Icelandic sheep are one of the oldest domestic breeds of sheep in the world. They originated in, you guessed it, Iceland, long ago during the Viking days.
Icelandic sheep are great forgers that consume both pasture grasses and brush.
They are a tri-purpose breed.
Ewes provide a rich milk that is significantly higher in protein and fat than goats and dairy cows, which makes it excellent for cheese making.
Their meat is of gourmet quality, providing a milder flavored meat than other long tailed, lowland sheep.
Icelandic wool is a beautiful, double layered coat, with a fine, soft undercoat called thel and a longer, coarser outer coat called tog. The tog fiber is strong, water and wear resistant that makes for perfect outerwear garments; hats, sweaters, gloves and scarves and socks. Thel is the soft downy undercoat, it provides the insulation for the sheep.
On average, an adult sheep will produce 4-7 pounds of wool per year. Icelandics produce a wide variety of beautiful colorful wool in shades of cream, grey, varying colors of browns from deep chocolate to latte tan and charcoal to black.
