Concord Hill Icelandics, located 35 miles north east of Lexington, Kentucky, is pleased to offer purebred, registered and unregistered Icelandic sheep. We carry both horned and polled sheep and lambs in our flock. Icelandic sheep, with their beautiful fleeces, generate such a wide variety of superior quality products that anyone (including women and children) interested in a home business in farming, will find them quite useful, as do handspinners, felters, and crafters. Our home business page has many ideas for marketing homemade items using Icelandic sheep milk, fleece, and pelts. In addition to our sheep, we have a luscious range of Icelandic fleeces sure to please the most discriminating handspinners. Felters are pleased with the ease that Icelandic wool/fiber works into a wide variety of high quality, valuable items. Working from home, one can begin a wonderful adventure using Icelandic fleeces. See our home business page for a short sampling of ideas from which one can draw. With a little thought, time, and creativity, working from home does not have to be merely a dream for women as well as children and men.
Icelandic Sheep Spinner's Flock
For those wishing to start or add to their existing spinner's flock, or for those who dream to experience the excitement of being a shepherd to purebred Icelandic sheep (without the big price tag), we offer purebred unregistered Icelandic lambs. These are available at substantial savings over our registered lambs. You can visit our lamb page where we have pictures. Not only women, but also men and children can become handspinners.
Icelandic Sheep Wool for Spinners, Crafters, and Felters
Let us put together for you an Icelandic lamb flock suitable for felters and spinners. With a wide variety of wool/fiber, colors, and patterns, we would be happy to help you pick out several lambs to start or add to your felter's/spinner's flock. For those who are not quite sure they are interested in a breeding flock, you might consider a wethered ram. In addition to their wonderful, soft fleeces, and gentle temperaments, wethered ram lambs will make good, safe companions for you and your children. Our handspinner's page has details of special interest to anyone wanting to be creative and express themselves with wool.
Icelandic Sheep for Grass Based Farmers and Commercial Farmers
If you have bought any type of commercial feed, you realize that the prices have been going up with each trip to the feed store. Fortunately, you can have a flock of Icelandic sheep and never have to purchase ANY grains or commercial feeds to keep them growing and gaining. Icelandic sheep are truly low input sheep in every way! There is a good reason that many farmers are interested in grass based farming. Not only is it better for the animal involved, but it also means healthier products for the consumer. The farmer can also produce these higher quality goods with less expense and labor. Icelandic sheep are quickly gaining notice from those interested in a totally grass based farming operation. Sheep do best on a field rotation system, as do most types of livestock, however, unlike other types of livestock, they fertilize a field evenly and their hooves almost till it into the ground. Grass based farming is the naturally healthy way to grow! I do not use ANY corn or feed (except for an occasional treat or bribe) with our sheep except grass and good quality grass hay, as Icelandics tend to gain weight easily. Obesity contributes to health risks and causes huge lambing problems. Unnaturally large lambs cause many avoidable problems. Grain causes many more problems with Icelandic sheep than it prevents! Icelandic sheep also do not require alfalfa hay prior to lambing, although I have recently discovered that alfalfa hay does not seem to cause overly large lambs at birth. If your hay is good quality, alfalfa is not necessary and it costs more...but is actually very nutritious and gives the ewe and lamb a healthy start...if you have the excess money to spend. We have often had 200% lambing records and lost no lambs to health problems at birth after feeding only grass hay all winter. We have now had literally hundreds of lambs born here, all healthy and spunky on grass hay and grass alone. Also of interest; by purchasing an Icelandic ram lamb, commercial sheep farmers can add to their flock the many qualities Icelandic sheep are noted for: lively lambs, unassisted in-field lambing, fast weight gain, and finishing on mother's milk, grass or grass hay alone- without the lost profits that come from expensive graining and creep feeding.
Home Business Possibilities with Icelandic Sheep
How to enjoy working from home! In this day and age many families long for the simplicity of days gone by. Days when families grew together, instilling the basic values necessary to develop more traditional character traits in their children. With Icelandic sheep, women and even children can own and manage a farm which promotes family unity and responsibility. Even young children can pitch in, washing buckets, raking out stalls, and contributing in a meaningful and useful way. Icelandics with their manageable size and many marketable qualities, make them a profitable home business venture. Working from home, parents and children, making memories together. The following are just a VERY brief sampling of some ways. Our home business page will have more ideas:
Those interested in using sheep milk can also turn to Icelandics to meet their needs. Icelandic ewes are often very milky (many times raising triplets without any additional pampering) and they possess the intelligence necessary to train easily to the milking stand. This is a benefit for those wishing to own a sheep dairy, make homemade cheese, enjoy their own fresh yogurt, or make an endless supply of homemade soap. Icelandic sheep milk produces desert quality yogurt, naturally sweet without added sweetener. Our home business page lists a sampling of the possible marketable products from Icelandic sheep. Homemade is still best; especially straight off your own farm!
