Icelandic Sheep

2009 Spring Journal

March 15: The Robins returned to the farm today! Most of the snow is goine (at least for now), and the ewes and llama are startign to wander the pasture looking for the first shoots. The ground is still frozen solid, but they are ready for a change from their boring diet of hay, hay and more hay. We bred 27 ewes this year, and the first lambs are due March 25. We bred them to four splendid-looking rams, doing our best to play matchmaker to get a variety of colors and patterns, stocky fast-growing lambs, wide horns, and friendly temperaments. We'll keep you posted on how the lambs look.

Check back in May for more additions to our Spring Sale! We'll have some of everything - yearling ewes, mature rams, mature ewes and this year's lambs for sale.

OUR SIRES THIS SEASON

We bred these four outstanding young rams this year. To keep our genetics diverse, we will bring in new rams this fall, so these guys offers excellent breeding potential for someone else's flock. Look soon for details on their offspring.

Barley KFM91U - Gorgeous black badgerface triplet who we just couldn't part with this fall. He grew very fast and was one of our biggest rams, despite being a triplet, he has a lovely fleece and may be one of the sweetest, friendliest sheep we've every raised - though not as a result of any extra attention from us. He comes from Dutchess, one of our most important foundation ewes with great temperament and gorgeous black fleece, and Fritz, who threw many triplets for us as well as moorit, spotted, and badger. $800

Rye KFM 94U Big single moorit ram out of Ruby, a moorit badgerface with a gorgeous fleece and unusual coloring, and Freckes (white, twin). A great choice for anyone looking to breed for handspinning fleeces. This ram is magnificent, muscular and large and will also be a good choice for those looking for stocky lambs for meat. $650

Timothy MVI 824U Handsome white ram twin out of a Frelsi Farm lines, came to us from Maple View Icelandics. He is a little smaller than our other rams but has a wonderfully silky fleece and calm temperment. Wide horns, classic face. $600

Charlie KFM 123U Spotted twin ram out of Isa (see below) and Fritz. He and his twin were some of the most unusal lambs we've every seen born here, with multiple colored spots at a young age - brown, black and gray. As he has matured we are no longer sure if he would be considered a spotted badger, or just spotted with black as the undercolor and a lot of brown pigmentation. In any case, we are eager to see what his babies look like! $650

Mom and Baby Sale Coming Soon!: Mature Foundation Ewes for Sale, some with lambs

This is a great way to add to your flock and is how we started our flock one summer seven years ago. We are selling a few yearlings as well as mothers and babies together this spring, and ewes on their own after weaning in the fall. Look below for more information on our ewe flock and who is for sale. Please check back for more that will be on sale soon!
Please email for with any questions.

We give 10% discount on four or more animals. We will deliver anywhere in Vermont.

About our Flock

Over the years we have been breeding for size and for parasite resistance, and last summer we saw really positive results in our flock. We sent lambs to slaughter at 7 months and had hanging weights averaging 45#. We wormed some of the flock once; some not at all. We raise grass-fed meat as well as wool and breed stock, so these traits are particularly important to us. We intensively graze our animals in small paddocks to improve the health of the soil and give them the maximum nutrition, moving them as often as once a day through the summer and fall. In the fall and winter they are fed hay and kelp inside a shelter and are able to move around through the snow and forage for grass whenever possible. They lamb outdoors in the late March – early May.

Photograph of an Icelandic Sheep

Very few Icelandic sheep have been exported from Iceland since Viking settlers brought the breed there 900 years ago, making Icelandic sheep one of the purest breeds in the world. Renowned for their exceptional fleece (which is marketed in this country as Lopi yarn), Icelandics are an excellent all-around breed that is becoming increasingly popular around the US.

Icelandics range in color from white to blue-gray to deep brown to black, spotted and mouflon. Other desirable traits include easy births, multiple births common, excellent mothers, highly alert and curious dispositions, fast growth, delicious meat, naturally docked tails, and very hardy. We have found that they are excellent for bringing back the fertility of land, as they love to forage and thrive even on rough pastures.

