Icelandic sheep are an ancient, Northern European breed and one of the oldest and "purest" in the world. They traveled on the Viking longships to Iceland more than 1200 years ago, providing explorers and settlers with meat and also with wool for creating clothing, ropes and sails.
Icelandic shepherds have, for centuries, maintained the breed primarily for the fine-grained and mild, sweet meat they are known for around the world. Their unique wool is also a valuable commodity.
At the height of summer season in Iceland, sheep outnumber human inhabitants 3 to 1, or around 500,000. Allowed to roam free on the wild, rocky countryside in the summertime, they speckle the island's landscape, foraging for themselves and climbing crags in search of their favorite herbs, mosses and native grasses.
These sheep have strong natural instincts and can be independent in their thinking, more so than modern, more domesticated breeds. For instance, they do not "flock" well and, thus, can challenge the abilities of the most astute herding dog.
The ewes' milk is high in butterfat; it is both creamy and sweet. Fabulous not only for raising rigorous lambs but a prized milk for cheesemaking.
Icelandic ewes' mothering instincts are strong! They tend to be very capable in birthing and raising their lambs. Breeding seasonally in the fall, they lamb in the early spring. Twins are common and sometimes they triple.
The lambs' naturally short tails do not need docking.
And spring ram lambs intended for butcher do not need to be wethered/castrated in order for the meat to retain its mild flavor into fall or first winter.
In Iceland, a separate strain of sheep have been nurtured over the centuries for their alert and watchful mindset. They call these sheep "leadersheep." Known for their ability to lead the rest of their flock to safety from impending storms and for awareness of other dangers, "leaders" can be an important asset in shepherding. They have not been bred to be a meat sheep and tend to have a lankier appearance. But they offer a shepherd their lovely fleece and dairying abilities in addition to their intelligent leadership.
Leifurson, leadersheep ram.
Icelandics come with horns or without (naturally polled). Our flock is horned.
And ooo-lah-lah, that superb fleece! Icelandics can be shorn once a year in springtime, or twice a year, both in the early fall before the weather turns harsh and then again in the spring. The fall "fleecing" tends to yield the highest quality wool due to gentle weather and field grazing. In winter, hay can "collect" in the wool and temperature and moisture extremes can sometimes cause felting. Icelandics are not coated, as this encourages felting. If left to their own devices, unshorn, they will often tend to "roo" or shed their own fleece in spring to adapt to summer's intense heat.
Icelandics are "dual-coated." On the back of each sheep are two rather different types of wool. The outer coat (or tog in Icelandic) protects the sheep from the elements at our high mountain elevation and can grow 12 to 18 inches in a year's time. Long, strong and water-repellent. The under layer, the thel, is infinitely soft and lofty, giving the sheep very effective insulation from the cold. Light and airy and can rival the micron count of Merino.
The two coats, tog and thel, can both be used for spinning and felting, either separately or blended together.
When carded together, the two lengths can produce an airy and loose roving or yarn, lopi, from which lopapeysa, the traditional Icelandic sweater of distinctive, concentric rings, is made.
Icelandic fleece is popular for handwork. It is sought after by fiber artists for felting, spinning, garment knitting and weaving. It lends itself well to our rug weaving, as the long tog offers length, strength and durability for floor pieces and then the fine thel mixed in gives a wonderful softness to the weaver's working hand and in the finished rug underfoot.
Raising Icelandics is a different experience than with many types of "modern" sheep. Given good-quality, nutritious pasture, Icelandics are hale and hardy. Having thrived for centuries on the mineral-rich soils of Iceland, they have higher mineral requirements than modern sheep breeds and this is an important husbandry consideration with the breed. But they have no need for a grain component in their diet, as long as their forage is good.
Winters are deep at Linger Fold. At almost 8500' altitude, the heavy mountain snowpack prevents grazing at least four months of the year, some years much longer. We hay our pastures to winter the flock over. In October, we bring them in to the winter fold, where they remain until lambing time in the early spring. As soon as the meadows can be grazed, we let them back out on pasture.
Our fields offer a wide and wild variety of native plants...mountain grasses and sedges, wildflowers and herbs, native berries. Delicious and nutritious! The lambs grow quickly.
