
The Nordic short-tailed sheep
breed - Spaelsau
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Introduction
The
Sheep-Isle flock is Norwegian Spaelsau, - a direct ancestor to the Old Norwegian
Sheep.They were already there a I 000 years ago being taken along on the journeys of the Norwegians Vikings as they settled in Greenland, Iceland and on
the Faeroes, Orkneys and the Shetlands.
They were tough sheep supplying their masters with meat, milk, wool, skin
- even the sails that carried the ships over the oceans were made of their wool.
Today,
a thousand years later, the wool of the Spaelsau still consists of a rough
cover to protect against the wind and the rain, and under this a much softer
layer close to the skin as protection against the cold.
The
rocky Norwegian west coast is Spaelsau country.
On a few isolated isles among the skerries off the coast you still find wild living Old Norwegian
Sheep.
On
Sheep-Isle Spelsau life is closely related to the sea.
In the winter the flock can often be seen grazing
among the freshly washed up seaweeds. In
the summer they prefer to spend their 'siesta' at the water's edge to avoid the
insects.
Goals
Description
of niche-productions, where an old Nordic breed are adapted to the environment
on islands anywhere in the North Atlantic..
The
Norwegian Spaelsau will play the lead, but close-related Nordic breeds will
also be presented particularly if they are subjects to extensive breeding.
This
website will be based on own articles as well as works of other writers.
The
site will be provided with all major links to relevant sites in Scandinavia,
Scotland incl. the Northem Isles and the North Atlantic islands.
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