The Border Leicester is a British breed of sheep. It is a polled, long-wool sheep and is considered a dual-purpose breed as it is reared both for meat and for wool. The sheep are large but docile. They have been exported to other sheep-producing regions, including Australia and the United States.
The Icelandic is the Icelandic breed of domestic sheep. It belongs to the Northern European Short-tailed group of sheep, and is larger than most breeds in that group. It is thought that it was introduced to Iceland by Vikings in the late ninth or early tenth century.
The Finnish Landrace, Finn or Finnsheep is a breed of domestic sheep native to Finland. It is one of several Northern European short-tailed sheep breeds, but is notable for its high incidence of multiple births – it is common for a ewe to have three, four, or even five lambs at once.
The Shetland is a small, wool-producing breed of sheep originating in the Shetland Isles, Scotland, but is now also kept in many other parts of the world. It is part of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group, and it is closely related to the extinct Scottish Dunface. Shetlands are classified as a landrace or "unimproved" breed. This breed is kept for its very fine wool, for meat, and for conservation grazing.
The Roslag sheep is a breed of endangered domesticated sheep that originated in and is almost exclusively found in Sweden.
Welsh Mountain sheep are small, hardy sheep from the higher parts of the Welsh mountains. The males have horns, and the females are polled (hornless); they have no wool on the face or legs, and they have long tails. There are a number of varieties, bred for sheep farming in Wales. These are mainly colour variations, but some are being developed as separate breeds.
Rya, also known as Ryafår or Swedish Carpet Wool Sheep, is a breed of sheep that is native to Sweden. The breed originated from the Swedish and Norwegian landrace breeds. This double-coated breed of Swedish Landrace origin also contains some Norwegian Spælsau heritage. The purpose of the sheep was to use the long, wavy, and shiny wool to produce rya-wool, which is often used to make carpets. In the early twentieth century, few long wool sheep remained in the province of Dalarna, leading to the restoration of the rya sheep breed. In 2000, there was a stable population of about two thousand rya sheep. They can be found in northern and central Sweden. Most of herds are located in Dalarna. They are usually kept in small flocks.
The Blackhead Persian is a fat-tailed breed of domestic sheep from Africa. The sheep is originally from Somalia and a direct descendant of the Somali sheep. The breed is also a type of hair sheep, meaning they do not grow wool and tolerate heat better than wooled breeds and are raised primarily for meat. The Blackhead Persian has a white body and, as their name would suggest, an entirely black head.
The Boreray, also known as the Boreray Blackface or Hebridean Blackface, is a breed of sheep originating on the St Kilda archipelago off the west coast of Scotland and surviving as a feral animal on one of the islands, Boreray. The breed was once reared for meat and wool, but is now used mainly for conservation grazing. The Boreray is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds.
The Racka or Hortobágy Racka Sheep is a breed of sheep known for its unusual spiral-shaped horns. These unique appendages are unlike any other domestic sheep horns, and may grow up to 2.0 ft (0.61 m) long. The smallest standard length is 20 in (51 cm) for rams and 12–15 in (30–38 cm) for ewes.
The Zwartbles is a breed of domestic sheep originating in the Friesland region of the north Netherlands. There it was primarily used for the production of sheep milk as well as lamb and mutton. They were often kept alongside dairy cattle herds.
The Beulah Speckled Face is a breed of domestic sheep originating in the United Kingdom. Having been bred in the uplands of Wales for more than a hundred years, a breed society was officially formed in 1958. This breed is most common in Eppynt, Llanafan Fawr, Abergwesyn, and Llanwrtyd Wells, and it is little known outside Wales. The origins of the breed are unclear; it may be a truly native breed that has been selected to suit the local environment for centuries. The breed is named for its distinctly patterned black and white face, which is free from wool. The ewes, which are naturally polled, are often crossed with lowland rams such as the Suffolk, Texel or Bluefaced Leicester to breed mules, and to produce market lambs for meat. When bred pure, the lambs do not meet today's export demand for lean, fast-growing sheep. However, the ewes make good mothers and produce plenty of milk.
The Northern European short-tailed sheep are a group of traditional sheep breeds or types found in Northern Europe, mainly in the British Isles, Scandinavia, Greenland and the area around the Baltic. They are thought to be derived from the first sheep brought to Europe by early farmers, and for thousands of years they were the only type of sheep kept in Northern Europe. They are hardy sheep, adapted to harsh environments, but they are small and have been replaced in most areas with later types of larger, long-tailed sheep.
In Sri Lanka many farmers depend on animal husbandry for their livelihood, but not a large proportion. Therefore, many livestock products have to be imported. The main livestock products in Sri Lanka are milk, meat and eggs. Hides, wools and other products are still not produced within the country. Animal power formerly used in the cultivation of rice and vegetables have been replaced by modern technology to farmlands. However animal husbandry plays an important role in the rural economy for improving the living conditions of farmers in the country.
The Faroese sheep is a breed of sheep native to the Faroe Islands.
The Danish Landrace is a breed of sheep endemic to Jutland in Denmark. The breed, which had a population of approximately 370 in 2000, is not a true landrace, but descend from Heath sheep and Merino, with early specimen interbreeding in the 19th century with Leicester and Oxford Down sheep. While up to 10% of males have horns, the breed is mostly polled.
The Icelandic goat, also known as the 'settlement goat', is an ancient breed of domestic goat believed to be of Norwegian origin and dating back to the settlement of Iceland over 1100 years ago. This breed of goat was on the verge of extinction during the late 19th century, but recovered prior to World War II, only to precipitously decline again. The population has dropped below 100 animals several times, leading to genetic bottleneck. As of 2003, there were 348 goats in 48 flocks distributed throughout most parts of Iceland. At the end of 2012, the herd had increased to 849. Since this breed has been isolated for centuries, the Icelandic populations are highly inbred. The Icelandic goat is very rare outside its native land. Under its coarse, long guard hair, the Icelandic goat has a coat of high quality cashmere fiber. Icelandic goats are kept mainly as pets and their economic potential for meat, milk, cashmere and skin production remains to be explored. The Icelandic goat is currently of little economic value.
The Greenlandic sheep is a breed of domestic sheep. The Greenlandic breed is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep, which exhibit a fluke-shaped, naturally short tail. The Greenlandic is a mid-sized breed, generally short-legged and stocky, with face and legs free of wool. The fleece of the Greenlandic sheep is dual-coated and comes in white as well as a variety of other colors, including a range of browns, grays, and blacks. They exist in both horned and polled strains. Generally left unshorn for the winter, the breed is very cold-hardy. Multiple births are very common in Greenlandic ewes, with a lambing percentage of 150% - 190%.
The Old Norwegian Sheep is likely the breed that most closely resembles the original Northern European short-tailed sheep in Norway. Although the breed almost went extinct at several points in the last century, conservation efforts have succeeded in growing the population to around 30,000 animals and the breed is no longer considered threatened. The breed is particularly suited for being kept outside all year, a practice that stems back to the Viking Age.
Edilbay sheep, also known as Edilbaev(skaya) sheep, are a breed of domesticated sheep which originated in northern Kazakhstan. This breed belongs to the coarse-wooled fat-tailed type of sheep and the Kazakh group. It originated in the 19th century as a cross between Kazakh fat-tailed sheep and Kalmyk/Astrakhan coarse-wooled sheep. Today, it is found in Kazakhstan and Russia.
