Finnsheep

Finnsheep, or Finnish Landrace as they are known in their native country of Finland, were first imported to North America by the University of Manitoba, Canada in 1966. Progeny was then brought from Canada by private breeders in the USA.

The breed is considered to be several hundred years old, descending from the mouflan that live in the wild on Sardinia and Corsica. They are also said to be related to other Scandinavian short-tailed sheep. Their success as a northern landrace  is testament to their ability to adapt to Finland’s harsh climate and available rough forage. (Excerpt from Finnsheep Breeder's Association website.)

Finnsheep are known for their prolificacy;  they have a lot of lambs!  Triplets are the breed standard, but quads and quints are not uncommon!  Finnsheep genetics are often introduced into commercial flocks to increase lambing rates.

Finnsheep lambs are small, and produce a lean, mild meat.  Many who don't enjoy a strong mutton flavor find that they enjoy Finn lamb.

Finnsheep also produce a lovely, soft, crimpy fiber in a variety of natural colors, including white, brown, black, fawn, grey, and piebald.

We carefully select our Finnsheep for fleece quality, good mothering, and good conformation.  All of our breeding animals are registered with Finnsheep Breeders Association.

We are also focusing on including Codon 171 R gene (Scrapie Resistance Gene) genetics in our flock.  This gene confers natural resistance to Scrapie, and is relatively rare in Finnsheep.  A large percentage of our lambs now carry this gene.

We typically plan for lambing in March and start taking reservations in April.  Lambs are typically weaned and ready to go by the end of May.  Current lamb pictures and updates are posted on our FaceBook page, www.facebook.com/NineTreesFarm

We offer raw fleeces and pelts for sale from our Nine Trees Farm Etsy page;  https://www.etsy.com/shop/NineTreesCrafts

We sell processed fiber products such as yarn and roving through our custom fiber mill:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/WaitsburgWoolWorks