For more about Icelandic sheep, visit the Icelandic Sheep Breeders website at www.isbona.com.

Our Ewe Flock

All of our ewes are purebred Icelandic and are registered with the Canadian Sheep Breeder's Association. All of our animals have horns.

We sell pregnant ewes in late fall/early winter, and well-grown ewe and ram lambs at the end of the summer. We sell only the rams that we consider to have the most potential as breed stock.

This list includes ewes that are lambing now in spring 2009, and please forgive us for the ones that are missing! Keep checking back as we add details frequently as things change. Many of these are not for sale but may help you understand more about the maternal line of animals you may be considering. Those with prices are for sale; prices negotiable based on when you buy.

Mombasa KFM 19P	5/2/04	BLW 436M	BLW 491M	For Sale $400	She's a twin, out of Spot. Carries spotting, moorit and badgerface. A great mother; with twins each year so far.
Lamu KFM 22P	5/6/04	DRK 56H	BLW 437M	NFS	Black badgerface. Very stocky. Carries moorit. Great mother, twins each year so far.
Lady TNY 448M	5/10/02	AI Ram 345J	Yeoman 710G	NFS	White, horned, twin. She's got the most open horns and classic face of our flock and an exceptional vanilla, crimpy fleece. 2,2,2,2,2	Unavailable
Lucky TNY 731N	4/17/03	TNY 263M	TNY 206L	NFS	White, horned. Another fine fleece on this ewe, especially white and soft. Great friendly temperament. 2,2,2,2
Shy Girl BLW 383L	5/1/01	BLW 132K	BLW 74G	NFS	White, twin, has thrown moorit every year, also carries spotting, excellent mother, tall, our best brood ewe.
Duchess BLW 431M	4/21/02	192L	370K	NFS	Black, Single, carries moorit, stocky, premium fleece. Dependably gives twins or triplets.
Russet BLW 413M	4/14/02	BLW 325L (quad)	BLW 160K	NFS	Moorit/gray, single, very stocky build, exc. mother. Gave triplets this year!
Ruby KFM 33R	4/13/05	MSF 1N	BLW 413M	NFS	Moorit badgerface twin out of Russett and a badgerface gray ram. Great mother, absolutely lovely fleece.
Isa KFM 35R	4/22/05	MSF 1N	BLW 431M	NFS	Black badgerface single, huge, very milky and an excellent mother. Carries spotting.
Sugar KFM 37R	4/22/05	MSF 1N	BLW 370K	NFS	Black/Gray twin, silvery-blue-gray fleece with dark tips gives her an elegant look.
Agnes KFM 40R	4/16/05	KFM5N	108D	NFS	Solid moorit ewe out of our beloved lead sheep Baba (who died at age 13) and a spotted ram.
Becky Feyler 0008T	4/28/07	613336	Frelsi 241M	NFS	White ewe, sweet temperament, soft fleece. New to us in 09.	Unavailable
SunLi KFM 51S	5/1/06	KFM 26P	Jager 383L	For Sale $400	realy tall black ewe with spot, out of Shy Girl. A dependable mother, consistently twins.

Rams

Photograph of a Ram

Need a new ram lamb for breading to bring in new bloodlines? We will have plenty of choices from now through the summer, for pickup in August. Please email for a complete list.

Wool

Photograph of Wool

We always set aside some of our best fleeces for handspinners. Our best lamb fleeces come in moorit (brown, from dark to light), gray, white, black (chocolate and jet black), and the variegated tones of badgerface and grey. Please email for more details if you are interested. The rest of our fleeces are spun into yarn, and is available by the 4 oz skein, worsted weight, at the farm or by mail order.

Please e-mail or call 802-496-5685 for more information on fleeces, yarn, or sheepskins.