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The
Icelandic sheep.
History.
When
viking settlers first arrived in Iceland in AD 874 they brought with them
domestic sheep which to this day remain unique in the amnimal kingdom.
These were what later was known as the Icelandic Sheep. They have
in their own way had almost as much of an impact on the history and
develpment of the country as man himself. Without the sheep, the
Icelanders would never have survived here.
The closest relatives to the Icelandic sheep are the short-tailed Northern
European breeds - the Russian Romanov, the Finnish Landrace, Swedish Gotland,
the Spaelsau in Norway and the Shetland in the United Kingdom.
From the very beginning, Icelanders have found themselves engaged in a
relentless struggle to come to terms with the harshness of the rugged environment
in which they live. If the horse was a source of transport of labour,
sheep were the key to the nation's survival, their flesh providing generations
of Icelanders with food and their wool protection from the biting cold
of the harsh northern climate.
The
unusual wool.
Lopi-Sweater.
A further striking characteristic of the Icelandic Sheep is it's natural
colors, black, grey, pied/spotted, and moorit as well as the usual white,
which today still set their distinctive mark on Iceland knitwear, one of
the best known examples of which is the Lopi-sweater.
While the technology of knitwear manufacture may have changed dramatically
since the days of those early Viking settlers, the commitment of Icelanders
to quality and tradition has not.
In an age when conservation is an issue of increasing concern, Icelandic
woollens are an environmentally friendly product, evolved over centuries
of co-operation between man and nature.
Thus, it should come as no surprise to learn that only natural energy sources
such as geothermal and hydroelectric power are used in their manufacture,
while today, as throughout their history, Iceland sheep still graze freely
on vast tracts of virgin land untouched by pollution, a feature reflected
in the quality of their wool.
From selection to spinning, only the best wool is used. Following
it's purchase direct from farmers, it is graded by experts before being
taken for washing at scouring plants around the country.
The fleece varies from 3" to 18" in length and 50's to 70's in count.
The fleece has a fine soft undercoat called the "þel", and a coarser
outer coat, which is called
the
"tog". This feature is rather unique to this breed. The outer
coat sheds rain well and the þel protects the sheep from the constant
winds of Iceland. The sheep naturally sheds its fleece but
the sheep that do not have turnout in the wintertime feel uncomfortable
in all the wool, and many farmers also sell the wool. The wool is
thus sheared on almost all farms, many of them shear twice a year.
The average fleece weights 4-5 lbs.
Other
characteristics.
It is
hard to think about the characteristics of the Icelandic sheep, without
thinking about the history and the nature of Iceland. The hay was
usually scarce. As the winter blizzards can be hard, the whole flock
of sheep was put in a barn every night in the wintertime, and also on days
with bad weather, but the shepherd drove his sheep out on pasture every
day when it was possible, even through many feet deep snow. In the
summertime the sheep were driven to the mountains, where they took care
of themselves and their lambs untill they were rounded up in the fall.
The sheep are thus very individualistic when compared to other breed of
sheep, and even though they are certainly very definitely group animals,
they also have a strong tendency of forming small flocks of 5-10 sheep
that stick together, or even just an ewe and her lambs. These small
bands seek out the best pasture, and the best way to survive in a harsh
nature. This feature also makes them often more difficult to round
up, because when the herd is under "attack" the sheep have more of a tendency
to spread to all directions and run to the mountains, than group together
in a flock of hundreds of animals.
Through
the history, a special strain of sheep evolved, within the Icelandic breed,
the leadersheep. These sheep are very individualistic, and are willing
to go up front and show the whole herd the best way to go. These
sheep are also often very clever animals, that have a good sense of weather,
are very hardy, and their conformation is more long-legged and athletic
than the others. When the shepherds were driving their sheep to and
from pasture in the old days, it was very much appreciated to have a leadersheep
in the herd, a sheep that would warn the shepherd by taking the sheep home
if bad weather was coming, a sheep that would fight to make a path through
drifts of snow so the whole herd could get to the much appreciated grazings,
or back home to the barn when a dark sky was threatening. There is
not much need for the leadersheep today, but many farmers still want to
have 1-2 of them in their herds, and in respect for the history, and for
the importance of keeping diversity in the stock, there is always a leadersheep-ram
available for insemination today.
The breed is primarily horned (both ewes and rams), but about a third of
the sheep are polled. Mature ewes weigh around 80 kg (160 lbs.)
and mature rams 100-110 kg (200 - 220 lbs). The ewes take good care
of their lambs, and milk well for them. The lambs grow fast, faster
than in many other breeds. The average carcass weight of a 4 months
old lam is 16 kg (32 lbs), but the lam is usually culled straight after
it's taken off the highland, and only the smaller lambs are put for a while
on cultivated pasture.
Most of the sheep are white today, but about a fifth of the population
are in a variety of colors.
The sheep are usually bred in late December, but some farmers breed a bit
earlier so the ewes will lamb early. The average length of gestation
is 143 days, and the percentage of the adult ewes that conceive is very
high.
The skin is used as pelt skin, both for decorations and for warm clothes
(jackets, mittens, caps etc), and it is very smooth.
In Iceland the sheep are bred virtually exclusively for meat. The
meat has a wonderful "game"flavour, which should not be a surprice as most
of the lamb's feed are wild plants with their spicy tastes. The "wool"
taste which is a frequent complaint when people eat mutton all over the
world is unknown in the Icelandic lamb meat.
History
I Characteristics I Colors
I Breeding goals I Gaits
I Training
I
Raising
our horses I Our broodmares I Foals
1999 I Foals 2000 I Onelist
I Location I Weather
I Winter gallery I Summer
gallery I Us at Langhus
I
Icelandic
cow I Icelandic sheep I Icelandic
sheepdog I Articles from the website IWebrings
I Link-collection I Horses
for sale I
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