Finnsheep

They came to North America through Canada in 1966, imported by the University of Manitoba, and were used immediately as a source of prolificacy for composite breeds, including the Polypay. The Finnsheep Breeders Association was established in the US in 1971.

They are small, fine boned and short tailed, part of the northern European short-tailed family: ewes run about 160 lb and rams about 220. They come in white and in natural colors including black, brown and gray.

Ewes lamb early, commonly breed out of season, some lambing twice in a year, and milk well for their size, and they are attentive mothers, which they need to be. The fleece is soft and takes dye well.

Friendly and docile, according to the Finnsheep Breeders Association. Their small size and docile nature make them easy to handle, they have no horns, and wethers kept as fiber pets are often tamer than the ewes.

The ewes rarely need help at lambing despite the litter sizes, because the lambs are born small, and they are doting mothers.

Prolificacy is the product. Finnsheep are bought to add lambing percentage, either as a purebred flock under intensive management or, more commonly, as a fraction in a crossbred ewe. The wool serves the handspinning market.

The trade is exactly the prolificacy. Large litters mean small lambs, supplementary feeding, and a ewe carrying a load that will pull her down if she is not fed for it. A Finnsheep flock managed casually will lose lambs.

Decide first whether you want a purebred flock or a percentage. The breed is usually better used as a fraction in a cross than as a purebred flock, and a half- or quarter-Finn ewe delivers most of the extra lambs with less of the management load.

Registration runs through the Finnsheep Breeders Association. Ask the seller for actual litter counts and lamb survival, not just the breed's reputation, because management is what separates the two.

Recent sale prices on HoofnHorn, where there are any, are further down this page.