The Icelandic sheep is perhaps the oldest and purest domesticated sheep breed in the world. Brought to the remote island of Iceland by Viking settlers in the 8th and 9th century, Icelandic sheep have not been crossbred with other breeds and are therefore genetically the same as they were over a thousand years ago. Icelandic sheep were brought from Iceland to Canada in 1985 and have been in the United States since 1991.

Icelandic sheep are the largest of the "northern short-tailed " group of sheep which also includes Finn, Shetland, Gotland, Spelsau, and Romanov. Mature rams may weigh as much as 200 lbs. and ewes will reach 120-150 lbs.. Both rams and ewes may have prominent horns, although polled animals are also common. Due to its ancient heritage, the breed has strong natural instincts in terms of alertness, mothering, and foraging ability. Having developed on the rocky terrain and sparse vegetation of Iceland, they are extremely efficient grazing animals and do well under conditions that would not support other, less hardy breeds.

One of the most attractive features of the Icelandic breed is the variation that occurs in the fleeces. The naturally occurring colors and patterns have not been eliminated through selective breeding. As a result there is an incredible range of colors. In addition to the expected black and white, there is a wide variety of grays, charcoals, and silvers, as well as moorits(brown) ranging from dark coffee to cinnamon and fawn. The appearance really gets interesting when these colors are distributed among the various patterns that Icelandics display. "Badgerface", "mouflon", and "gray" are three patterns that exist in between the dominant "white" pattern (actually lack of pattern) and the recessive "solid color". For a final bit of confusion, Icelandic sheep can be spotted in combination with any of these colors and patterns. The end result of these ancient genetics is a beautifully colored flock.

To understand the pattern and color possibilities, the following chart shows the factors which determine a lamb’s appearance. There are three factors: color, pattern, and spotting. A sheep receives a gene from each of its parents for each of these factors. The dominant gene for each of the three factors will be expressed. If this is more than you want to know about the genetics, just ignore it. If you are interested in learning more, let us know and we can send you more information.