Harmony - these sheep have really interesting fleece. There are two parts to it. The long, straight part on the outside is called the "tog" and then underneath that (which you can't really see in my pictures), is a more crimped and curly part called the "thel" which is finer and more soft.
Janet - well, we plan to have these sheep for both fleece and milk. We read about the milking of them and I love sheep's milk feta and some other French cheeses that are primarily made with sheep milk, so I would love to try some cheese making with their milk. Plus I would like to try yogurt making. Even ice cream! I do not actually eat lamb - I bottled raised a couple of lambs when I was very young, near my grandfather's place. The next year when we went back, I went to the pasture and called their names and they came running to me. I have never been able to eat lamb since then.
The story of where they came from is a bit twisted. We found them on Craig's List. The guy who had them had bought them almost a year ago from a family who was living in an old school bus in a field, with 5 kids, 3 great pyrenees, and these 5 sheep. Apparently they couldn't afford them any more (no wonder). So he bought them and put them on his grandfather's farm land but then the neighbor, whom they used to have a water agreement with, shut off the water. So they were out there with no water. He had to sell them so that he didn't have to carry water to them every day. So they have been around the block. Two of the sheep were killed earlier this year by a pack of 3 saint bernard dogs who got into the pasture. These 3 are the remaining ones. He believes they are registered but only one had an ear tag but they are spot on characteristics for Icelandic sheep.
So, we may look into more in future but for now we'll give it a try with these three. I don't know Susan but I wonder if she is the farm in Earlham, IA that has Icelandics. We looked at their website as we were learning!
Claire
