Icelandic
The Icelandic is a medium sized, triple-purpose sheep providing wool, meat and milk. Short legged and stocky, rams average 180-220 pounds and ewes about 130-160 pounds. Icelandics can be either horned or polled and their naturally short tails are fluke-shaped. Their fleece is dual-coated and can be white, or various shades of grays, browns and blacks. Their many colored and pattern fleeces are wonderfully soft.
Icelandics are a prolific breed, regularly producing twins, and triplets are not uncommon. It has been discovered that some Icelandics carry a gene that produces multiple births of 3-6 lambs if the ewe carries two copies of the gene and higher rates of triplets if only one copy is carried. The Thoka gene (discovered in 1950 and named after the first ewe known to carry the gene) is similar to the Booroola gene in Merino sheep.
One of the world's oldest and purest breeds of sheep it has change little in the over 1,000 years isolated on the island of Iceland. Originally brought to the island by early Viking settlers in the 8th and 9th centuries, it is classed as a North European Short Tailed type and is related to the Shetland, Finnsheep and Romanov breeds.
The breed has remained pure through the centuries and the few known attempts to 'improve' the breed were catastrophic, introducing devastating diseases from the other breeds. Farmers drastically culled all sheep from the crossbreeding. Importing sheep to Iceland is now illegal. These measures insured that any selective breeding was only within the breed. The Icelandic is now one of the oldest and purest breeds of domesticated sheep worldwide.
Icelandics are individuals that develop unique personalities, from friendly and docile to aloof and aggressive, but generally they interact well with people. They are intelligent and respond well to leaders that develop in the flock.
Icelandic sheep were first imported to North America by Stephanie Dignum who is now the president of the Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America. A native Icelander, Stephanie imported 12 sheep in 1985 and 88 sheep in 1990 into Parham, Ontario, Canada. Icelandic sheep can now be found in most provinces of Canada. From the offspring of these original two flocks, Icelandic sheep were imported to the United States and are known to exist in most states except in the extreme south.
Icelandic Sheep in North America are registered through the Canadian Livestock Records Corporation (CLRC). A breed association, the Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America (ISBONA) was formed in 1996 who recognize the registry of Icelandic sheep only through the CLRA.