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The Icelandic Sheep
Icelandic sheep are one of the oldest breeds of sheep in the world.
The Vikings brought them to Iceland around the year
1000. They have been isolated on the island since then and to
this day are the biggest source of meat for Icelanders.
Connoisseurs consider Icelandic lamb the best in the world and
when you are used to the best you cannot accept anything else.
The Icelandic sheep were bred over centuries for a very practical
purpose: to have good meat, good wool, good milk, good
temperament and to be good mothers. Their genetic variation is
huge. They come in a wide range of colors. Some are
multi-colored and some are spotted. Both ewes and rams may or
may not have horns. This makes every Spring (lambing season) an
exciting time here on the farm as we anticipate the numbers and
color variations of our ever-expanding flock.
Icelanders, who live away from their island, have a difficult
time finding farmers raising Icelandic lamb in other countries.
As they travel back and forth between Iceland and their adopted
country, they often fill a suitcase or two with lamb before
leaving the island.
We raise Icelandic lamb here, in the State of Washington, so
there is no need to go 5000 miles for the best.
Our Sheep
We started off in 2001 with three sheep and a ram and have been
expanding our flock ever since. In 2009 we have 14 ewes, a
ram and our guard Llama, Dali. Having spent many years on
a farm in Iceland, Selma has a very particular way of raising the
sheep. The basic principal is "give them everything they
need and then leave them alone".
 During the winter months they stay in or near the barn and are
only fed hay. But as
mid February approaches, they go out into the fields where they
are moved to a clean pasture every few days. They change
pastures until the rains
start in the Fall, at which time they head back to the barn.
Our
sheep lamb out on pasture, weather permitting. It is the
cleanest and most comfortable place for the ewes to have their
lambs. In April during lambing season, Selma does not get a
lot of sleep since she monitors the ewes every few hours in case
one needs help. It is amazing how many births take place at night.
As with any births, most of them happen without any problems, but
it is good to be close by in case help is needed. Over the
years we have had to pull a few and turn one that was coming out
the wrong way, but most of the time Selma stays at a safe
distance so the ewes can give birth to their babies in peace.
 We take care of our pastures by fertilizing, harrowing and mowing
when needed. From good healthy pastures come healthy
animals. The only supplements we give our sheep are salt
with minerals and Icelandic Kelp. It might seem
extravagant to feed them kelp that comes all the way from
Iceland but, since Selma knows the fjord the kelp comes from, we feel
safe that we are getting very high quality kelp from non
polluted waters.
Our
animals do not receive any vaccines or hormones. The only
treatment they get is being wormed two the three times a year
depending on parasite load. If we have a sick animal that
needs antibiotic (has happened twice so far) to get well that
animal is not offered for sale to our customers.
The
animals are slaughtered here on the farm. A local
slaughter business comes to our farm. We feel the less
stress there is to the animal the better the meat is. We take
great care in making sure the process is fast, calm and
efficient.
Our
Customers
Our customer base is Olympia and Rochester although we have a
growing customer base in Seattle.
Because of this growing customer base in Seattle we are making
one delivery of lamb to Seattle in the Fall.
The response from our
customers regarding the quality of the meat has been fantastic.
Here are some testimonials:
Testimonials
Bill: As a former chef in Chicago and serving the
best lamb available in the city I thought I knew what fantastic
lamb tasted like but then I had your lamb and it is by far
superior to the lamb I was serving in Chicago.
Brian:
My wife used to be vegan but after bearing two children her body
was asking for animal protean. Now your lamb and beef is the
only meat we eat.
We feel good about consuming meat raised by you.
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