Icelandic Sheep Meat
To those who find sheep meat not to their taste, the flavor of Icelandic sheep meat is mild and does not have a strong, muttony flavor. In fact, Icelandic sheep have won international taste tests for several years. With gourmet flavor, restaurants and specialty stores are eager to offer Icelandic meat. Within the Icelandic breed, there are certain blood lines which are naturally more meaty than others. They tend to be shorter and more stocky than some of the other bloodlines. Icelandic sheep dress out well, leaving more meat per lb. than some other breeds, all on grass and milk alone!
Kentucky's Peaceful Past Revisited with Icelandic Sheep
Many years ago, the hills and fields of Kentucky were dotted with sheep. They added a peaceful air to the Bluegrass landscape that had nearly vanished. With the decline of tobacco, Kentucky is in the process of searching for ways to diversify. Once again, when driving down a country road, sheep are returning, quietly grazing in the fields. Icelandic sheep add a totally new dimension to the picture, without many of the problems traditional sheep have come to be known for. Icelandic lambs are born very lively, often having eaten their first meal before the arrival of their twin. Lambing season is no longer a time of worry and exhaustion due to loss of sleep. It's a time of excitement and anticipation as those fluffy little lambs enter their new world, usually with no assistance from their shepherd. Our flock is expected to lamb on grass in the spring and, although we try to keep an eye on them 'just in case', it's almost always unnecessary. Lambing difficulties are truly rare within the Icelandic breed which makes them much more manageable for women dreaming of working from home. Becoming a shepherd is a peaceful alternative to the world's frantic pace.
Icelandic sheep are truly remarkable, producing gourmet quality meat, milk, and an exceptional fleece all on grass or good quality grass hay alone. We believe you'll be favorably impressed- we sure have been!
Welcome to our farm. We aren't very fancy, in fact I am always telling people that we will never be on "Better Barns and Living" magazine as a cover feature. We have plans to do some major changing this year, so it's likely to be a pretty exciting time for us. We'd really love to meet you and welcome farm visits. Please call ahead to schedule visits because we are a working farm and are often pretty involved in a project of some sort or the other. As usual, we find ourselves constantly running more and more behind by the day. There are so many major projects that we are in desperate need of starting (and finishing!) that we hardly know where to begin. Summer has met fall once again, and it seems that we will never get done what needs doing before the miserable cold winds arrive...and the snow and ice of winter slip up on us too soon once more. Fall is a very exciting time for us as we get the sheep sheared and begin another breeding season. I am already anticipating the wonderful little lambs that we will be welcoming into the world in the spring of 2010, and have lists of which ewes we will breed to which ram. That's one of my very favorite things to look forward to while the winter snow flies...that and my garden. We spend an unbelievable amount of time pouring over seed catalogs during the winter months. We now have a new litter of Great Pyr pups which arrived in early October, and we are amazed at how big they have gotten so quickly. We loved our other pups and really had been looking forward to those sweet, future sheep guardians to arrive. Life on the farm always gives us plenty of things to look forward to in each season, and more than enough to enjoy each day!
Dyeing Icelandic Sheep Wool
Although there are many chemical dyes available on the market to dye your Icelandic wool, nature has provided many dye materials probably growing in your own back yard! Others can be planted in the spring to provide you with your very own wool dyeing garden. Icelandic wool takes dye well and spins almost effortlessly and Icelandic fleeces come in a wide range of colors naturally, so dyeing is unnecessary for many projects! Icelandic fleeces contain less lanolin, so they don't require as much washing to get the fleece ready to accept your favorite dye! Please visit our Dyeing information page if you think this is something you could enjoy! I am gathering info. for it now.
French Angora Rabbit Wool and Bunnies
My youngest daughter began raising French Angora Rabbits in 2007 and has really grown to love their unbelievable wool! If you can imagine touching a cloud, then you have an idea what Angora rabbit wool feels like. Although it can be spun alone, Angora wool blends very well with Icelandic wool and makes a wonderful yarn for baby items and adult sweaters in a variety of lusciously soft colors. Check out Chloe's Angora rabbit page for more information on the Angora wool available and get your name on her waiting list for the next litter of baby bunnies!
Our New Icelandic Sheep Additions
Last spring we added some fantastic new blood lines to our flock. Four new ewes came to live with us and they have each raised some dandy lambs! Lots, and lots of milk, silky exceptionally nice fleeces, nice meaty confirmation, perfect lambs and a beautiful set of triplets to round out the picture...Well, I just can not say enough about these girls! Although we will probably be keeping several of our ewe lambs in the spring from these new girls, we are hopeful that we will be able to offer lambs to others too. I think they promise to add some superb characteristics to what we have to offer! If you want to visit our newest girls, please visit our New Ewes page!
