February 4, 2008
Press Release:
Cherry Creek Farm’s Icelandic Lambs Win Big at National Western Stock Show
Who could have predicted that the first showing of Icelandic Sheep at the 2008 National Western Stock Show, held for the last 101 years in Denver, Colorado, would result in their winning several ribbons? Who knew that these exceptional sheep lived right here on the Front Range of Colorado at Cherry Creek Farm?
Cherry Creek Farm, located 14 miles East of Monument, CO, is a 10 acre farm owned by Donald & Susan Hall. For the last 12 years they have been involved in growing the finest Mesclun salad mix and table accessory vegetables, flowers and herbs-all Colorado Certified Organic and Certified Naturally Grown. In the year 2000, they added Purebred Icelandic Sheep to the farm, after much research into many different breeds. Manure for their gardens was their biggest concern, but this beautiful, rare breed provides so much more: BREEDING STOCK, FIBER, PELTS, MILK and LAMB MEAT!
Icelandic Sheep are one of the world’s oldest purebred sheep….throughout their nearly 1200 years of history they have remained one of the few multi-purpose breeds. Treasured for their fiber, milk & meat - understandably held closely by Iceland as their country’s most valued & prized commodity, forbidding any exportation of live animals until the late 1990’s. Only with the scare of loosing the entire breed to a possible virus - brought in accidentally to the island by the ever increasing commerce & tourism from other countries - was the embargo lifted.
Cherry Creek Farm was poised at the right time & place to take advantage for both acquiring sheep from this original exportation then later in gaining the first semen allowed out of Iceland’s finest old sheep farms. Since 2000, they have had the first & the finest purebreds out of Iceland to represent their flock with names such as - Blaevar, Butur, Biskup, Dropi, Peli, Hunn, Horvi, Serkur and Moli. The Halls are extremely proud to be Colorado’s 1st USDA Certified Scrapie Free Icelandic Flock! (Scrapies is to sheep, as Mad Cow Disease is to cows.)
Icelandic Sheep are a very hardy grass based genetic mid-sized breed with ewes averaging 130-150 lbs. & rams 175-200 lbs. Conformation is generally short legged & stocky. The face and legs are free of wool.
Iceland is best known for their wool around the world, with colored fleece ranging from: white, browns, grays, and blacks. The wool is of dual character: a fine soft undercoat (called thel) & a long coarser coat (called tog). The tog fiber is strong & wear resistant, not unlike mohair & sheds rain & dirt well. Thel, the downy undercoat, provides loft for the outer coat & keeps the animal warm & dry. The tog comes from the primary hair follicles & the thel, from secondary follicles. The primary follicle fiber is not kemp or guard hair, but true wool. The tog has a spinning count of 56-60, a micron count of 27-30 & grows to a length of 6-8 inches in six months. The thel with a spinning count of 64-70, a micron count of 19-22, grows to a length of 3-4 inches. Their fleeces are open & low in lanolin with 25-30% shrinkage rather than 50% experienced with modern breeds. The two coats can be separated for special projects, or may be processed together in the traditional lopi style yarn. Icelandic fiber is also known as one of the best fleeces for felting, which is fast gaining popularity in the craft community.
The versatility of the wool, the ease of spinning & wide variation of tones & colors are a true delight to weavers, hand spinners & knitters, placing Icelandic wool in the exotic or premium category.
Icelandic sheep are very low in lanolin, much to the delight of hand spinners who prefer to spin “in the grease” and to the delight of foodies who enjoy lamb meat, as the meat is very mild flavored (plus low in fat and fine-grained) and rated as 5 Star Gourmet! With the combination of the economic and market advantages of grass fed farming, and with the appeal of the delicious flavor, the Icelandic breed is a natural for direct-to-consumer marketing. In North America, they are used for personal milk production by many shepherds for yogurt and soap. More and more farms are making gourmet artisan cheeses.
Three Cherry Creek Farm lambs born after March 1, 2007, were entered into the Natural Colored & White Hand spinning Sheep Competition at the Stock Show: Mika, a moorit/grey horned ram, Ginger, a moorit/auburn horned ewe, and Kia, a black/grey horned ewe. Mika won 1st place and Champion in the Spring Ram Lamb Division, Ginger won 1st place and Reserve Champion in the Spring Ewe Lamb Division, and Kia won 3rd place in the Spring Ewe Lamb Division.
What a great opportunity for this amazing breed to be introduced! They caused quite a stir at the National Stock Show, being photographed and talked about more than any other breed there. Fiber enthusiasts, small acreage owners, restaurateurs, and 4-H’ers were very excited to meet this “new” breed and are starting to make their way to Cherry Creek Farm.
For more information on Icelandic Sheep, breeding stock, fiber, pelts, lamb meat or to book a tour, whether you are a Fiber Group, School Group, Gardening Group, please contact Susan Hall at susan@gro.ws or call 303.884.6506.
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