[for sale] Icelandic Sheep Breeding Stock available in SE, Wyoming

We have an number of high quality ewes and a ram still available.
They are all either registered or register-able.
Some starter flocks could be put together.
We have both polled and horned lines, although most of the sheep left are polled.

Icelandics are a hardy, dual purpose sheep that have naturally short tails. Another cool fact that most people don't know is that Icelandics are part of a few select breeds of sheep that "roo," meaning that their wool breaks off and can be hand-plucked instead of shorn (though many people still shear). Rooing takes longer, so much of the Icelandic population in the US has begun to loose that trait because people don't want to take the time to do it. We've been selecting towards it for a number of years now because we feel like rooing is valueable because 1) the fiber has a softer end, because it was a natural break, and 2) it lets you have a much more peaceful and hands on experience with your sheep. It's been quite the work in progress because of how much the trait has been muddied (started out with our first sheep taking 2 hours+ to roo, and this year we had quite a few yearlings and two year olds roo in under 20 min, with our fastest being 7min).
We've also been working towards a true dual purpose sheep: awesome fleece that conforms to the Icelandics double coated nature and is micron tested fine; nice hand-milking udders that produce well without tons of supplements, have great teats, and high attachments; and frames that are correct and well muscled.
We spend time every day out with our flocks, and know each members strengths and weaknesses. If you're looking for a specific trait, let us know and we'll help you find the best sheep to fit your situation.
Learn more about them and others we have available at our website PeacefulValleyFold.

I haven't heard of rooing before. Here a video showing the process which I found on youtube. What do you think of the rooing of this individual?

hans muster wrote:I haven't heard of rooing before. Here a video showing the process which I found on youtube. What do you think of the rooing of this individual?

She does a lot more switching between sides than we do, but the general idea is good. It's definitely not a common thing to do, so great job finding a good video! When we first started, we looked it up online and couldn't find a consistent way to do it. First sheep took 6 hours (yep, she hated us for a while afterwards), with trying different combs and techniques. We stumbled through several more, still unsure of what to do, until our ram Glacier (who passed away this spring) "broke." He introduced us to easy rooing, and showed us that it was possible. His fleece basically came off in sheets just from running your hands underneath. After him, we dispensed with the combs and worked on learning how to "pluck" it, like it's shown in the video. As it turns out, there are several different "methods" of rooing that you use depending on the individual. Here's an Instagram post we did showing the different methods we use (forgive the poor quality videos, I didn't have my camera at that point). We've recently had a couple roo more like Glacier did, and I don't have an example of that, but it's pretty awesome to see.
Another nice thing about rooing is that it's easier to skirt the fleece as you go. When we roo, we start by rooing the belly, rear, and any really dirty places. That stuff just gets thrown away. After that we roo the rest of them.
Our flocks are getting pretty big now, so rooing takes a long time, but it's also getting easier the longer we select for the trait.