Our 2009 Spring Icelandic Lambs
We had several very lovely Icelandic lambs last spring and are looking forward to fulfilling the dreams of handspinners, crafters, and fiber artists by providing the start to your own fiber flock in 2009. The idea of owning one's own small, manageable flock of Icelandic sheep to supply wool that can make every project imaginable a reality, is just something that makes me feel excited! Icelandic sheep are typically shorn twice per each year, with each ewe giving 2 lbs. or more of wool per shearing. This could give a fiber artist plenty of wool to work with and possibly share with their friends while maybe leaving some to swap or sell. If your 'craft' is more along the lines of cheese making, Icelandic sheep are one of the milkiest breeds around. Another wonderful quality about Icelandic sheep milk is its natural sweetness. When making your own goodies such as yogurt, you can feel great because the milk itself is actually sweet enough so you can use it without adding any sugar to your recipe! Icelandic sheep dairies are beginning to become more common in various areas across North America. Not only is Icelandic sheep milk a naturally sweet treat when making cheeses, yogurts, and such, but it is also fantastic when making homemade soap. If you are considering the addition of some new Icelandic sheep to your pasture, be sure to visit our 2009 Spring Lambs page...but be warned, Icelandic sheep can become an addiction! There is more information about the uses of Icelandic sheep on our home business page if you are interested.
Icelandic Wethers Anyone?
What on earth could one possibly want with an Icelandic wether? Wethers are altered rams. So...what good are they anyway?
Wethers have a wonderful disposition, don't have a 'ram scent', and make wonderful pets for children to learn to care for. Rams should NEVER be kept as pets, however, wethers are perfect for this purpose.
Spinners often don't want to deal with all that goes along with breeding animals...they just want an available source of wonderful Icelandic wool in their back yard to create with. A wether, in many cases, is the perfect answer for them! Not only are they usually more friendly and gentle than many breeding sheep, but in most cases their fleeces are softer than one that is capable of breeding.
Since rams should be kept separate from the ewe flock for most of the year, they need companionship. Wethers make the ideal companion for a ram. They are not competition, so the ram should view a wether as a friend rather than a rival.
If one is so inclined, a wether is a good addition to the table. I almost cringe to say that, but it is true. They don't have any 'ram flavor' and their meat is tender and mild. I am not very tempted to eat my friends, so I will probably only order my 'sheep meals' from other Icelandic breeders. Maybe, someday, I will become more practical, but for today... well, I'm just not!
Can anyone still afford to raise sheep? Last summer I spoke with someone who farms. He told me that the price of grain was forcing many farmers to sell their cattle or, at the very least, cut their numbers down significantly. Of course, this was making the price of cattle hit very low market prices (for the time being) due to the high numbers going to the stock yard at the same time. Who can afford to raise livestock and grain them even when grain is not unbelievably expensive?
Well, since we raise a fair number of chickens, I could certainly sympathize with the situation. I even considered (very reluctantly) selling many of my laying hens because the price of their feed was getting to the point where I could hardly justify having them at all.
I am quite certain that it's the same situation with those who raise the more common breeds of sheep. Other breeds generally don't thrive on grass and hay alone and are going to cost more to raise than they will be worth. Not so with Icelandic sheep! Although the rising price of hay is definitely a problem to address, there is no need to give Icelandics any grain or commercial feeds at all. If you have a nice pasture, and can put your hands on some good quality grass hay, you can keep sheep during this frustrating time in history for the American farmer. Yes, the initial cost of a nice starter flock of Icelandic sheep is fairly expensive in comparison to a flock of commercial sheep, yet, if you deduct the cost of graining those same commercial sheep over a year...well, you do the math! If the idea of sheep is something that sounds like the perfect farming venture, check into the Icelandic breed. The eventual savings over the commerical sheep breeds will show up pretty soon!
Our Icelandic Sheep~
We have been very blessed with some exceptional sheep over the past years. We began raising Icelandic sheep in March of 2003 and have had so many very happy moments with them. We have chosen to select our sheep for parasite resistance, easy lambing, lamb vigor, feed efficiency on only grass and good quality grass hay (no grain), fleece quality, and milkiness. The rams we will be using this fall (2008) and in the future are coming from some of the milkiest ewes we have ever had on our farm. Each of these rams have exceptional fleeces that are absolutely the softest imaginable. They also appear to be very parasite resistant, which is a definite plus on any farm. This does not mean that we will ever feel comfortable enough to stop making regular checks for parasite over-load, but it is nice to be able to relax a bit during the summer months. It's our hope that we will be able to have lambs to offer that are superior in quality in every way!
Great Pyrenees Livestock Guardian Dogs
New to our farm are our Great Pyrenees Livestock Guardian pups. We are quite pleased with how nicely they are growing and learning to be great guardians of our flock from their mother. Our Great Pyrenees are good with children, sheep, chickens, turkeys, and guineas as they have been raised around them from birth. They have not been exposed to cats, however, but I think that they will adapt to them also if worked with and introduced properly. Update: Our new pups arrived on October 5, 2009. They are absolutely the most beautiful, fat, puppies on earth! Please let us know if you are interested in visiting our pups.
Although you can always email us, we are away from the computer many days and a phone call is a sure-fire way to reach us! Call us at 859-473-1406 for immediate information. I am in the process of getting a new phone. If you have tried to reach us and had no luck, try again in early November.
