Green Fence Farm Icelandic Sheep

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Green Fence Farm proudly offers for sale pure bred Icelandic sheep, registered with the Canadian Livestock Registry.  The breed is ancient.  They were in Iceland with the Vikings 1000 years ago – and while the Vikings have gone the way of horned helmets and ladies with big boobs gracing the front of ships, Icelandic sheep are still around looking and surviving much as they did 1000 years ago. Their status as a perfectly preserved primitive breed offer many advantages to the first-time or hapless shepherd and to the family farm:

• They are hardy: They are top notch foragers (think “Iceland,” think “winter”), thrive on average pasture, and downright bloom on the good stuff. They lamb easily and their lambs are up and eating within minutes of hitting the ground --  often while the shepherd (if it is one of us) is still rushing around looking for clean towels.

• They twin regularly and often triplet without problems: The Icelandic ewe can be bread at 7-8 months and will continue to produce healthy lambs for 8 or more years.  In addition, Icelandics can be artificially inseminated through a much simpler process than most sheep (more of a turkey baster approach than surgery).  This means that, every year, the North American flock has been fortified with the genetics of the best studs in Iceland.
• Dual Coats: The Icelandic fleece consists of a longer, tougher outer coat (tog) – 8-12” staple length – and a shorter, much softer undercoat (thel).  The thel can be separated from the tog (if you happen to have a lot of time on your hands) and spun into a baby soft yarn.  Or the two can be blended and spun into “lopi” style yarn, a single ply yarn that is both soft and sturdy.  Icelandic wool also felts beautifully and quickly – imperative for those of us felters with short attention spans.
• Cool colors and patterns: Icelandic sheep come in white, black and brown (moorit), spotted, patterned, and grey.  The wonderful shepherdess, Elaine Clark, has a fabulous article on color on her Maine farm’s website with pictures illustrating some of the great looks you can breed for – and genetic cocktail you need to get them.
• If you’re too lazy to shear (or too cheap, or can’t find someone to do it), their fleece comes off naturally in the spring: Really.  Some people even comb out the spring fleece and spin it, though those must be people who (a) have slower sheep than mine and (b) need less sleep than me.
• Gourmet meat production: The Icelandic sheep in Iceland have been bred for meat production – and North American flocks show that ancestry.  They produce a lean, light flavored carcass.  Many who do not like the taste of lamb enjoy the milder Icelandic.
• You can milk them: That would be the royal ‘you” (or “ewe”) – we haven’t tried it yet.  However, there are several Icelandic owners out there who do – and they rave about the quality of cheese, yogurt and fudge that can be made from Icelandic milk.  Our lambs from this season also seem quite satisfied with the quality of the product.
• Their tails are short: No docking, no fly strike, enough said.
• They are hilarious: Really – intelligent, opinionated, goofy, vocal.  Or, as one friend said, when you look in their eyes, something looks back.

        Green Fence Farm is a proud member of the Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America (ISBONA).  Their fine website has more information on Icelandic sheep (for those of you who like numbers and well documented facts) and some nifty pictures.