- Did you know that the Icelandic sheep is one of the world’s oldest sheep breeds?
- Did you know that in Iceland there are approximately 476,000 sheep (which outnumber the country’s human inhabitants by more than 100,000).
- Did you know that lamb (in all of its variations) counts as the Icelandic national dish? The average annual consumption is 20 kg (44 lbs) per person.
The Icelandic sheep is believed to have been brought to the country with Norse settlers around the year 874 and historians have maintained that without the hardy sheep, which provided meat, wool, skins and milk, the Icelandic nation would not have survived the ages of hardship and poverty.
The Icelandic sheep is of the Northern European short-tailed sheep breed and 2/3 of the world’s short-tailed sheep population is in Iceland. Even though sheep of other breeds were imported from Denmark, Scotland and Germany in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, the impact on the qualities of the Icelandic sheep were little if any.
Leader sheep have been known in Iceland since the settlement and have from the very beginning been an inseparable part of Icelandic sheep farming. It is their nature to lead the other sheep during herding and they follow the leader sheep. Sometimes the leader sheep are taller than the other sheep and even considered to be more beautiful. A good leader sheep finds the best way through snow and rough terrain, as well as in blizzards, and bring the herd safely back to the stable. Leader sheep are also believed to have a good feeling for the weather, often refusing the leave the stable during winter if a storm is coming.
Icelandic sheep have very special dual-coated fleece, primarily consisting of two kinds of fibre. The long outer coat is called tog and the finer inner coat þel. The sheep probably evolved this special trait to adapt the cold and fluctuating weather in the Subarctic. The tog repels water while the fluffy þel has insulation qualities.
