Why I do not want to raise Icelandic Sheep

A couple weeks ago two sheep left the farm... Here's why:

I started off with two Icelandic sheep (Lina and Lifra). I loved them and as my first ewes I learned a lot from them. But as my farm has grown over the past year and a half, I’ve started to narrow down my goals a little more and with the limited space I have, I had to make some decisions.  

So why did I sell Lina and Lifra?

1. First off is they used their horns to their advantage and bullied the other sheep. The sheep had established a proper hierarchy by now with Lifra at the top and Lina right after her. No one wants to mess with horns! But I needed to integrate my new 80lb goats into the herd and Lina and Lifra probably would’ve allowed it eventually, but Magpie and Harpoon are both pregnant and after seeing them chase them a couple times and try to ram them, I couldn’t risk Magpie and Harpoon getting injured.
2. Icelandic sheep don’t go into heat till November. This is problematic for me because the gestation time for sheep is 5 months.  I would like to lamb in February, not April for many reasons I won’t go into right now, but this just wasn’t going to happen with Icelandic sheep
3. People say Icelandic lamb is milder than others sheep breeds. I have honestly not found this to be true. Almost all the lambs I’ve raised have had a mild flavor if their primary source of feed is grass and hay. Icelandics are not fast growers and come butcher time I really would like larger hang weights (which means more cut meat). I really would like more than ~20lbs of meat after raising them for 6+ months.

This doesn’t mean I don’t love their wool! I still plan on collaborating with my friend Roving Tale Farm (where Lina + Lifra went to live) to gather their fleeces make some Icelandic yarn, but I also want to branch out into border Leicester and other breeds!

If you're thinking about adding Icelandic sheep to your flock, they are a great addition, just not for everyone. You have to think about how they'll mix in with your existing flock. They're also less docile and very intelligent. They're really cool sheep, just didn't mix as well with my more docile sheep (east friesan, border leicesters, etc)