Icelandic Sheep Breed Guide
If you’re considering raising sheep, finding an easy-to-care-for breed is essential for your first time. While researching, consider the Icelandic sheep breed. It offers farmers and homesteaders many excellent benefits, including minimal requirements for food and housing.
Icelandic sheep are tri-purpose, offering you the option to raise them for milk, meat, or wool. However, the primary option many farmers choose is meat production due to the robust flavor the carcass offers. Many consider it to be a gourmet food option.
Here's what I'll cover in this article:
What Icelandic sheep are raised for
The history of the Icelandic sheep breed
Apperanace and behavioral characteristics of Icelandic sheep
How to raise Icelandic sheep
Breeding Icelandics
Using Icelandic wool
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What is So Special About Icelandic Sheep?
Considering raising Icelandics? Here are some benefits:
Can be used for milk, wool, or meat
High-quality, delicious meat
Disease-resistant to many different conditions
Generally produce twins during lambing
Aggressive, non-specific grazers
Cold-hardy and adaptable to the environment
If you’re interested in learning some interesting facts about Icelandic sheep in their native homeland, you can watch this video:
What Are Icelandic Sheep Raised For?
The primary purpose for raising Icelandic sheep today is meat production; however, the breed is considered a tri-purpose breed in that it can also be raised for milk and fiber production.
Though Icelandics don't produce the largest carcasses, the meat features a prized unique flavor. It is considered a gourmet option in many locations with its fine texture and subtle taste.
If you choose to raise your Icelandic sheep for their fleeces, you’ll find they are dual-coated, with the long outer coat covering the inner coat. These two coats can be used to create different finished products when separated.
The outer coat is generally wool of medium thickness that is ideal for making other rugged products. On the other hand, the inner wool is best suited to creating products that will rest next to the skin.
The very different fibers can be combined to create lopi. This unique knitting wool can only be produced from Icelandic fibers.
Icelandic sheep can be shorn bi-annually. However, spring shearing will produce much coarser fibers than fall shearing. Spring wool is generally best suited to making carpets, but fall wool is ideal for garments and nets the most profits.
Until the 1940s, Icelandic sheep were the primary source of commercial milk production. At that time, there was an increase in the dairy cow population and simplifications to the process of caring for the animals through the winter, which caused the change in milk sources.
Despite this, many farmers continue to raise Icelandic sheep as a milk source on a much smaller scale today. Their lambs can be weaned at just two weeks, leaving the ewes with six weeks or more of daily milking. They can produce one to two liters of milk daily.
This milk is known for being sweet and creamy. Consuming it immediately is the best way to enjoy it. However, you can also use it to produce cheeses, yogurts, and butter.
History of Icelandic Sheep Breed
Generally, all modern sheep are considered to be descended from the wild mouflon. They were domesticated approximately 10,500 years ago in what is commonly referred to as the Fertile Crescent. Later, trade routes brought them to Europe and the Americas.
In the specific case of the Icelandic sheep, it's widely believed that the Vikings brought this breed to the country in the 9th or 10th century. The breed quickly acclimated to the harsh climate and learned how to thrive on a grass-fed diet.
Because crossbreeding was eliminated at the very early stages of this breed’s existence, the Icelandic sheep is considered primitive. Unlike other breeds that were selectively bred for specific traits, this breed has remained essentially the same.
Today, it’s even illegal to import any breed of sheep into Iceland due to the potential for diseases spreading during crossbreeding and potential alteration of the breed. This keeps the breed in Iceland completely pure, while others exported around the world may be altered.
It wasn’t until the late 20th century that the Icelandic sheep was brought to Canada and the United States. These sheep are not yet prevalent in the US; however, their popularity is rapidly increasing nationwide.
What Do Icelandic Sheep Look Like?
The Icelandic sheep is a medium-sized breed with mature ewes weighing up to 150 and 160 pounds and mature rams weighing around 200 and 220 pounds. Both sexes can be polled or horned, but it's more common to find them horned.
While not very tall, featuring short legs, the best Icelandics will be broad with excellent conformation as a meat breed. While they can come in several colors, such as brown and black, white is the most common.
How to Raise Icelandic Sheep
If you’re looking for a reasonably easy-to-care-for sheep breed, the Icelandic sheep offers many benefits. They don’t require special feeding, their housing requirements are minimal, they don’t have a lot of health risks, and they can even go without shearing (in some cases).
Feeding Icelandic Sheep
One of the best parts of raising Icelandic sheep is their minimal food requirements. They developed hardiness in their native homeland and learned how to be excellent foragers. In addition, they’re not very picky when it comes to choosing what to forage - they'll eat everything from brush to grass and weeds.
