lambs are sexually mature around 7-8 months of age. Gestation is approximately 142 days (about 5 days shorter than most other breeds) which usually produces slightly smaller lambs with very few birthing problems. Lambs are vigorous and grow extremely rapidly. Ewes are good mothers and produce an abundance of milk. Lambs can be raised to market weight (90-110 pounds) in several months on excellent, lush pasture and mom's udder exclusively.
Woolfarm.com
Priscilla Meinholz
1351 County Road T
Marshall, WI 53559
Phone: (608) 655-1351
Email: woollady@chorus.net