ICELANDIC SHEEP
Icelandic sheep are a mid-sized domestic sheep breed that originated in Iceland more than 1000 years ago. They are a dual purpose breed, raised for both wool and meat. Icelandic sheep are an ideal breed for the homestead farm. Several characteristics make them particularly well suited for small farms. These characteristics include their medium size, strong maternal traits, seasonal breeding and early maturation, large rumen capacity and foraging ability, gourmet quality meat and premium fleece, polled or horned heads, and naturally short tails.
Size
Icelandic sheep are a medium sized breed. Adult ewes average 130-160 lbs. and adult rams 180-220 lbs. They are short-legged and stocky, so for their weight you get a higher percentage of meat compared to some other breeds. The smaller size can make them less intimidating to handle.
Strong Maternal Traits
Icelandic ewes are known for their strong maternal traits. They have good prolificacy (lambing rates of 175-220%) – this means that they usually have twins or even triplets. They are usually able to give birth on their own and show strong mothering instincts for caring for and nursing their lambs. Lambs are usually vigorous at birth and they are on their feet and trying to nurse within minutes after birth.
Seasonal Breeders
Icelandic sheep are seasonal breeders. Ewes will only come into estrus, or “heat” starting in late October to early November and lasting through the end of March or early April. The advantage of this for a small farm is that even if kept with a ram year round, ewes will usually lamb in the early spring rather than the middle of winter. Because we do not have a fully enclosed barn, we usually aim to have our ewes lamb in late April to early May. To accomplish this we keep our ram separated from the ewes for the first 3 weeks of November. If we have any ewe lambs that we do not want bred that season, we keep them separated during the winter months, but once lambing is over in the spring we are able to put all of our sheep together for the rest of the spring and summer without worrying about the yearling ewes being bred out of season. This simplifies spring and summer pasture management. This breeding cycle also means that you do not need to castrate ram lambs that you are raising for meat, as long as you plan to butcher them by the end of October, you can keep them in with all of the ewes without worrying that they will breed back to their dams.
Early Maturation
Icelandic ram lambs are ready to use as breeding rams when they are 5 months old. If you do not want to deal with having a full grown ram on your property, you can use a ram lamb born in May to breed your ewes in November. Once he is done breeding them (usually by January you can be sure they are all bred) you can bring him to the butcher. If large enough, ewe lambs can also be bred when they are 6 months old. However, these younger animals will need excellent nutrition to successfully grow and carry lambs, and they are more prone to lambing problems than adult ewes. I wait to breed my lambs until they are 18 months old.
Large Rumen Capacity
Icelandic sheep have a rumen that is proportionally larger in size than many other breeds. The rumen is the largest of the four “stomachs” of a ruminant animal. The rumen acts as a large storage and digestive vat for grass and other forage. The rumen is a living ecosystem of micro-organisms that digest the forage for the sheep. Due to this ecosystem of the rumen, ruminants are able to thrive on grass and forage. The limiting factor for how much forage an animal can consume is the size of its rumen. If you want to raise sheep on grass and forage, without supplementing grain, you want sheep with a large rumen. The extra large rumen of Icelandic Sheep makes them particularly well suited to grass fed operations. Icelandic sheep can thrive on pasture alone, and if pasture is good, lambs do not need grain for finishing or fattening. On good pasture, meat lambs will reach market weight of 80-90 lbs. at 5-6 months of age.
Foraging Ability
Icelandic sheep do not flock as strongly as some of sheep. When out on a pasture the sheep will spread out evenly across the pasture and forage effectively. This makes them well suited for foraging in sparse pastures over larger areas. Icelandics are also happy to graze on low browse such as raspberry or blackberry leaves and small hardwoods. You do need to be mindful about the nutritional value of browse, some trees, such as Beech, have a low nutritional value. When grazing on browse the sheep will defoliate brush and trees, but they do not tend to eat the branches and stems the way that goats do. When grazing on grass, if not left in a pasture too long, Icelandics will not eat the grass down too low. This helps with preventing over grazing and with avoiding internal parasites, which tend to lay their eggs closer to the ground.