During the summer, they’re best kept in the pasture, grazing at will. During the winter, they’ll need hay or silage to compensate for the lack of foraging options. It's possible to finish lambs entirely on pasture with no grain requirements at all.
Fencing and Housing for Icelandic Sheep
Because Icelandic sheep are cold-hardy, you don’t need to provide fully enclosed housing for them. A three-sided structure will cover all the bases when it comes to offering them the shelter they need. They’ll have the option to step in out of the rain and snow as needed.
If you're in a severely cold area of the country, you can consider a temporary fourth side that can be added on the coldest days. However, remember, this breed is suited to the temperatures of Iceland and this measure may not be necessary. We often find our Icelandics outside on the coldest of days despite having access to shelter.
You can choose from a few different options for fencing, including electric, woven wire, and welded wire.
However, you will need to ensure it remains hot, and if you choose wire fencing, you’ll need to keep it tight. Both strategies will ensure your sheep don’t get the idea to make a break for it.
You’ll also have to consider your predator situation. If you have a severe problem, you’ll want to consider a livestock guardian animal, which can be anything from a dog to a llama to a donkey.
Common Health Problems of Icelandic Sheep
While not susceptible to a lot of diseases, Icelandic sheep can have problems with parasites, namely the barber pole worm. To help treat this condition, you’ll need to be on top of worming the sheep to make sure they don’t suffer from these parasites.
They’re also susceptible to developing hoof problems, especially hoof rot. You’ll need to develop a routine for regular cleanings to prevent these conditions from happening.
Coccidiosis is a disease Icelandic sheep are prone to experiencing. It is produced by a protozoan in the intestine. Affected animals can suffer from severe diarrhea, but the good news is that the condition is manageable with medication and pasture rotation.
Do Icelandic Sheep Need Shearing?
Icelandic sheep do not technically need to be sheared. Their wool naturally sheds at the end of winter. However, farmers make significant profits off the wool that’s sheared, so these sheep generally go through the process in the spring and fall.
While the spring fleece’s quality doesn’t match the high quality of the fall fleece, it’s still more valuable to sell than to let it shed off.
Breeding Icelandic Sheep
Breeding Icelandic sheep is a straightforward process. The mothers have good instincts, and the lambs are generally up and active within minutes of birth. Often, the firstborn will be up and around before the second is born.
You’ll have clearly defined breeding seasons, so you’ll know what to expect. In addition, the breed is highly prolific, almost always producing multiples of at least two after the first year of breeding.
Are Icelandic Sheep Seasonal Breeders?
Icelandic sheep are seasonal breeders. Ewes will come into heat in November, and it can last through April if they are not successfully bred. Mature rams begin producing a distinct odor in early October, which stimulates readiness in the ewes.
This breed can occasionally breed out of season; however, it is not a practice encouraged by farmers. Ewes generally have excellent fecundity, and mature rams are efficient breeders. The lambing rate is roughly 170-180%.
How Many Babies Do Icelandic Sheep Have?
Icelandic sheep are often producers of multiples. Generally, ewes will give birth to twins, but triplets are not uncommon. The young are typically small, weighing around six pounds; however, they’re quick to be up and around following their birth.
Because of the small birth sizes, the mothers typically do not need much assistance during the lambing process.
What is Icelandic Sheep Wool Good For?
Icelandic sheep wool is used to make different types of wool based on thicknesses. From there, you can use it to create many different things. It’s processed and sold as knitting and felting wool.
In the spring, the wool harvest is used to make carpets. This coarser collection of fibers is more suited to the rugged requirements of floor coverings, ensuring they last as long as possible.
The fall collection is used to create lopi, which is the fiber used to create the iconic Icelandic sweater. In addition, you can make many other garments with the fall shearing, which is much softer than the wool collected in the spring.
Can I Buy Icelandic Lamb in the US?
While Icelandic sheep are primarily found in Iceland, they were introduced to Canada in the mid-1980s and to the United States in the early 1990s. Raising them isn’t yet as widespread as other breeds.
While they’re definitely not as prevalent here as they are in Iceland, where there are more than two times as many Icelandic sheep as there are humans, in some areas of the US, you can buy Icelandic lamb (we still have some available for this season, if you're local and interested).
Final Thoughts
Icelandic sheep offer all kinds of excellent options for your farm, including meat, milk, and wool production. You can benefit from all three while raising your sheep, increasing your profits while reducing your workload.
So what do you think? Is the Icelandic sheep breed a good choice for you? Let me know in the comments!
Want to learn more about raising sheep? Check out these featured articles!
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