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 an Icelandic Ram.
The Icelandic sheep is of the North European Short Tail Race of sheep, related to the Finnsheep, Romanovs, Shetland, Norwegian, Spelsau and the Gotland sheep.
Prolificacy is quite good, on average 175-220%. Triplets are fairly common and the Icelandic ewe is capable of nursing triplets without assistance. A gene has been found in the Icelandic breed, that causes multiple births of triplets, quads, quints and occasionally even sextuplets if the ewe carries two copies of the gene. One copy of the gene causes a milder increase in fertility, resulting primarily in a high rate of triplets. The "Thoka gene" as it is called, is named after the first ewe known to carry the gene. It is similar to the Booroola gene in Merino.
Due to their large rumens, and the selective pressures of their history in Iceland, the breed is feed efficient. The animals are cold hardy and have a strong, reactive immune system. The sheep have evolved over 1,100 years under difficult farming conditions in Iceland, with a resultant sturdy and efficient constitution. Iceland has very few sheep diseases, and due to the strict measures of the early Icelandic breeders here in North America, the national flock is very clean.
A defining quality of the Icelandic breed is the ability to survive on grass and browse. Iceland is not a grain producing country due to the climate, and the breed has survived through its thousand year history on pasture and hay. The ewes are supplemented with fish meal when pregnant and most ewe lambs here in North America are supplemented with some protein especially when pregnant. On good grass, meat lambs can be slaughtered directly off the pasture.
The most eye-catching aspect of the breed is the variation of colors and patterns. Genetically, Icelandics have one of two base colors either black or moorit (brown). They can also exhibit 17 color and pattern combinations, including white, gray, mouflon, badgerface, and solid. Individual sheep may also display various shades of these colors/patterns, ranging from white, cream, light gray, tan, caramel, milk chocolate, silver, dark chocolate, dark gray, to jet black. A spotting gene adds even more combinations with over 90 recognized and named patterns of white markings.
The source of the world famous lopi yarn, the Icelandic produces a premium fleece. The fleece is dual coated, with a fine, soft undercoat - the thel, and a long, coarser outer coat called tog. The tog fiber with a spinning count of 56-60 and a micron count of 27-30, grows to a length of 6-8" in six months. It is strong, water and wear resistant, not unlike mohair, and sheds off the rain and weather, as well as dirt and hay chaff. Thel is the soft downy undercoat, with a spinning count of 64-70 and a micron count of 19-22, growing to a length of 3-4". The thel provides the loft for the outer coat and insulation for the sheep. Tog grows from the primary hair follicles and the thel from the secondary follicles. Tog is a true wool, and is not a kemp or guard hair. The combination of the two fibers on the sheep gives a superb protection from the cold and wet.
Icelandic fleeces are open and low in lanolin. The shrinkage is only 25-30% rather than the 50% experienced with modern breeds. The average yearly fleece total weighs 4-7 lbs. in the grease and is easily washed. Producers often shear their Icelandics twice a year. This is due in part to the fact that Icelandics have a natural shed in late winter for the rams generally, and in spring for the pregnant or lactating ewes. Shearing at or around the time of the natural break is recommended to remove the "old" coat before the "new" coat grows in. The sheep are sheared again in the fall to harvest the fleeces before the animals go on hay for the winter. These fall-shorn fleeces are very soft and clean and can bring a premium price per pound.
The Icelandic ewe was traditionally milked in Iceland, as most farms could not support the heavy forage needs of a milk cow. Many farms could only put up enough hay for their ewe flock, and perhaps their horse, so the families turned to the ewe's milk out of necessity. Farmstead cheeses and yogurts were commonly produced.
So the animal lives on practically nothing, reaches slaughter weight quickly, gives premium wool and milk. Oh, and produces triplets an a regular basis. Those Icelanders knew what they were doing!
next: The Icelandic sheepdog!
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