Icelandic sheep come in a dizzying array of colours so you may never need to dye wool again!
Welcome to the website of the Icelandic Sheep Breeders Of the British Isles.
We are passionate about the beautiful, tame and friendly breed of Icelandic sheep, and hope this site will answer any questions that you have about the breed, or look at our contacts page for who to ask about anything not here. You can even post a question on our Facebook page.
If you are interested in buying pedigree British Icelandic sheep, make sure the sheep are already registered with the group, or contact us in case they are this year’s lambs and not registered yet.
The Breed
Icelandic sheep are members of the Northern European Short-tailed group of sheep. They are a primitive breed, and related to our native Hebrideans, North Ronaldsays, Shetlands and Soays. They differ from these other primitive breeds in that their breeding in isolation over the centuries has resulted in them being larger and much more docile.
Sheep were originally taken to Iceland by the Vikings, who colonised the island between 870 and 930 AD. Icelandic Sheep have been isolated genetically from other breeds of sheep for over a thousand years, and are possibly one of the oldest and purest domesticated breeds of sheep in the world today.
Icelandic sheep have naturally short, fluke shaped tails, and are medium sized and fine boned. They shed their fleeces in the early Spring. The Icelandic fleece is unique in having two distinct layers, the longer, silky tog layer, and a very fine, soft thel layer. The combination of these two layers keep the sheep warm through the long, harsh Icelandic winters, and enabled the early colonisers in Iceland to survive.
Icelandic ewes lamb easily, have very good mothering instincts and an excellent milk supply to raise their lambs. They usually have twins, occasionally triplets or more.
Click here for more information on Icelandic Sheep.