Gourmet Quality Meat
Icelandic lamb is a mild flavored gourmet variety of lamb. Many people do not enjoy the strong flavor of lamb or mutton. Icelandic lamb and mutton is mild flavored, and many people who do not usually like lamb, will enjoy Icelandic lamb. Even a ram in breeding season does not have a bad taste. The only downside of this mild flavor is that some lamb enthusiasts who enjoy a strong lamb flavor may be disappointed, but most consumers love it. As a gourmet meat, Icelandic lamb is ideal for direct to consumer marketing and sales. To read more about the characteristics of Icelandic lamb visit:
https://www.saveur.com/article/Techniques/Lamb-Varieties
Premium Fleece
Icelandic sheep are a dual purpose breed. In addition to being a good breed for meat, they also grow a premium fleece that is prized by hand spinners and felters. They are a dual coated breed, which means that their wool has two types of fibers. There is the outer coat called the “tog”, which consists of longer, thicker fibers that function to shed rain and snow from the sheep’s back and there is the inner coat called the “thel”, which consists of soft, downy fiber, which acts as insulation for the sheep. The thel and the tog can be spun together into the traditional Icelandic yarn known as Lopi. Lopi yarn is a bulky single ply yarn that knits into a garment with extra warmth due to the loftiness of the yarn. Alternatively, the thel can be separated out by hand and spun into soft, fine yarn that can be used for those with sensitive skin. Icelandic fleece can be a variety of natural colors, including various shades of white, cream, black, gray, and brown. Each year an Icelandic sheep will grow about 12 inches of wool (4-7 lbs.). If you want the wool to be useable for spinning, they should be sheared twice per year, in the spring and fall. The fall shearing is usually the best and the cleanest because the sheep have been out on pasture all summer, so the wool stays clean. Spring shearings will have more dirt and debris in them, but they can be used for felting. Icelandic wool is one of the best types of wool for felting, it felts easily and forms a strong, durable felt. To read more about spinning Icelandic wool please visit:
https://plymagazine.com/2016/01/spinning-lopi-singles/
Polled or Horned Heads
Icelandic sheep are available as polled or horned. Polled sheep do not have horns (or have very small horn buds). Some shepherds prefer sheep with horns because the horned animals look very majestic and horns provide another product that can be sold after an animal is butchered. I personally prefer polled sheep. Horns can get caught and tangled in electro-net fencing, and this is how we fence our pasture. If you are planning to breed your sheep it is best to be consistent and have only horned or only polled sheep. Breeding polled sheep with horned sheep will result in animals with scurs, which are small half-horns that are considered undesirable because they are prone to breaking off.
Short Tails
Icelandic sheep have a naturally short tail, so there is no need to dock tails on lambs. This is one less job to perform on the farm, and reduces risk of infections and problems. (Most domestic sheep breeds have a longer tail, which in many climates requires tail docking to prevent fly strike, a serious health issue for sheep).
While I love Icelandic sheep, I think it is important to point out the attributes of the breed that you may find challenging.
Temperament
Icelandic sheep will tend to be more flighty and less friendly than some breeds of sheep. This can be an advantage, when sheep are out to pasture, they are alert for predators and can be very aggressive when defending against a coyote or dog. The down side is that they can be more difficult to handle. If you are experienced with other breeds of sheep, you know that when you are performing duties such as vaccinating, hoof trimming, and shearing, you can sit the sheep up on its rump and it will calmly sit there while you do what you need to do. I have practiced “tipping” sheep into this sitting position with other breeds of sheep and with Icelandics and have found the task much harder with Icelandics. Once they are in the sitting position, they will still struggle. Many Icelandics are aloof, even with their shepherds, who they know well. This makes it more difficult to catch them and examine them if there is a problem. There are definitely exceptions. In my flock I have several calm and even friendly sheep, which make it more enjoyable to be a shepherd. However, when doing unpleasant tasks such as vaccinating, even my friendliest sheep is not easy to tip and handle, once she is caught, she struggles as hard as the wildest ones. After I have released her, she will come right back up to me for a chin scratch, whereas the wilder and more wary sheep will not let me near them for a few days. If having friendly sheep is important to you, take that into account when you are choosing your individual ewes to start your flock.
Open Flocking
The open flocking trait can be a disadvantage if you are trying to herd sheep with a dog. Part of what makes it possible to herd sheep easily, it that they tend to move together in a tight flock. Icelandic sheep will tend to move in a more spread out pattern which makes them more difficult to control. Icelandics also tend to be aggressive toward dogs and it is hard to train them to be moved by dogs. It can be done, but if you are a beginner with a herding dog and you have a beginner dog, you should not start by learning with Icelandic sheep. You would want an experienced dog and handler to train with you and the sheep. We move our sheep by having them follow us with a bucket of grain or alfalfa pellets. We do have a herding dog, an English Shepherd named Silvi. We have not put any time or energy into training her as a herding dog, she has good instincts and she will loosely follow around behind and around the sheep to keep them moving along in the direction we are headed.
I hope that this summary gives you an understanding of this wonderful breed. If you would like to read more about Icelandic Sheep please visit the Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America (ISBONA) website: